I just created a disaster I would not have thought possible. I used a USB stick to install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS alongside Windows 7 on a Dell Inspiron 560.
The install went well, except that GRUB didn't install. No problem; I rebooted to the USB stick and followed the procedure to reinstall GRUB.
Upon my next boot, I got the GRUB menu and could select Ubuntu or Windows (yay!) but Ubuntu locked up during boot (boo!)
The problem is, now rebooting achieves nothing: The Dell Logo screen doesn't appear, so I have no access to boot options, and GRUB never appears. I can't get into the Setup screen, I can't select a different boot device -- nothing! There's no video signal at all upon boot, according to my monitor.
How could a failed boot of Ubuntu cause my computer to refuse to ever output video?
The bad news is that Ubuntu triggered a bug in your BIOS. The good news is that it's easy to make the computer bootable again: all you need to do is shut the power off completely, i.e. disconnect it from wall power and remove the battery. Wait a few seconds, put the battery back, and you should be able to boot.
Figuring out the cause of the bug can be difficult. First, see if that's a one-off thing or if it's repeatable. At the Grub prompt, highlight the “Ubuntu …” line, press e, use the arrow keys to navigate to the linux /vmlinuz … line, delete the words quiet splash at the end of the linux, and press Ctrl+X to boot. If that was a freak event and your computer boots this time, it's not worth investigating further unless the bug occurs again. If the computer hangs, note the last few messages that appeared on-screen: they will be a good clue as to what is breaking. How to proceed from there depends on these messages.
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