Wubi Upgrade of death [solved] System towing!

So, today I booted up mu computer (in Linux)

and saw some updates were available, the newest version of chrome, some security stuff, and a new kernel!

so I downloaded the updates, and it said i needed to reboot, so I finished my work, then rebooted.

Instead of Grub menu, I was dumped into a Grub prompt. I attempted to reboot, still nothing.

So I searched the web, found man "quick fixes."

Run "chkdsk"in windows, Defrag your hard drive, mount your drive from a live cd and check the file system, And I tried all of them, but nothing worked.

so I found some instructions on how to boot from grub, but this sent me to busy box. (I have no idea how to use that.

I was out of options, I would have to start over, Find all the drivers and software all over again.

But then I thought, maybe if I reinstall and replace the new hardrive image (C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk) with my old one, I could boot it...

So I moved my harddrive file (C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk) out of the folder, When you reinstall wubi, all the data inside (C:\Ubuntu) is deleted, so I moved the file to (C:\dell) (CuT not COPY it's way faster) next I ran the wubi installer, (uninstaller was brought up since it was already installed, after that the installer came up) and made a new installation with the smallest possible Capacity, Waited for the install, then rebooted and selected "Xubuntu" , waited for the install to complete, then booted back to windows,

Renamed my old HardDrive to "root2.disk", and copied it back to (C:\ubuntu\disks\);

I then edited (C:\ubuntu\winboot\wubildr.cfg) {make a backup first}

and changed every mention of "root.disk" to "root2.disk"

DO NOT DELETE THE NEW ROOT.DISK!!!!

As it is needed to boot the old one.

save your changes and reboot.

in the Grub menu press 'E' (on the 1st linux entry)

and again change all references of "root.disk" to Root2.disk

CTRL + X to boot this;

and BAM!!!! back to Linux!!!
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
What just happened???
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--

I like to call this "SYSTEM TOWING"

We installed a NEW virtual hard drive that works great,
At the boot menu of the New harddrive, we told it "instead of opening, "root.disk" (new hardrive), open "root2.disk" (Old drive).

that's it, it just sounds hard, However, next time you boot linux, it would "normal" boot the new disk again, so we are going to make a menu entry, to allow us to boot our old disk when ever we want!

To do this we must edit our Grub file as ROOT; here is one way to do this:

Sudo mousepad /boot/grub/grub.cfg

You must do this on your NEW hard drive!

to add a new menu entry for OLD drive, copy+paste this:

menuentry "Ubuntu" {
insmod ntfs
set root=(hd0,3)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 2c6edb496edb0b0a
loopback loop0 /ubuntu/disks/root2.disk
set root=(loop0)
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=/dev/sda3 loop=/ubuntu/disks/root2.disk ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}

right under:
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_lupin ###

It's worked for me, hopefully it will work for you to!!

FAQ.

Q. can't I just Replace "root.disk" with my old one?
A. no, we are towing with the NEW disk, if you kill it, you will be right back where you started.

Q.my WiFi Drivers are GONE!!!!
A. towing sometimes disables incompatible drivers, just re-enable them from "Hardware Drivers"

Q. can I tow from a different Hardrive.
A. Depends on the setup, Read up on Grub, and booting from external drives

Have a question?
Post a comment!

Turn a laptop into a NINTENDO WIFI hotspot!

(If Your card dose Not support Mixed mode, this WILL NOW work on DS/DS_lite)
(For now it works for DSi but not ds/wii :( )
Ok, so here WAS my problem:

I have WIRED INTERNET (earthlink), (and no wifi router)

it only allows ONE web connection at a time, and one IP address is assigned!

My laptop has x(UBUNTU) Linux/ vista on it, if i use the built-in hotspot creators, it says can't get IP address, and fails to connect.

After many Google searches, youtube videos, and help files, I was told many thing, but they were all made for people who want to make a hotspot for another laptop, and it requires a DCHP server, Plus your ISP must support many connections.

Requirements:

ubuntu or xubuntu (live CD, or install)

a pc/laptop with an ethernet port, and a wifi card(or usb wifi)

Nintendo DS, and a wifi Game

Recommended software:

Wicd - wireless lan mangier

RutilT - Great for making hotspots

In side Linux boot up the terminal:

and run this command:

Ifconfig

this shows all your network hardware;

you should have at least 3;

they should be called eth0, lo, and wlan0 ; (if there not (like you have eth1 instead, throughout the tutorial I will be calling it eth0, so just type eth1 instead, {YES, you have to replace it EVERY Time})

now enter three commands: (one at a time)

sudo iptables -A FORWARD -i eth0 -o wlan0 -s 192.168.0.0/24 -m conntrack --ctstate NEW -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A FORWARD -m conntrack --ctstate ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A POSTROUTING -t nat -j MASQUERADE

Ok, what we are doing is "packet forwarding", basically your PC acts as a middle man, and when your DS, wants to go on-line it tells the PC, the PC gets the data and hands it to the Ds, and vice versa;

next run this:

sudo sh -c "echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward"

Now we can make ad-hoc network so the DS can talk to the PC;

open your favorite network utility; ( i will use RutilT)

now create a new profile; (or create new connection)

give it a name, (name of the connection not the WIFI signal)

Set an SSID: (wifi's name), and a WEP key, (if you must, could cause problems)

Select a channel; (6, works best for me, 10 and 1 are usually OK too)

and save it.

boot up your DS, and load your WiFi compatible Game;

and go to wifi settings, or configure wifi. (see game Manuel)

create a new connection, and select Manuel setup.

click edit by SSID and enter your SSID (wifi name)

enter Wep key if you set one;

Click "NO" beside Auto-obtain IP address;

Set the settings as follows:

IP address: 192.168.0.111

subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway:192.168.0.1

(for DNS, I'm using OPENDNS, you may use your own if you wish.)

Primary DNS 208.67.222.222

Secondary DNS: 208.67.220.220

Now click "save settings"

WiFi Drivers

What you will need:
1 linux PC (Ubuntu)
1Windows PC
1flash drive
Wired Internet connection (for setup)

If you Just want to know How to install the Drivers skip to the bottom of the page:
_______________________________________________________
Today I found A big problem,

I was at school, and Took out my laptop, booted into Linux, and noticed something,
the WiFi would not work!!!

this was bad, because I had no Ethernet cable and the only other option was the computer lab.

While there is nothing wrong with the computer lab, It is often full of people, so I have no way of going online!



So when I got home I searched through the ubuntu forms, and read many posts, and finally found an answer!

A Linux program, that lets you install windows drivers on ubuntu!!!

I read the directions, and it said to download an install "NDISWrapper"

Run this in terminal:

Sudo Apt-get install ndisgtk


then I got a new entry in my menu (Applications > system > Windows Wireless Drivers)

ubuntu users go here (System → Administration → Windows Wireless Drivers)

I clicked on "install new drivers"

that's when I discovered I needed to download the drivers from the Manufactures website:

I had a Dell Vostro 1310, A discontinued laptop, so I went to the dell website, looked up the computer model, and found a tab (button on the page) called "drivers and downloads" or something like that; that took me to the drivers page for that laptop, I then saw a list of all the drivers for EVERYTHING on the laptop, cd drive, touchpad, graphics card, and finally "Network", so I downloaded the drivers for the Wlan card, and I got an EXE file.

Since, Linux Dose not support EXE's (without WINE), I diced to copy it to my usb flash drive, and run it on windows.

So I booted up my windows PC, and loaded up the file, and the only option was to "Install the Drivers" I wanted to install the Drivers, BUT NOT TO WINDOWS!!! so I found a Program called "Universal Extractor", (this tool lets you open Installer files, and take out the files you need)

So I opened Universal Extractor, and I loaded my "Drivers install thing" and after about a minute I had a new folder!(folder is in same place as your driver install program)
I copied the new folder, onto my flash drive and plunged it into my Linux PC,

And I Reopened, "windows wireless drivers", clicked "install new driver" and the web page I was reading said to find a file ending in ".inf" (usually in a folder called USA, or 32bit or 32...)
I found it and installed.

Then GUESS WHAT????


... nothing happened....
So, I searched the web again, and I found a page saying that all installed windows drivers must be Installed, and "ACTIVATED!!!! Ohh, so they told me to look through my "Applications" menu for something called "Hardware Drivers", I found it, and opened it,

and Sure enough, the drivers were installed but not active, so I activated them, and my computer crashed!!!, although the Wifi, light did Light up....

So I went back the the web page on Installing windows drivers, and in small print, at the bottom of the page, it says, "Make sure the Drivers You install are For XP, and NOT for Vista"

I was Very upset about this, so I went back to dell's drivers page, and found a box labeled Operating system: the (since the PC was released after Vista came out, the box showed the words "WINDOWS VISTA") so I changed it to "windows XP" and re- downloaded the drivers.
And I had to uninstall The vista ones from linux...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So here 's how you are supose to install Windows Drivers on ubuntu:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Run this in terminal:

Sudo Apt-get install ndisgtk

(on windows:)
Go to your PC Manufacturers website, Find the drivers/Downloads page, and find your PC.
Download the "WINDOWS XP" version of the drivers:

If you get an EXE file, use "Universal Extractor", to open it;

copy the new folder you get to your Linux PC (with a USB flash drive)

open "System → Administration → Windows Wireless Drivers"

click "install New Driver" and browse to a .inf file in your new folder
(it may be in a sub-folder called USA or 32...)

Activate the new drivers from within; "Hardware Drivers" (check the "applicatons:" menu)

Reboot your PC!
-------------------
that's it!!!

Welcome

Welcome to BLOGofLINUXnoob!
I just got a Full linux install for the First time!!!
And As I discover tips and tricks, I will post them.

So if your new to Linux, reading this could Help you!

I am using Xubuntu, and I installed using WUBI!