[jaclaz]

ahmad2080, on Apr 8 2009, 08:25 PM, said:

Should I try the previous using MBRInst.exe in my X:\ partition with its associated MBR.INI ??

Why not, NOW you have way backs (at least up to this day trial).

Worst that can happen, it won't boot, and you can restore the last working MBR.

jaclaz

[ahmad2080]

jaclaz, on Apr 8 2009, 01:57 PM, said:

ahmad2080, on Apr 8 2009, 08:25 PM, said:

Should I try the previous using MBRInst.exe in my X:\ partition with its associated MBR.INI ??

Why not, NOW you have way backs (at least up to this day trial).

Worst that can happen, it won't boot, and you can restore the last working MBR.

jaclaz

Should I use it with the same options as before?
If it didn't work should I try using other options?

EDIT:
This time running MBRINST.exe gave me the error message " Masterboot record strings too long! Your strings are 53 Bytes but the Master Boot Record has only 18 Bytes for strings" + the "Recovery partition could not be found " result.

NOTE: Before jaclaz idea the error message was: "Master Boot Record Strings too long! Your strings are 30 Bytes but the Master Boot Record has only 18 Bytes for strings"

MBR grew up from 30Bytes to 53Bytes........Does that make any sense?

Should I try MBRINST.exe from X:\ and MBR.INI of my friend's laptop?

This post has been edited by ahmad2080: 08 April 2009 - 03:33 PM

[ahmad2080]

I've contacted HP again....

This time they gave me this tool :
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/generic...=reg_R1002_USEN

As he said, the tool upgrades the recovery manager. If you opened the above link you'll find that:
(Release Date: 2007-09-15 !!!)!!!! .......And it's called UPGRADE.

As usual, it didn't work.

[jaclaz]

As said, now that you have alternate ways to boot, you can try everything you wish to (within limits ).

In my experience, however, the infinite time and monkeys approach:
http://en.wikipedia...._monkey_theorem
has rarely produced a good result in an acceptable time, and often has also prevented the "right" solution to be later implemented.

For example installing the "upgrade" you may well have messed up things in such a way that there is NO way back anymore, one thing is to replace a MBR (for which you have a sure way back, and another thing is to apply an "upgrade" dated BEFORE the files you have, I like to define this behaviour "asking for troubles" )

Of course it is perfectly possible that the install of the "upgrade" carried no consequences at all....

Quote

NOTE: Before jaclaz idea the error message was: "Master Boot Record Strings too long! Your strings are 30 Bytes but the Master Boot Record has only 18 Bytes for strings"

MBR grew up from 30Bytes to 53Bytes........Does that make any sense?

Rest assured the MBR is ALWAYS 512 bytes long, the SPACE (number of bytes) available in it for "Master Boot Record Strings" can change depending on the type of MBR (i.e. if the MBR code is longer, there remains LESS available space for the text connected to messages).

Try counting the characters in the messages in MBR.INI:

Quote

; TRANSLATE
STR_START="\nPress F11 for Emergency Recovery "

;STR_ERROR="\nMBR Error\n"
STR_ERROR=\nErr1

;STR_BS_ERROR="\nOS Missing\n"
STR_BS_ERROR=Err2

;STR_PRESSAKEY="\nPress a key.\n"
STR_PRESSAKEY=Err3

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901
Press F11 for Emergency Recovery Err1 Err2 Err3

And subtract from it the "fixed part"?
12345678901
Press Fxx for

That would make 30.

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Press F11 for Emergency Recovery MBR Error OS Missing Press a key.

That would make 47.

It is possible that without a MBR.INI the "embedded" values lead to 53....

There are a couple of bytes in the MBR you re-created following my instructions that differ from those on your friend's (working) MBR, that may be the key, but I need some time to do some tests....., you need some patience.


jaclaz

[ahmad2080]

jaclaz, on Apr 9 2009, 04:28 AM, said:

As said, now that you have alternate ways to boot, you can try everything you wish to (within limits ).

Try everything I wish? I don't know what should I try!

jaclaz, on Apr 9 2009, 04:28 AM, said:

For example installing the "upgrade" you may well have messed up things in such a way that there is NO way back anymore, one thing is to replace a MBR (for which you have a sure way back, and another thing is to apply an "upgrade" dated BEFORE the files you have, I like to define this behaviour "asking for troubles" )

Of course it is perfectly possible that the install of the "upgrade" carried no consequences at all....

Actually I didn't have a choice; I wanted all of this hassle to end as fast as it can. So the " You need patience" advice did not come in time. As a conclusion we can say that (this time) it's your fault not mine .
However, I've learned from my previous mistakes; there is no need to freak out from a small upgrade , I can say that it didn't affect anything. If that is not true, I can simply restore the previous (or should I say NEXT) version of the recovery manager software using either: Microsoft system restore or A full system recovery which of course reinstalls the software.

jaclaz, on Apr 9 2009, 04:28 AM, said:

Rest assured the MBR is ALWAYS 512 bytes long, the SPACE (number of bytes) available in it for "Master Boot Record Strings" can change depending on the type of MBR (i.e. if the MBR code is longer, there remains LESS available space for the text connected to messages).
Try counting the characters in the messages in MBR.INI:

Quote

; TRANSLATE
STR_START="\nPress F11 for Emergency Recovery "

;STR_ERROR="\nMBR Error\n"
STR_ERROR=\nErr1

;STR_BS_ERROR="\nOS Missing\n"
STR_BS_ERROR=Err2

;STR_PRESSAKEY="\nPress a key.\n"
STR_PRESSAKEY=Err3

12345678901234567890123456789012345678901
Press F11 for Emergency Recovery Err1 Err2 Err3

And subtract from it the "fixed part"?
12345678901
Press Fxx for

That would make 30.

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678
Press F11 for Emergency Recovery MBR Error OS Missing Press a key.

That would make 47.

It is possible that without a MBR.INI the "embedded" values lead to 53....

There are a couple of bytes in the MBR you re-created following my instructions that differ from those on your friend's (working) MBR, that may be the key, but I need some time to do some tests....., you need some patience.


jaclaz

Ok, I'll try Tripredacus idea changing the smallMBR usage value and see if anything changes.

@jaclaz
Do you need anything from the NEW hp laptop? I think that I'll have one more chance (today)to take what I want from it......then .

And do you need anything else from my laptop?? [No, that one is available all the time, just
asking.. ]

And at last... my question: Your previous instructions, do they actually replace my MBR with the other in MBR.ini ? Is that the only way to do so? Does MBR.ini contain the partition table?
I'm asking that because I beleive that the WHOLE problem lies in the position of the recovery position in MBR. IS that accurate?
Hope you reply soon (just following your advice to be patient...you can't blame me ....)

[Tripredacus]

If use smallMBR doesn't work, try this in MasterBootRecord instead:

STR_BS_ERROR="Missing OS\n"
STR_ERROR="MBR Error\n"
STR_PRESSAKEY=" "
STR_START="\nPress F11 "

Also you can take out the lines starting with a semi-colon ( ; ) because they are comments. My mbr.ini files do not have those comment lines in them. :\

[ahmad2080]

HURRAY,HURRAY,HURRAY.........

At last this topic reached the post that says:

PROBLEM SOLVED

I'll say it again:

PROBLEM SOLVED

and

PROBLEM SOLVED




AND TO EVERYONE WHO SHARED IN THIS THREAD : THANKS VERY MUCH.....

I GUESS THAT YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAVE I DONE....HA?

FOR NOW.....THIS IS ALL WHAT I CAN SAY......

I'M PREPARING A FULL FEEDBACK THAT COMES WITH A PRIZE FOR ALL OF YOU......

AHMAD.

[ahmad2080]

Ok.....I'm calm now..

@Tripredacus:

Changing smallMBR did make the error message dissapear, but the problem of not finding
the recovery partition was not resolved. Thanks for your help.

NOW:

This is how I made the recovery manager see the recovery partition:

Requirements:

1) A friend that has a similar HP laptop.
2) HDhacker from HERE.
3) A hexeditor from HERE.

Simply, I used the bootsector of the recovery partition (D:) that I captured (using HDhacker) from a friend that has a similar laptop. I captured mine too. Then using (HEX EDITOR NEO) I compared between both, small differences were found. So I took a deep breath and wrote the D: boot sector of my friend on mine(You can load a the captured boot sector then write it on yours using HDhacker).

Surprisingly, it worked. When I launched the CD creator, it opened the DVD drive asking me to insert the DVD to begin burning the Recovery disks.


Easy, isn't it??


CONCLUSION:

The Infinite monkey theorem that jaclaz mentioned should be modified to Finite monkey theorem !!! and it seems that it needs LESS time to reach the desired result.

However, the result is not PERFECT.

Yes, I can make my recovery disks now – although I didn't……TROUBLE SEEKER?? Yes, I am - but the F11 still doesn't work, when pressed while booting it says "Disk error press ctrl+Alt+del to restart".

So in order to restore that function I tried some MBR modifications using MBRINST.exe, none succeeded. AFTER burning the recovery disks, I'll try to write the C: boot sector as well and post the results. Now with HDhacker and the bootable USBStick that I created using jaclaz instructions, I fear nothing.

NOTE: Both vista1 and vista2 options in the booting
menu using the bootable USBStick directs me to the recovery manager to make a full recovery.

I'm satisfied….I'll edit POST NO.1 to note that this problem has been solved.

So to ALL who have the same problem, I hope that this helps……

And to ALL who tried to help solving this problem, THANK YOU.

And SPECIAL THANKS to jaclaz…..



Regards,

Ahmad



EDIT: If you don't have a friend with a similar HP notebook have a look at POST #111 and TAKE CARE.

This post has been edited by ahmad2080: 14 April 2009 - 02:19 PM

[submix8c]

HAH! I suspected that Partition Boot may be one of the culprits. Some kind of flag and "special boot code"...

Maybe I didn't say (long windy topic) but I should have.

You might want to save all the GOOD stuff for the future and maybe other poor soles.

note - be careful with that C-boot-sector...

This post has been edited by submix8c: 09 April 2009 - 02:24 PM

[Niru]

Hi Ahmad .... I have the same problem as u faced.
Is there any way out to get rid of that "recovery partition could not be found" error and create the recovery discs?
I don't have any friend here who has HP+Vista
Please let me know if can be done from my own machine......by changing any files.

Thanks in advance.

[Snack]

Greetings Ahmad!
Sleel nerves. I am tired from mentioned service and "patches" trying resolve the similar problem
Think may be helpfull attach those ridiculos MBRs from HP to this forum.
Comparing take to find this "special" code. No choice find solution in a usual way
Recovery can't be created...

[Snack]

This is mine Vista Home Premium OEM
HP Pavilion

The bad one!!!
 MBR_HardDisk0.rar (575bytes)
Number of downloads: 27

This post has been edited by Snack: 13 April 2009 - 04:13 AM

[jaclaz]

I thought the whole point was to find the way to run the original app to re-install a working MBR as in factory.

Using the way Tripredacus suggested before (using the MBR.EXE from Terabyte) or using grub4dos, you could have done the same.

So, I am happy that your initial problem was solved, but still we haven't found the solution .

Once you have done the recovery disks, try applying the attached MBR and post results.

Also, I seem to be missing two things:

• the bootsector form your Recovery partition (16 sectors)
  
• the bootsector from the recovery partition of your friend (the first one) also 16 sectors.

I need them, when you have time, in order to try and understand which mods (if any) are made to them.

jaclaz

Attached File(s)

•  MBR_from_j.zip (574bytes)
  Number of downloads: 29

[Snack]

Hi!
All trick that I can't do recovery disk

The bad one!!!
 BootSector_DriveD.rar (561bytes)
Number of downloads: 22
For resolving see post #115

This post has been edited by Snack: 13 April 2009 - 04:17 AM

[jaclaz]

@snack
The bootsector you posted is perfectly unuseful, a NTFS bootsector is 16 sectors.

jaclaz

[Snack]

CD Creator show me the same note:
"recovery partition could not be located"

[Niru]

Hi friends,
can u please clearly put the instruction step by step from the begining.
CD Creator showing me the same error: "The recovery partition could not be found"

I think you have already solved the problem. Please help.

This post has been edited by Niru: 10 April 2009 - 11:58 AM

[jaclaz]

Niru,
there are three games played on the board:
1) is the one I am playing, that at the moment is still going on, but with no progresses as my partner abandoned....
2) is the one ahmad2080 played and won by cheating (and later abandoned)
3) is the one that Tripredacus played (and won ) using MBR.EXE from Terabyte:
http://www.msfn.org/...howtopic=130609

Your best bet right now is #3.

jaclaz

[Snack]

Sure, thanks for the link Jaclaz!!
Let me a little to discover this utility and I'll post the results


Hm... This topic lost unfinished.
and redirected: http://www.msfn.org/...opic=130645&hl=
Moreover Tripredacus now keep with PE to boot onto D: to start recovery instead of reparation
So the making disk problem still goes on.

But if I try (on my own risk) somewhat like Partition Doctor for reparation? Or simply HDhack it from similar disk. There is no special HP code in second part so it must be the same like many others. I have no much experience so far.
May it be helpfull?

This post has been edited by Snack: 10 April 2009 - 03:19 PM

[jaclaz]

Snack, on Apr 10 2009, 09:53 PM, said:

But if I try (on my own risk) somewhat like Partition Doctor for reparation? Or simply HDhack it from similar disk. There is no special HP code in second part so it must be the same like many others. I have no much experience so far.
May it be helpfull?

NO.
Don't do ANYTHING you may later regret.

Before doing ANY attempt, and definitely NOT with "sophisticated" tools like Partition Magic, Partition Doctor, Acronis or paragon's Partition Manager, make sure by testing and double testing that you have a way back, as I showed ahmad2080 before.

Are you willing to take part in game #1?

Let see if I can put together the essentials:

• from factory there is a "special" MBR on HP/Compaq laptops that allows when booting to press F11 to access 2nd partition (Recovery) and from it start ..... (please fill the gap, what is supposed to do when F11 is pressed? Should the option to Recover the drive or create the disk start?
  
• this capacity is lost by replacing the MBR with a "normal" one (or however a different one)
  
• the MBR you posted appears to be the original "special" one, but with a couple of "suspect", as I see it, bytes
  
• how was the MBR you posted made? Did you already run MBRINST.EXE or MBR.DLL on that PC? Or otherways when did the problem happen?

jaclaz