Ubuntu

grub installation problem

Asked by oystein

(I believe this is a FAQ, but I can't find the answer)

Hi,

I've just installed Karmic on a new separate internal hard drive (/dev/sdb), and leaving an other OS on my first hard drive. For some reason GRUB was not installed automatically in the installation progress. So when I then boot the computer it starts the other OS from the first hard drive (yes, it's Windows XP). I tried to fix this problem by starting the Ubuntu 9.10 live disk and then do the following:

# sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
# sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

This apparently installed grub in my first hard drive (sda), but when I now boot I only get the grub prompt when I reboot my computer. What can I do now? How can I start linux from the grub prompt? And how can I then configure grub?

Just for the record: ubuntu-9.10-desktop-386.

Thanks,
-Øystein

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oystein
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oystein (oystein-gnubg) said : 		#1

I managed to solve the problem by reading this document: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2/.

At the grub promt, I typed:
sh:grub> linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb1 ro
sh:grub> initrd /initrd.img
sh:grub> boot

That solves initial boot problem, but I'm now faced with the problem of configuring grub such that I don't need to type that for every reboot, and also being able to launch Windows XP. However that I guess I can fix on my own from the documentation of grub. Should I fill in a bug report on initial problem?

-Øystein