Manually Updating GRUB?

[zak89]

I would really like to try out the latest Moblin release on my MSI Wind. However, I am currently running Ubuntu Jaunty (NBR), 64Studio (based on Ubuntu Hardy) and Windows XP on this device, and the Moblin installer only recognizes Windows. I really want my Ubuntu Jaunty install to handle the bootloader, but once I install moblin, I can't even boot Jaunty.

I would like to have Jaunty reinstall GRUB and go from there; barring that, I would need to manually add entries to Moblin's GRUB menu for the other OSs. But I would want those entries to link to my other OS's own GRUB menus, to take care of kernel updates (I am testing the array.org kernels on my NBR install) and such.

So my first question; how can I get to my Jaunty install after installing Moblin and reinstall GRUB to the MBR? and, if not that, how do I add entries to GRUB for "third party" GRUB menus?

Thanks!

[presence1960]

when all 3 OS are installed boot from the Ubuntu Live CD & choose "try Ubuntu without any changes to your computer". When the Desktop is ready open a terminal to restore GRUB:


1. Boot your computer up with Ubuntu CD
2. Open a terminal window or switch to a tty.
3. Type sudo grub. Should get text of which last line is grub>
4. Type "find /boot/grub/stage1". You'll get a response like "(hd0,1)".
Use whatever your computer spits out for the following lines.
5. Type "root (hd0,1)", or whatever your hard disk + boot partition
numbers are for Ubuntu.
6. Type "setup (hd0)", to install GRUB to MBR, or "setup (hd0,1)" or
whatever your hard disk + partition # is, to install GRUB to a
partition.
7. Quit grub by typing "quit".
8. Reboot and remove the bootable CD.

In step #6 I would install GRUB to MBR.

I would suggest chainloading the other OS's. here is a clip from my menu.lst. I have Jaunty, hardy & XP. Hardy is chainloaded on Jaunty's menu.lst which is on MBR


## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-12-generic
uuid 8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-12-generic root=UUID=8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c ro quiet splash vga=789
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-12-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-12-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-12-generic root=UUID=8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-12-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid 8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c ro quiet splash vga=789
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid 8319981e-03bb-4bd9-9d2e-276da66b4f1c
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

title Ubuntu Hardy 8.04
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
chainloader +1


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1


This will allow for kernel upgrades without editing menu.lst(s).

[zak89]

Thanks! That looks like just what I was looking for!

If all goes well I'll be posting some crude "benchmarks" comparing NBR and Moblin, particularly with battery performance.