Dualboot Ubuntu 16.04 and Windows 10 Pro using EasyBCD

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Mynydd

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Hello,
I wanted to dualboot Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04. It worked fine, but after a while, when I booted into Ubuntu I only got a black screen stating:

Grub4Dos root is
processing preset-menu...

At this screen, the pc freezes, but if I boot to Ubuntu using the UEFI-Bootmanager, it works just fine.
I hope you can help me.
 
Exactly my problem. I would only add that my Ubuntu 16.04 is on a separate drive to which I can boot successfully. I have noticed that the Ubuntu boot is a bit rough (with a number of error messages displayed along the way) but it works. I also notice that Mynydd posted this more than two months ago with no response. Why use EasyBCD if we can't get answer in a timely manner to pressing problems. I back up an important and complex website using my local Ubuntu which has been configured to permit access to a NAS drive. So it's a non-trivial requirement to be able to dual boot into Ubuntu. I've also configured the UEFI to permit Legacy access and Secure Boot is turned off. My understanding is that I couldn't even pull up the drive list without doing the former. So I can get to my Ubuntu 16.04 if with a few clunks. Still, not what you want. Willing to pay for the commercial EasyBCD but only if I know I'll get timely tech support to solve this problem.
 
I give up. There is something fundamentally flawed in EasyBCD which cannot handle Ubuntu GRUB in a UEFI environment. I bought the commercial version to get support for something I don't want to spend the time to understand (spent too much time already and don't - understanding boot logic for two different operating systems playing off each other is a non-trivial struggle). But no support and an Easy BCD which, from what I'm seeing obviously, cannot solve the problem of dual booting if the problem is on the Linux/Ubuntu side. I'm fairly certain at this point that mine is. But then I don't really know because I use Ubuntu for very limited tasks (backing up the github code for my website) and I don't really want to become a programmer who lives on Linux. If the foregoing strikes someone as pretty frustrated and p.... o...., you've probably got my drift. I'm going to boot from the drives after choosing Legacy boot from the UEFI and be done with it. Stay away from EasyBCD if you really need to dual boot into Ubuntu.
 
Thanks for the offer of help. Unfortunately, the pages you're pointing me to deal with a fresh Ubuntu install which would overwrite my current Ubuntu which has been configured to permit backups of my github code to my local NAS drive, also a non-trivial accomplishment for someone who doesn't live in Ubuntu and its terminal. My guess is that the Windows bootloader can't find the existing Ubuntu grub (the Ubuntu bootloader). So it hangs. How to tell Windows bootloader where to find the Ubuntu GRUB I've tried to learn but haven't succeeded. The problem is with EasyBCD which is not so easy. It leaves me hanging time after time midway through the Ubuntu boot at a line I'm not remembering but definitely a dead end. If I could reload a fresh Ubuntu I'm sure things would work out. I can't go there. Thanks again for your try to help.
 
Thanks for the contribution, terry60. I've spent quite a bit of time on this matter and read the support doc you've referenced early on. Since I still get the hanging GRUB4DOS screen after having restored Legacy Boot and idsabled Secure Boot in my ASUS motherboard UEFI (I built the machine which is my main home-office computer) and also since my existing Ubuntu 16.04 works fine on my third hard drive, it would seem my only option is Option 3.

I'm guessing that the underlying problem with EasyBCD is that the Windows bootloader can't find GRUB2. So it hangs. So far, nothing I've done with EasyBCD solved the problem. I'm not really sure there's a way to point the Windows bootloader in the right direction and, from what I can tell, EasyBCD isn't saying. Obviously, so far, I don't know how to do that. So I'm through trying with EasyBCD without tech support.

At the same time, concerning Option 3, I'm deathly afraid of messing around with existing GRUB2 for fear of overwriting my existing Ubuntu which has been configured at great effort to do my github backups to my NAS drive. Sounds simple enough but structuring a newly installed Ubuntu to run my website backups freaks me out, to be honest. There's Ubuntu terminal code that shows up in a whole bunch of the commentary on this subject, much of which I've discovered doesn't work on my Ubuntu, much of which I don't understand at all.

Long story short. I have nothing against booting to GRUB2 and loading Windows 98% of the time. I just don't know how to do that and be 100% sure I don't KO my existing Ubuntu along the way. If someone can talk me through it and explain why I'm doing what in the Ubuntu terminal (which I have learned to use, somewhat), I'm game. Just not experienced enough on Ubuntu to do it on my own. Bought the commercial version of EasyBCD thinking tech support there would solve the problem. Money down the drain.
 
Sorry, but my Ubuntu experience pre-dates grub2, so you are in a better position than I.
Technical support for EasyBCD, whether from fellow users on this forum for the free version, or from them directly for the commercial won't help much in this case because MS just doesn't allow the bootmgr.efi version to load even their own legacy OSs, let alone "foreign" stuff like Linux, and neither EasyBCD nor any alternative can circumvent that prohibition.
You need help from Linux experts, and my many years lurking around this forum and ultimately moderating here haven't seen many of those, certainly none who stick around and give advice.
You'd probably fare better going directly to an Ubuntu user forum for the advice and reassurance you seek.
If you're a home user, you could request a refund on the commercial licence and just use the community version of EasyBCD.
 
This link would "seem" to suggest otherwise.

EasyBCD

"Dual-boot with anything you could want."

The problem with the Ubuntu documentation I've read is that they either assume you are installing a clean Ubuntu from scratch (not doing that) or go so deep into the terminal command line weeds that I can't be sure I won't blow up my existing and, from my perspective, untouchable Ubuntu. The link implies I could use the Windows bootloader to grab GRUB2. At this point I'm skeptical. I also haven't heard 'boo" from NeoSmart in the way of tech support or refunding my money.

To your basic point, I think that the only way I'm going to dual boot the two operating systems as a simple binary choice will be from GRUB2. Maybe I'll hire an Ubuntu guy/lady to reconfigure my GRUB2 as a boot front end. In the meantime, I'm going to do what I've been forced to do up to now. Bring up my list of bootable drives, tapping on the F8 key (ASUS motherboard) and boot to the Ubuntu which luckily is on a separate drive.

Unfortunately, NeoSmart can't be trusted. Think we need to spread the word.
 
As I said before, everything changed with UEFI. Your emphasized quote pre-dates UEFI by many years and was (and still is) perfectly accurate when referring to a conventional BIOS/MBR system.
It was Microsoft that changed the rules and forbade the booting of legacy and guest OSs via their .efi version of bootmgr. You can't blame Neosmart for that, or for not being prescient and failing to anticipate a future paradigm shift in their blurb.
No idea though why you're having problems contacting them.
 
I get the "everything changed with UEFI" bit, yet another outrageous attempt by Microsoft to monopolize their domain. Microsoft should have been broken up but W killed the Clinton Administration's push to do that. That said, most motherboards, including mine, permit you to re-introduce Legacy BIOS and also turn off Secure Boot. The link I provided, which is still active although it points to generations earlier versions of Ubuntu, clearly says EasyBCD 2.3 permits you to dual boot from Windows 10 to basically anything else you want to. This is not true. EasyBCD should take that webpage down or, better yet, develop a version that does what it says it can do. I'm happy to buy software. Free is never really free. But then if I pay, I expect results. So far, EasyBCD is nowhere to be seen. They're asking for a visit from my lawyer (me) because I'm getting really annoyed now. That webpage says I should be able to dual boot to Ubuntu if I re-enable Legacy Boot and disable Secure Boot. Doesn't work.
 
The question is not whether or not legacy boot is enabled/disabled (or secure boot, for that matter), but whether you are booting into Windows via the EFI or the legacy BOOTMGR bootloader.

Repeat after me: EasyBCD does not replace your system bootloader. EasyBCD does not replace your system bootloader.

Rather, EasyBCD extends your existing bootloader to boot into other operating systems. A PC with legacy boot enabled can use the legacy BOOTMGR, but that does not automatically mean it will do so. If you (ever) booted Windows in EFI mode, it will continue to use the EFI bootmgr bootloader forevermore.

EasyBCD steps in after bootmgr has been loaded. If the EFI bootmgr has been loaded, then no matter what your BIOS settings are, you cannot boot into Ubuntu. Period. The only solution is to initialize your disk, make sure the GPT is cleared and it is MBR-formatted, then re-install Windows.

Now if you ARE using the legacy bootmgr and your PC does not contain a trace of the UEFI configuration, then you are possibly running into a grub4dos bug and we can discuss that at length until we find a solution.
 
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Ahhh, the mention of a lawsuit got your attention. Repeat after me, as your arrogant self put it, say once again the words "repeat after me" and you WILL BE SUED. Get it. I paid for your commercial version expecting tech support. If I don't get tech support one-on-one now and get it without the smart-ass, then we'll take it from there. And you won't be happy with the outcome, I can promise you. You, NeoSmart, imply in legally identifiable places that your software will dual boot "almost anything" from the Windows boot manager. You don't really say what the exceptions are and I'm more than a week into the process to find out that, given the exceptions you've just described, the reality is not really what the website says.

Where does it say the following: "A PC with legacy boot enabled can use the legacy BOOTMGR, but that does not automatically mean it will do so. If you (ever) booted Windows in EFI mode, it will continue to use the EFI bootmgr bootloader forevermore." Clearly, I loaded Windows 10 without a clue what a UEFI was or how the boot logic might have changed, as did 99.999999% of people who were forced on to Windows 10.

I'm not completely sure my system ever booted into Ubuntu after I moved to Windows 10. I did rebuild my five or six computers on new naked 1 tb SSD drives about six months to a year ago. And it is possible that I lost the Ubuntu dual boot then. Could be. I doubt it but can't rule it out which is more honesty that your website provides.

On the other hand, if you want to get real and try to solve my problem or, could be, show me civilly that it can't be solved, I'm open to preceding amicably. I am using what I understand to be the legacy bootmanager - at least I think I am - but I have no idea what the phrase "does not contain a trace of the UEFI configuration" could possibly mean. What I do know is that I can't escape the grub4dos "bug". Whether that's an EasyBCD "bug" or a Windows "bug" or an Ubuntu "bug" I have no idea.

Where do we go from here?
 
I'm closing this thread. Your money was refunded and your paid license is revoked. We really don't have the time of day for abusive customers. Please refrain from contacting us further.
 
Ahhh, the mention of a lawsuit got your attention. Repeat after me, as your arrogant self put it, say once again the words "repeat after me" and you WILL BE SUED. Get it. I paid for your commercial version expecting tech support. If I don't get tech support one-on-one now and get it without the smart-ass, then we'll take it from there. And you won't be happy with the outcome, I can promise you. You, NeoSmart, imply in legally identifiable places that your software will dual boot "almost anything" from the Windows boot manager. You don't really say what the exceptions are and I'm more than a week into the process to find out that, given the exceptions you've just described, the reality is not really what the website says.

Where does it say the following: "A PC with legacy boot enabled can use the legacy BOOTMGR, but that does not automatically mean it will do so. If you (ever) booted Windows in EFI mode, it will continue to use the EFI bootmgr bootloader forevermore." Clearly, I loaded Windows 10 without a clue what a UEFI was or how the boot logic might have changed, as did 99.999999% of people who were forced on to Windows 10.

I'm not completely sure my system ever booted into Ubuntu after I moved to Windows 10. I did rebuild my five or six computers on new naked 1 tb SSD drives about six months to a year ago. And it is possible that I lost the Ubuntu dual boot then. Could be. I doubt it but can't rule it out which is more honesty that your website provides.

On the other hand, if you want to get real and try to solve my problem or, could be, show me civilly that it can't be solved, I'm open to preceding amicably. I am using what I understand to be the legacy bootmanager - at least I think I am - but I have no idea what the phrase "does not contain a trace of the UEFI configuration" could possibly mean. What I do know is that I can't escape the grub4dos "bug". Whether that's an EasyBCD "bug" or a Windows "bug" or an Ubuntu "bug" I have no idea.

Where do we go from here?

It was the Moderators who alerted him to your thread, not your threats, which by the way are grounds for banning from this or practically any other website, as is insulting language, and hardly encourages any support person to be helpful.
 
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