EasyBCD booting to wrong partition

ThomasC

Member
I set up EasyBCD 2.2 to multi boot Windows Vista, Ubuntu and Debian. All of the operating systems are in separate partitions on my C: drive. Windows is in partition 1, Ubuntu is in partition 2 and Debain is in partition 4 (partitions 3 and 5 are swap). In setting up the boots through EasyBCD I pointed to the correct partition for each OS, using Grub2 for the Linux installs.

Booting to Windows and Ubuntu work fine. The problem is that when I attempt to boot into Debian, it instead boots into Ubuntu. I have created and re-created the entries and no matter what, when I choose Debian, I get booted into Ubuntu.

My guess is that AutoNeoGrub1.mbr (the Debian entry) is pointing to Ubuntu, but I can't be sure since I cannot edit the file.

Here is a display from View Settings in EasyBCD:

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier {9dea862c-5cdd-4e70-acc1-f32b344d4795}
device partition=C:
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-US
inherit {7ea2e1ac-2e61-4728-aaa3-896d9d0a9f0e}
default {5e8af90f-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
resumeobject {717b3d5f-1646-11dc-914d-a6b536f0d904}
displayorder {5e8af90f-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
{5e8af910-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
{5e8af911-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
toolsdisplayorder {b2721d73-1db4-4c62-bf78-c548a880142d}
timeout 10
resume No
displaybootmenu Yes
custom:45000001 1

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier {5e8af90f-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
device partition=C:
path \Windows\system32\winload.exe
description Windows
locale en-US
osdevice partition=C:
systemroot \Windows

Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier {5e8af910-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
device partition=C:
path \NST\AutoNeoGrub0.mbr
description Ubuntu

Real-mode Boot Sector
---------------------
identifier {5e8af911-8463-11e3-a251-005056c00008}
device partition=C:
path \NST\AutoNeoGrub1.mbr
description Debian
 
No replies, so I checked further back in the forum and found similar questions/problems. A post from June 14th, 2012 "Wrong Partition Numbers for Linux Grub Entries" has three Linux entries all booting to the first Linux partition. As hgd states in his post:

"I wanted to create a separate option for each of the three Linux systems, but when I chose the Grub2 option, the automatically configured entry that I obtained booted only into the first Linux system. I thought that I should have at least been given the choice of which system to boot into."

Is this a know problem with EasyBCD?
 
I currently have the boot process working with the Grub2 menu, but it is a pain to manipulate. I was hoping that EasyBCD would give me a simple way to set up a boot menu. Guess I will just stick with Grub.
 
Misunderstanding : you must create a uefi partition (uefi-boot = 200 Mo) before installing Ubuntu (i suppose it is a 12.04 and up).
i can help you.

About debian, i have posted a threads on the same subjects yesterday !
Debian (yours) :
Is it with uefi or grub ( grub2 ? )?
Have you the choice on Metro ?
Have you installed it from DVD-Debian or from an .Iso burned ?

Mine is a Dvd-Debian 7 from a linux-magazine - uefi -


Installing Debian is automatic and you do not need a boot-uefi partition but you can do it or choose the partitions.


So ? it is grub (easyBcd) or the partitions which are in a wrong place or bad installed ...

I , i think it is first about your partitions and the choices of boot - grub or uefi -.
 
Last edited:
I don't think anything I did with my partitioning/installation was incorrect. I can boot to any of the three operating systems using grub2. The only reason I was trying to use EasyBCD was to simplify the process, and to make a cleaner boot menu. I am not going to re-partition and re-install. It not worth the bother.
 
misunderstanding

1° it is not about your incorrect/correct partioning/installation ...
2° you do not need easy bcd to simplify the process ...
3° you are not going to reinstall ...


It is only the advices of ubuntu-team and debian-team according to your bios, your Windows, and the version of ubuntu / Debian.

You do not need easybcd for dual-booting ubuntu / debian : automatic choices are yet done
i let a link (my precedent post) but it is 12.04 ubuntu (with pictures) for a cleaner boot menu with easybcd.
About debian , i have (so am i ) a real problem (my precedent post) with Windows 8.


I said only - my personal opinion - that it can be a problem first with the O.S linux and second (maybe ) with easybcd.
Manipulate easybcd without understand that you are doing could damage your computer.


It is up to you ...

thx.
 
I today experienced the exact same thing as the original poster. Using the latest EasyBCD 2.4, I tried to add a third Linux distro to the boot menu, which I did, successfully. Each of my Linux distros has grub or grub 2 installed on the PBR (Partition Boot Record), not in the MBR (Master Book Record) of the drive. The two older entries boot fine, as does my primary OS, Windows 7, but the third Linux distro, when selected, brings up the second distro's grub boot menu.

I investigated a bit, and found that the AutoNeoGrub2.mbr file for the third Linux in the NST directory was identical to the AutoNeoGrub1.mbr file for the second Linux, except that AutoNeoGrub2.mbr referred to the ANG2 file in the root of C:, whereas AutoNeoGrub1.mbr referred to the ANG1 file in the root of C:. Comparing ANG2 with ANG1, they were identical. Hence, I was not surprised that choosing the third Linux when booting took me to the grub menu for the second Linux!

Having recently upgraded to version 2.4, I decided to downgrade to version 2.3, which I had archived. When I tried the same task, creating a menu entry for Linux distro 3 after deleting the one mentioned above, it created a AutoNeoGrub2.mbr file different in size from AutoNeoGrub1.mbr, and ANG2 was also different than ANG1. Unsurprisingly, when I tested, selecting the third Linux distro did not take me to the second distro's grub menu, but unfortunately, another very common problem with EasyBCD reared its head. That is, Grub4dos executed, but could not find the files for the third Linux distro that were needed to boot, and it exited to a grub command prompt. I tried the live Linux distro and attempted to repair the grub from the hard disk install I had done, but that made no difference, I was unable to boot the the third distro no matter what kind of tweaks I tried in EasyBCD.

I can't tell for sure, but it appears to be a bug in version 2.4. I tried several times after deleting the faulty menu entry, to create a new one, but testing it, each time it "worked", it took me to the wrong distro's grub menu. At least version 2.3 did not do that, but that did not solve the entire problem, as I still can't boot distro three. I may have to try Grub2Win, as I am at a loss as to what the problem is!

aboutblank

February 16, 2020
 
2.4 is an update to 2.3 to fix problems caused by grub architecture changes in later Linux distros, so no surprise that back-levelling EasyBCD introduced greater problems than you originally encountered.
Since you seem to have uncovered a new bug in 2.4, I'd suggest you copy your post to a new thread in the "Bugcentral" forum wwhere hopefully the author will see it soon.
 
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