boot failure in normal and recovery mode

output of

lshw please

Getting a LiveCd session to work usually helps, even if it's an old *buntu Cd. I would guess that a LiveCd session should work fine
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD

I suspect that either your wastebins and caches and such like have become too full or else you might need a quick refresh install of Xubuntu using a neat trick to fool the installer ( ii can't believe that no-one else seems to know this trick even now. Anyway on a command-line
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal#In%20Xfce%20(Xubuntu)
please type

lshw

df -h

sudo fdisk -l

free -m

Note the " -l" is a lower-case " -L" and "lshw" is a lower-case "LSHW". Sudo will ask for your normal user password but wont give you any stars for typing it. Please copy the output of those 4 into here.

When you are booting up do you get a lot of different options for booting into Xubuntu or do you just get 1 option for Xubuntu and 1 for Windows?

Thanks and regards from
Tom :)

This looks like some problem with the filesystem and/or initial ramdisk (probably ramdisk). Boot the system from the live-cd and mount your system partition (it will be visible under Places/Computer). Check free space there first. Check free space on the /boot partition (you have to look around the partition layout may be non-standard).

If there is no space on boot you probably have corrupted initial ram-disk. Free some space there and reinstall your
kernel images. (Ask again here if you do not know how to do it from the live-cd environment)

You can also try to boot earlier kernel if you have one still installed and then try to free space/reinstall kernel.

ok, I booted from a livecd, mounted /dev/sda1 to /mnt/host/ and here's what I see:

ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt/host/ubuntu/disks$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
tmpfs 502M 2.4M 499M 1% /lib/modules/2.6.28-11-generic/volatile
tmpfs 502M 2.4M 499M 1% /lib/modules/2.6.28-11-generic/volatile
tmpfs 502M 0 502M 0% /lib/init/rw
varrun 502M 104K 502M 1% /var/run
varlock 502M 0 502M 0% /var/lock
udev 502M 136K 502M 1% /dev
tmpfs 502M 0 502M 0% /dev/shm
rootfs 502M 22M 480M 5% /
/dev/sr0 617M 617M 0 100% /cdrom
/dev/loop0 593M 593M 0 100% /rofs
tmpfs 502M 8.0K 502M 1% /tmp
/dev/sda1 56G 54G 1.9G 97% /mnt/host

ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt/host$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60011642880 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7296 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe79c73ce

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 7295 58597056 7 HPFS/NTFS
ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt/host$ free -m
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1002 729 273 0 92 317
-/+ buffers/cache: 319 683
Swap: 0 0 0

Again, this is a xubuntu install on a win2k box, so the entire /dev/sda1 is a single partition of ntfs. There is no /boot partition that I can see. The 60gb drive is reasonably full, but there's 1.9gb free, and xubuntu was installed on something like 8gb of space, which probably has 2gb-4gb free, but cannot be seen with a "df -h".

also "sudo lshw" output:
ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt/host$ sudo lshw
ubuntu
    description: Portable Computer
    product: M37EW
    vendor: Midern sag168168
    version: None
    serial: 12345678
    width: 32 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.2 dmi-2.2
    configuration: chassis=portable
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: Intel 852/855GM
       vendor: KAPOK
       physical id: 0
       version: None
       serial: 12345678
     *-firmware:0
          description: BIOS
          vendor: Insyde Software Corporation
          physical id: 0
          version: Version 2.08 (01/21/05)
          size: 80KiB
          capacity: 192KiB
          capabilities: isa pci pcmcia pnp apm upgrade shadowing cdboot socketedrom edd int13floppynec int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video acpi usb agp ls120boot zipboot smartbattery biosbootspecification
     *-cpu:0
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.60GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 4
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: 6.13.6
          slot: uPGA2
          size: 600MHz
          capacity: 600MHz
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 1599MHz
          capabilities: fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss tm pbe up bts est tm2 cpufreq
        *-cache:0
             description: L1 cache
             physical id: 5
             slot: L1 Cache
             size: 32KiB
             capacity: 32KiB
             capabilities: burst pipeline-burst internal write-back
        *-cache:1
             description: L2 cache
             physical id: 6
             slot: L2 Cache
             size: 2MiB
             capacity: 2MiB
             capabilities: burst pipeline-burst external write-back
     *-firmware:1
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 1
          size: 1023KiB
          capacity: 4672KiB
     *-firmware:2
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 50b
          size: 731KiB
          capacity: 7360KiB
     *-cpu:1
          description: CPU
          physical id: 1f
          bus info: cpu@1
          version: 6.13.6
          size: 1GHz
          clock: 599MHz
     *-firmware:3
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 190f
          size: 1011KiB
          capabilities: socketedrom pcmciaboot edd int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer int10video pc98
     *-memory:0 UNCLAIMED
          description: Flash Memory
          physical id: 1a
          slot: System board or motherboard
          capacity: 2MiB
     *-memory:1 UNCLAIMED
          description: Cache Memory
          physical id: 1b
          slot: System board or motherboard
          capacity: 256KiB
     *-memory:2 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: 2
        *-bank UNCLAIMED
             description: DIMM DRAM EDO
             physical id: 0
             slot: DRAM Slot 0
             size: 512MiB
             width: 64 bits
     *-memory:3 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: 3
        *-bank UNCLAIMED
             description: DIMM DRAM EDO
             physical id: 0
             slot: DRAM Slot 1
             size: 512MiB
             width: 64 bits
     *-memory:4 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: 5
        *-bank UNCLAIMED
             description: DIMM DRAM EDO [empty]
             physical id: 0
             slot: DRAM Slot 2
             width: 64 bits
     *-firmware:4
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 6
          size: 1MiB
          capacity: 6976KiB
          capabilities: mca eisa pnp shadowing vesa escd pcmciaboot int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int17printer
     *-firmware:5
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 7
          size: 586KiB
          capacity: 7296KiB
          capabilities: isa mca eisa vesa socketedrom int13floppy360 int13floppy720 int17printer int10video
     *-firmware:6
          description: BIOS
          vendor: DMI:0001
          physical id: 8
          size: 566KiB
          capacity: 2MiB
          capabilities: eisa pcmcia vesa escd pcmciaboot int13floppynec int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int5printscreen int14serial int17printer int10video
     *-firmware:7
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 6d53
          version: (+)
          size: 894KiB
          capacity: 6208KiB
          capabilities: isa mca eisa apm shadowing vesa escd bootselect pcmciaboot int13floppytoshiba int13floppy360 int13floppy2880 int14serial int17printer int10video
     *-firmware:8
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 9
          version: �
          size: 1023KiB
          capacity: 4224KiB
          capabilities: cdboot pc98
     *-firmware:9
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 141c
          size: 759KiB
          capacity: 8MiB
          capabilities: cdboot pc98
     *-firmware:10
          description: BIOS
          physical id: 6c45
          size: 566KiB
          capacity: 6336KiB
          capabilities: mca eisa apm upgrade vesa escd int13floppytoshiba int14serial int10video
     *-memory:5 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: a
     *-memory:6 UNCLAIMED
          physical id: b
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 21
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
          configuration: driver=agpgart-intel module=intel_agp
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:01.0
             version: 21
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master
           *-display UNCLAIMED
                description: VGA compatible controller
                product: RV350 [Mobility Radeon 9600 M10]
                vendor: ATI Technologies Inc
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
                version: 00
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 66MHz
                capabilities: agp agp-2.0 pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: latency=64 mingnt=8
        *-usb:0
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:1
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:2
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.2
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: bus_master
             configuration: driver=uhci_hcd latency=0 module=uhci_hcd
        *-usb:3
             description: USB Controller
             product: 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1d.7
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1d.7
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm debug bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ehci_hcd latency=0 module=ehci_hcd
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1e.0
             version: 83
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci bus_master
           *-network:0
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
                logical name: eth0
                version: 10
                serial: 00:90:f5:3a:40:74
                size: 10MB/s
                capacity: 1GB/s
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 66MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half latency=64 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=r8169 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
           *-firewire
                description: FireWire (IEEE 1394)
                product: TSB43AB21 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
                vendor: Texas Instruments
                physical id: 2
                bus info: pci@0000:02:02.0
                version: 00
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=ohci1394 latency=128 maxlatency=4 mingnt=2 module=ohci1394
           *-network:1
                description: Wireless interface
                product: PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection
                vendor: Intel Corporation
                physical id: 3
                bus info: pci@0000:02:03.0
                logical name: eth1
                version: 05
                serial: 00:0e:35:ca:ea:d2
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.2.6 (Mar 22 2005) ip=10.1.38.32 latency=128 link=yes maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 module=ipw2200 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
           *-pcmcia:0
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: PCI1620 PC Card Controller
                vendor: Texas Instruments
                physical id: 9
                bus info: pci@0000:02:09.0
                version: 01
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=192 module=yenta_socket
           *-pcmcia:1
                description: CardBus bridge
                product: PCI1620 PC Card Controller
                vendor: Texas Instruments
                physical id: 9.1
                bus info: pci@0000:02:09.1
                version: 01
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pcmcia bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=yenta_cardbus latency=176 maxlatency=5 mingnt=192 module=yenta_socket
           *-system UNCLAIMED
                description: System peripheral
                product: PCI1620 Firmware Loading Function
                vendor: Texas Instruments
                physical id: 9.2
                bus info: pci@0000:02:09.2
                version: 01
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
                configuration: latency=128 maxlatency=4 mingnt=7
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master
             configuration: latency=0
        *-ide
             description: IDE interface
             product: 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
             logical name: scsi0
             logical name: scsi1
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: ide bus_master emulated
             configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
           *-disk
                description: ATA Disk
                product: HTS726060M9AT00
                vendor: Hitachi
                physical id: 0
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/sda
                version: MH4O
                serial: MRH423M4H9TG5B
                size: 55GiB (60GB)
                capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
                configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=e79c73ce
              *-volume
                   description: Windows NTFS volume
                   physical id: 1
                   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                   logical name: /dev/sda1
                   logical name: /mnt/host
                   version: 3.0
                   serial: ea59d3d7-f793-8848-8974-f780608e6cca
                   size: 55GiB
                   capacity: 55GiB
                   capabilities: primary bootable ntfs initialized
                   configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2007-05-28 17:55:38 filesystem=ntfs mount.fstype=fuseblk mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,user_id=0,group_id=0,allow_other,blksize=4096 state=mounted
           *-cdrom
                description: DVD reader
                product: CDW/DVD SD-R2612
                vendor: TOSHIBA
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
                logical name: /dev/cdrom
                logical name: /dev/cdrw
                logical name: /dev/dvd
                logical name: /dev/scd0
                logical name: /dev/sr0
                logical name: /cdrom
                version: TU30
                capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd
                configuration: ansiversion=5 mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted status=ready
              *-medium
                   physical id: 0
                   logical name: /dev/cdrom
                   logical name: /cdrom
                   configuration: mount.fstype=iso9660 mount.options=ro,noatime state=mounted
        *-multimedia
             description: Multimedia audio controller
             product: 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.5
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.5
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=Intel ICH latency=0 module=snd_intel8x0
        *-communication UNCLAIMED
             description: Modem
             product: 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.6
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.6
             version: 03
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm cap_list
             configuration: latency=0
  *-battery
       description: Unknown Battery
       physical id: 1
       configuration: voltage=0.0V
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 2
       logical name: pan0
       serial: 6e:ef:5e:e9:73:d2
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes
ubuntu@ubuntu:/mnt/host$

I did a little digging and /mnt/host/ubuntu/disks/boot/grub/menu.lst has this entry for the default boot kernel if this is any help:

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
root ()/ubuntu/disks
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=5CB8686FB868499A loop=/ubuntu/disks/root.disk ro ROOTFLAGS=syncio quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

the /mnt/host/ubuntu/disks/root.disk shows up as the 8.4gb "file" that is where xubuntu installed itself. There's also a /mnt/host/ubuntu/disks/swap.disk (954mb) that's the only other file in that dir.
Anyone here a Xubuntu expert?
thanx,
-Jon

Hi :)

This is quite an old question now and Launchpad doesn't deal with old questions well at all so it might be worth re-posting this question but keep the new question brief!
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+addquestion
You can always paste this link to this thread
https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/81281
into the question so that people can see all the detail here.

I don't know why but it's only just become clear that you are talking about a Wubi install of a *buntu so i have only just now been able to file this question over there with the Wubi crew. All *buntus; Kubuntu, Ubuntu and Xubuntu are very much the same. The main difference is the single package for the Desktop Environment. Ok, Kubuntu has a few more differences but apart from Xubuntu not having OpenOffice installed right from the start there's almost no difference at all between Ubuntu and Xubuntu. The huge difference in this case is that it was installed as a Wubi (inside Windows instead of alongside it).

To set-up a full dual-boot between Windows and Xubuntu you need at least 6Gb of free space. Xubuntu itself needs a proper partition (preferably a Primary Partition) at least 5Gb to feel comfortable. The "free -m" command showed you have 1Gb of ram so you will need a linux-swap partition of at least 1Gb although 2Gb would be much better, more than that would be pointless unless you have plans for a huge ram upgrade. If there's money around for anything like that then it would probably be better spent on a new hard-drive though imo. In my country Ram would be about £40 and a 1,000Gb hard-drive about £70. My next expensive item is a graphics card at over £100 which is waaay out of reach for a long time for me. Does your machine have a dvd-recorder that could store some of the hard-drive data for the longer-term? Alternatively, can you borrow a dvd-recorder (an external one would be much easier to use)?

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)