Hi all,
I just updated my mother-in-law's HP HP 250 G6 laptop and it doesn't boot anymore.
Grub shows up, I chose Ubuntu, then the laptop shows the HP logo - and that's where the laptop freezes.
Any Idea what the reason can be?
Is there the need to clean the disk and install it from scratch?
Thanks
Hi Mona,
did you just do a clean install or an upgrade from a previous version of UM?. Or are you talking about updating in general?. 
Did you choose auto install which would create your partitions for you or did you create your own partitions?.
You could try the "Something else method" to recover your install if you have a root and home partition!.
There may be a problem with your install media (USB stick not fully functional?). Also:
Let us know more details about your install process please!. 
Hello Wolfman,
I updated the laptop from 19.10 - so no partitions got created or changed.
The previous system had only one partition containing all data and one swap partition.
I just used the update feature in Mate 19.10 - nothing else.
Checking the HDD partitions on the something else method I get this:
/dev/mapper/vgubuntu-mate-root ext 4 Unknown Linux device-mapper (linear)
Does that indicate something?
Hi Mona,
do you have a bootable version of UM on a USB stick or DVD?, if you do, it may be possible to repair GRUB with that?.
https://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-repair-restore-reinstall-grub-2-with-a-ubuntu-live-cd
If you opt for a clean install in the future, create a root partition (15-20GB) and a home partition using the rest of the space on the drive. You may want a UEFI and SWAP partition too, read the following guide about partitioning but pay close attention to it.
See also:
And one further question is, do you have all your important files on the laptop backed up? If you do, this will be good for your personal files as you won't have to worry too much about losing them!.
Are you running the system in a Virtual Environment in Windows?. 
Hi Wolfman,
Yes I did a backup of the /home folder before going for the update using the Backup tool that Mate provides.
I do have a 20.04 that I can boot into - that is what I actually am at right now.
I am not a complete newbie but I never worked or edited Grub - since that so far was just too way out there for me. And I don't know what to write or edit in the first place.
Do you have Windows installed too and are you dual booting or running UM in a Virtual Mode?. Or, do you only have UM installed on the drive?. 
Only UM on the drive.
Something really strange: when I check for the partition data on GParted I get f
ile system lvm2 pv
instead of ext4 - which I believe it was before - and volume group is VGubuntu-mate.
don't even know what that means...
If that is the case, rather than try to tax your brain with terminal commands, I would start the install process first creating separate root and home partitions and that way, if you ever have to do a new install in the future, you will find all your files and setting untouched when you do a fresh install!.
Read the partition guide CAREFULLY!.
I have linked the repair GRUB commands above as well as a partition guide and a complete guide (for beginners) which also has several tips in them!.
The choice is yours!. 
Hi Wolfman,
Thank you so much - what would be your choice?
I came to my mother-in-law for the weekend to fix her laptop - so it should be "fast" and easy to do since I have to leave again tomorrow.
Will the backup restore all data from before?
What about all other software that got installed which is not part of the standard UM setup - they have to be installed again - right?
Will that create hick ups/ error messages if programs are not there?
If you are uncomfortable using the command line to repair GRUB, there is also the chance you can still use a repair tool called Boot Repair from the Live CD!, just follow the instructions on the link below!.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair
If you create new partitions, you will lose all data and settings on the drive and all apps you had installed, but as you have your files backed up, that won't be too much of a problem?. The only problem is the time factor, so make a decision and go for it!.
You can use Welcome > Software to install apps quickly!.
Hi @monamtb,
this probably indicates that Ubuntu was installed with LVM option and, possibly, with LUKS encryption.
Does your partition scheme look like this?
Hi Ironfoot,
It is not encrypted - but otherwise yes.
So it is using logical volume manager. I quickly searched launchpad and found a probably related high-priority bug with some workaround.
If you could post that link here that would be great and I'd try that before going for a complete reinstall.
It is in hyperlink in my previous post. Read comments №№ 5 and 9.
I am sorry,
I don't see any hyperlinks in your previous post - and I don't know what you mean by comments NoNo 5 and 9 ... I am not so versed - I'm sorry
Hi Ironfoot - thank you so much - that helped - I'll get to the link and see if that helps and I'll post the output here.
I just checked this - and to be honest - I have no idea what these programmers are talking about - let alone how to find out all of the names that are needed to perform those commands....
Let alone on how to use a terminal to update data on a system I can't access
