GRUB error 17

GRUB is a boot-loader, assisting in the selection of available operating systems on your PC. There are a couple of others, but the GRand Unified Bootloader seems to be preferred by many distributions to permit dual-booting Windows and Linux, for example. Mentioning dual-booting doesn’t do GRUB much justice: it’s a multiboot loader.

Recently, I reclaimed some space on my nx8220, effectively reformatting my existing Ubuntu installation. I had a brief idea that I’d have trouble booting back into Windows XP, but that was a very short thought indeed. Not using the notebook for a day, then the surprise when attempting a startup. GRUB bootloader error 17. And little else. I remembered my earlier space reclamation immediately, of course.

GRUB error 17 is not entirely serious: the bootloader is simply unable to reconcile its present knowledge of disk structures with the new one it is confronted with. In my case, the sudden change from a Linux filesystem to NTFS. As with all boot problems, don’t get carried away. The fix is normally quite simple. For this specific issue, or to get rid of a bootloader, you simply need to replace the modified Master Boot Record with a known-good one. In the case of XP, reboot the system with the installation disk and select the repair option. The biggest pain with that method is trying to remember the Administrator password… Get to the console, then enter fixmbr and fixboot for good measure. Remove the CD, and reboot. That should do it. If you don’t have the XP disk available, you should also be able to resolve the issue using fdisk /mbr.

This entry was posted by manfred on 26 August 2007 at 19:11, and is filed under Linux/Unix. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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#1 written by bargebuster 3 years ago

I don’t recall setting an administrator password, so what should I do? Can’t get in
to do the repair. In my case, I uninstalled UBUNTU & turned it into XP storage. Everything was fine the 1st boot. Second boot, no worky. HELP!
#2 written by manfred 3 years ago

Use a LiveCD or a rescue CD to boot into the system, then take corrective action from there. Most LiveCD images are workable. Else try Hiren’s BootCD or similar…
#3 written by Thomas Kress 3 years ago

I had the same error, panicked, googled, scratched my head, rebooted a few times. In the end it was as simple as removing a usb stick and booting. It seems that Grub couldn’t figure it out.
#4 written by manfred 3 years ago

Hehe – that can happen…
#5 written by hector 3 years ago

great post!
i did the same as you, silly indeed but how else get rid the partition?

thanks a lot, all solve with hiren’s boot cd
#6 written by manfred 3 years ago

I’ve made this mistake more often than I can remember. Hiren’s BootCD is indeed a lifesaver!
#7 written by Justas 3 years ago

Afrer som googling I found this: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/203537

Now sitting with life cd and have absolutely no idea.
#8 written by manfred 3 years ago

My GRUB 17 was never the result of a software bug…it was a result of a wetware bug
#9 written by Rafael Pol 3 years ago

Thanks a lot, it works!
#10 written by manfred 3 years ago

Pleased to know this helped!
#11 written by jaystar 3 years ago

hey thanx a lot now that i got rid of that stupid grub error (didnt really want linux but need it for a class…)
#12 written by manfred 3 years ago

Sure you want Linux Give it some time – it’ll grow on you!
#13 written by George 3 years ago

Hey everyone, I know it’s a bit late for this thread but I am in dire need of help.

I am quite positive that my situation applies here; I had Linux installed on a separate hard drive, and in Windows XP I formatted the entire drive, and created an NTFS partition. That worked great until today when I got GRUB error 17.

So I know that it is simple as putting in the Win XP recovery disk and typing fixmbr, but I do not have this disk. Stock HP computers don’t give you these — only the option to create 3 recovery DVDs (which seemed pointless because a handy recovery system is in another partition of the first HDD). Anyways, I need to fix my MBR without the Win XP disk.

A key note to mention, I did acquire Hiren’s Boot CD (v. 9.6), but I don’t know what to do with it. Help is greatly appreciated.
#14 written by manfred 3 years ago

Hiren’s CD should help – you’ll need to stick it into the CD-ROM drive, make sure your machine is setup to boot off that device (set that option in the BIOS) and then navigate through the many options once the boot CD has loaded.

You could try booting up with the HP CD and attempt to break the boot to get into the admin console – I don’t know whether that is possible from the recovery disk (I assume it isn’t). Last option: get hold of a mate or an admin and borrow a bootable XP disk. Good luck!
#15 written by Claudio 3 years ago

Hello I had the same problem on a desktop.
Te problem solver when I opened the box and realized one of the IDEcables of HD was disconnected.
How this happened? I have a 2 years boy and he moved the Tower Box very badly
#16 written by Scott Lance Smith 3 years ago

Where on Hirens Cd is FIXMBR located & what do you mean by console?
#17 written by anna graham 3 years ago

You saved my ass on this one. None of the Ubuntu forums were of much use. I knew I had a good reason for holding onto that XP disk.
#18 written by manfred 3 years ago

Scott – FIXMBR is available when booting a bootable XP CD and entering the administrative console. It’s one of the options during the boot process and enables you to enter a command prompt.
#19 written by Brad 3 years ago

when u say use the installation cd, do u mean the operating system installtion cd?
#20 written by manfred 3 years ago

The OS CD, indeed.
#21 written by Junior 3 years ago

thanks alot it worked!! legendary stuff!!!
#22 written by Ian 3 years ago

My bios cant detect my cd drive co i cant boot into recovery console to fix my mbr,
Cant get past grub error 17. Is there a way to fix this without a cd? Maybe a usb install my bios will boot to puppy linux on a usb stick. I just want to boot windows. I’ve removed kubuntu. Reformating that drive is what called the problem i think. Grub is looking for the linux partition and when it cant it wont even let me into windows. Very bad design., If i had known installing linux would mess with my xp boot and destroy it i would never of installed.
#23 written by manfred 3 years ago

Maybe you should check for a BIOS upgrade, which will enable you to boot off a CD. What about a USB drive? The issue is with the GRUB boot loader expecting to find a boot sector that no longer exists. Not necessarily bad design, just the way it works… You should be able to boot off something…how about a floppy disk?
#24 written by Mike Nolley 3 years ago

Hi, I have a similar problem. I also reformatted my linux partition, and on bootup grub gives “error 17″. The compy also won’t recognize the CD-rom drive. I have a bootable “supergrubdisk” on a flash drive that is working fine on that computer (windows PE and other OS’s installed similarly on the flash drive did not work) Any way to restore the grub bootloader using this USB grub disk?
#25 written by manfred 3 years ago

You might try something like this (this works using a LiveCD and then opening a terminal window – I guess you could try a similar trick with the USB stick, though I haven’t tried that): run grub, either as root or by running sudo grub. Then execute the following commands in the grub interface: root (hd0,0) and then setup hd0, then type exit. Please ensure the drive is correctly specified – I provide hd0 purely as an example…hd0,0 is hard drive 1, partition 1.
#26 written by korina 3 years ago

saya mempunyai masalah sama seerti rekan – rekan lain.
yaitu error 17 pada linux mint saya.
dan saya mohon tolonh diberitahu bagaimana cara memerbaikinya?
tolong berikan cara – caranya dan dengan bahasa yang mudah dimengerti.

trims
#27 written by fernie 3 years ago

hey, i use Puppy linux on a old computer already set up like that. So i don t have any CD.
the GRUB Error 17 stuck my computer when i start it. I can t even acces to the desktop.
i m lost like a fish out of the sea…..
#28 written by jack 3 years ago

thankyou soooo much this was a huge help
#29 written by manfred 3 years ago

Get a latest Linux distribution that features a Live test mode – that’s available in almost all modern, mainstream distros to allow testing prior to installation. Boot off the CD, let the Live preview start up and then open a Terminal session. Log in as root and open the file /boot/grub/menu.lst or create it if required. The best reference for Puppy I can find is here: http://www.puppylinux.com/hard-puppy.htm. You’ll need to know the device name of the hard disk you want to boot from. Good luck
#30 written by praneeth 2 years ago

hi frnds
I have both windows xp and linux in the system, using disk management I have deleted the linux version , and when I reboot the system error 17 is displaying wat can I do to over come this
#31 written by manfred 2 years ago

The easiest is simply to re-create the MBR using the XP bootup disk.
#32 written by Tyler 2 years ago

Ok, so i had ubuntu and vista. i wanted to delete ubuntu, so i did what all i had to to get rid of it. then i go to restart my computer and i get this error. the only problem is, i dont have the vista disk or the ubuntu disk. i cant type anything where it says there is an error. its just there. this is exactly what it says::

GRUB Loading stage 1.5
GRUB loading, please wait, then it says error 17 .
please, please help me fix this.
#33 written by manfred 2 years ago

You’ll need some kind of bootable disk – getting hold of a rescue disk, such as Hiren’s BootCD, is probably your best bet.
#34 written by Tyler 2 years ago

Where can I get it and is it free
#35 written by manfred 2 years ago

Hiren’s BootCD is a bootable CD image that you can use to attempt to fix a host of issues – it is free and you should be able to download the latest version here: http://www.hirensbootcd.net. Write the image to a CD and then use that CD to boot the machine.
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