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Accidentally installed Chameleon and now I can't boot


Threepwood
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It's a GUID partition.

 

If it's a BIOS-based computer, it still uses the first 440 characters in the MBR as the first-stage boot loader. As a valid protective MBR is officially part of the GUID Partition Table (GPT) spec, it's also impossible to say how a boot loader or OS might react if it finds valid GPT headers and partition tables but an invalid MBR. For both of these reasons, checking the validity of the MBR is still an important diagnostic step when dealing with boot problems.

 

It's also conceivable that your GPT has gotten damaged.

 

Personally, I'd check the status of the partition table (both the protective MBR and the "real" GPT data) before proceeding further. The best tool I know of for this is my own GPT fdisk. Most GPT-aware partitioning tools include at least some checks for validity, but some of them seem to overlook some problems, and a few (such as GNU Parted) can actually create new problems on BIOS-based systems or when using a hybrid MBR. (OTOH, I'm biased because I know precisely what GPT fdisk does in the way of error checks; such details aren't well documented for most programs.)

 

All that said, it does sound to me more like a boot loader problem rather than a partitioning problem. Checking the partitions before doing anything else makes sense because if there is a partitioning problem, trying to re-install or otherwise repair the boot loader could do further damage.

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