Ubuntu
grub package

Editing multi boot GRUB

Asked by KKevin901

i had a sys with xp & ubuntu working.
 for a curiosity i installed fedora.
now my data's in ubuntu are ro.
now i can login to fed & xp. what will i do?

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Best Tom (tom6) said : 		#1

lol, there are lots of different ways. Each will require a different style of trickery.

My favourite for this would be to leave the grub menu (boot menu) intact but that when you selected OpenSuse it would boot the new Debian release that had replaced it. Of course you could then change the boot menu with a text editor but that would spoil it ;)
To do this switch off your machine and unplug the mains power lead. Unplug your master drive. Change the jumper set on your slave to make it a master just to install Debian. Plug mains back in and switch on and do the install. Switch off again and unplug mains power again. Reset the slave jumper back to being a slave and plug the master drive in again. Job done.

Fastest way would be to just install Debian overwriting the OpenSuse (so that bit was the same in both). The Debian grub would now be the boot menu and should pick up on all the other OS's too. The drawback is that the machine now needs this slave to be there or it'll freak out in a fixable way.

There are many other ways of course, and i didn't tell about the "sudo nano editing /boot/grub/menu.lst" way of fixing the grub menu in the first example because that would have spoiled it. (Always do "sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.250209" before messing with the menu.lst of course)

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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Wyatt Smith (wyatt-smith) said : 		#2

KKevin901

I think it is best to boot other linux distros with a ¨configfile¨ boot, rather than ¨chainloading¨. With this technique, you simply load the other distros grub menu. Since each OS has its own grub menu, they all will be able to get automagic kernel updates.

When you install a new distro, make sure that grub is installed to the partition rather than the mbr. Then since you currently have Hardy grub menu controlling, edit its you /boot/grub/menu.lst file and add a similar entries for your distros:

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

title *************** Other Operating Systems ***************
root

title Ubuntu 8.10, Intrepid Ibex Menu
configfile (hd1,1)/boot/grub/menu.lst

title openSUSE 11.0 KDE-4
configfile (hd1,2)/grub/menu.lst

Big Pond´s Grub Page is very helpful (See configfile booting)
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p15.htm#1._Configfile

Good Luck

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KKevin901 (kkevin901) said : 		#3

Thanks Tom, that solved my question.

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KKevin901 (kkevin901) said : 		#4

Both Tom and Wyatt provide very good information. Being at entry level, Tom's suggestions are easier to understand. Shall try the first approach on Tom's suggestion.

Thanks a lot!

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Tom (tom6) said : 		#5

lol, you're welcome :)
I like actually physically holding the drive at some point and seeing the other physical drives as i find it really helps me understand what is actually going on.

Obviously when touching anything inside the case its a good idea to keep touching the sides of the case to make sure you haven't got any static build up on your fingers. Someone else pointed out that leaving the mains plugged in but switching off at the wall socket and at the back of the case (in england anyway) means that the case is still directly connected to the buildings 'earth' which is eve better for making sure the case gets rid of static.

Personnally i've always found most of the last paragraph excessively paranoid and haven't had any problems. I avoid going near the mbord tho & the drives are a lot more robust.

Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

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Lifna Jos (lifnacs) said : 		#6

i had a sys with xp & ubuntu working.
for a curiosity i installed fedora.
now my data's in ubuntu are ro.
now i can login to fed & xp.
what will i do?

Revision history for this message
Tom (tom6) said : 		#7

Hi Lifna Jos

If you have not already sorted this problem please could you use the link to post this as a new question. Fedora should be able to see the Ubuntu partition but probably calls it something else.

Regards from
Tom :)