Linux and unhelpful GRUB error

I have been using Ubuntu since version 6 on an external hard drive. Not because I really have a need for it, but because I have it and want to keep it up to date.

On that same disk, I had Mojopac installed on a separate partition. I hadn't used that in a while and unfortunately, Mojopac decided to update itself. No dialog box, no confirmation, it just started downloading. When I came back to my laptop, I noticed this had happened and also that it had failed. Not only did the update fail, but it ruined my installation as was unable to start it.

Whatever I did, it refused to run and refused to update and refused to reinstall. A message to the wonderful tech support people went unanswered... I finally managed to get it up and running again by wiping out the entire partition, recreating it and reinstalling Mojopac.

However, when I tried to boot from my external disk into Ubuntu 8.10, it failed:

That is it. No further information, just this.

I suspect that it has to do with the fact that I had wiped out and re-created the Mojopac partition prior to the re-installation. Grub probably got confused and threw this error.

I booted with the Ubuntu live CD and checked /boot/grub/menu.lst but as far as I can tell, it still looked correct. The external drive showed up as sdb and the menu.lst referred to the first drive, which makes sense, because after booting from that drive, it becomes sda.

Who knows. I have been at this now for an hour. The quickest way is just to reinstall Ubuntu.

And then the eternal discussion: Linux v. Windows v. Mac OS.

Linux ready for "prime time"? I don't think so. Not by far. I hear people complain about Microsoft and Windows all day long. All things Apple seem to be "in" nowadays and more people are looking into the various Linux flavors. And I have to say: the live CD concept is brilliant and there have been vast improvements in installation, partitioning, user interface and applications over the past years. But as long as error messages are so bizarre, so unhelpful, and as long as solving problems like this require the end user to dive deep into the command prompt and as long as the user is expected to have knowledge of the underlying disk and file structure, it is simply not ready for the general public.

I sometimes have difficulty trouble-shooting someone else's complicated Windows or networking woes over the phone. Imagine explaining to someone they need to check and edit their GRUB boot menu.

Right...