How to multiboot?

[nitstorm]

i am desperately looking for a how to : multiboot. Checked bodhi.zazen's thread, but its totally with reference to GRUB Legacy. I have karmic installed and also vista. wondering if there is a step-wise guide to multiboot with reference to Grub2.

I want to add a SUSE, Fedora and Lubuntu, but have no clue as to how. I messed up my comp earlier trying to multiboot so now I just dual-boot Windows Vista and Karmic Koala.

[kblft]

look here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1302743

and possibly here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

[nitstorm]

look here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1302743

and possibly here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

But how does that help me multiboot??? i am looking for a step-wise procedure on how to multiboot.

[kblft]

Quote:
Originally Posted by kblft
look here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1302743

and possibly here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2
But how does that help me multiboot??? i am looking for a step-wise procedure on how to multiboot.

I don't know of a step-by-step procedure on how to multiboot with grub2

What you need to do though, is add the other OSs you wish to multiboot with to the grub menus.

There are sections in the wiki on how to add other OSs to the grub menus

[nitstorm]

So I just install the other OS's and put their entries in the grub and that's it????? But won't every OS that I install try to install their own Grub and what not?

[kblft]

You have two alternatives :

1. I'm not sure how other distros handle this - but in ubuntu you can choose to not install a boot loader (e.g grub) - so things like this don't happen. I assume there is such a possibility with other distributions. Then once the other distros are installed - you can just add them to the grub menu

2. you can install everything - and just add ubuntu last. It will autodetect the rest of the OSs and will add them automatically to grub (overriding their installation of grub if installed).

EDIT
A warning though - if you choose to install several distros - you must remember to never accept grub updates from any of them except the one you chose to install grub with... otherwise it might cause some mess..

[nitstorm]

Ah! Nice.... I don't know how to do the first way, ill follow the second way and keep u posted... Thanks kblift :)

[oldfred]

Grub or grub2 is just the boot loader. You need to plan you partitions and which boot loader is in charge and how to boot the other systems. Grub2 is very good at finding other systems but if you have a lot the menu becomes very large and difficult to manage.

I always like chainbooting since each system has its boot loader in its partition and is updated with new kernels so you can easily boot the latest updates. Grub2 does not like to be installed in the PBR so it should not be used for chainbooting but can be. Other systems still using grub legacy can easily be chainbooted. Note separate data partiion.
Example with old grub booting 145 systems on 2 drives:
chainboot 145 systems
http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?p=861282#post861282
http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p15.html#How_to_make_a_separate_Grub_Partition_
http://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/grub/grubpartition.htm

You also have to plan how you handle data. You should not share /boot nor /home as differences between versions can cause conflicts. If you share /home with different user names you have not shared any settings just the partition. But you can share all your data with just a little partition planning. I like having the same firefox, thunderbird and all data in each system.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning
Partitioning basics with some info on /data
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=282018&highlight=separate+%2Fdata+partition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning
Painless Linux Multi-boot Setup - see also comments
http://blog.linuxtoday.com/blog/2009/08/painless-linux.html
oldfred's versions of data linking from above blog, based on more from comments
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1405490

[nitstorm]

So how were you able to achieve the same firefox and thunderbird data across all ur OS's ?

[oldfred]

Continued to work with Firefox upgrades but I have not upgraded Thunderbird yet, and now have NTFS shared partition:

If you boot both windows and Ubuntu often you can have the same firefox and thunderbird data in a common partition.
I created a FAT32 partition (before NTFS linux driver wrote reliably) 2-3 years ago and moved both firefox and thunderbird to the shared partition. I then edited the profiles in windows and linux to look the the common partition rather than the local one. It still worked even when I converted from Firefox version 2 to 3 on both windows & ubuntu.

http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/profile#locate
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager#Linux
More info:
* (Firefox) ./firefox -profilemanager
* (Mozilla Suite) ./mozilla -profilemanager
* (SeaMonkey) ./seamonkey -profilemanager
* (Thunderbird) ./thunderbird -profilemanager
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Sharing_a_profile_between_Windows_and_Linux
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Category:Profiles

[ranch hand]

There are several things to consider beefore you start your multi-boot installations.

Your drive is limited to 4 primary partitions. You will need to add an "extended" partition. This is a type of primary partition that you can install, in theory, and infinite number of "logical partitions". Plan this on paper before you start.

I would make all your partitions before starting installation using gparted from your 9.10 Live CD.

Fedora and Suse will install nicely with MS but will try to take over any Linux partitions. Make sure you check every partition in their installers to make sure only the partition(s) you want them installed on are marked for use and the others marked as "do not use".

Grub on your last (Ubuntu) installation should pick up your other OS'. There may be way too many generated entries however. You will probably need a custom menu for this to really work. This is not hard to set up and requires little or no upkeep when finished.

See the link in my sig for a basic over view of Grub. The second link that I give in that post is the very best in depth study of Grub you will find.

You need to know this stuff if you are going to multi boot.

It is a lot of FUN. I am on a drive, right now with 12 installed and working OS' all booted from grub1.98 (from 10.04-testing).

[nitstorm]

gr8 info thanks guys, will try multibooting over the weekend and get back to y'all. also i can put in karmic and lucid in the multiboot list right?

[ranch hand]

gr8 info thanks guys, will try multibooting over the weekend and get back to y'all. also i can put in karmic and lucid in the multiboot list right?
I am not sure what you mean by that. If you mean can you have more than on Ubuntu the answer is yes.

I have, right now, seven variations of 10.04 on this drive (test platform), one 8.04, one Mandriva2009-1 and 2 variations of 9.10.

As long as you are using an extended partition the only real limit is the size of your drive(s) and the amount of space you want each OS to have.

[nitstorm]

yeah my question was exactly that, if i could have more than one ubuntu on my machine :) great, will get down to it soon and post on how it went by tomorrow :) thanks guys :)

[nitstorm]

i put in open suse on the primary partition and then fedora on a logical, i got this error message
no bootable device found - insert boot disk and press enter

i thought putting in ubuntu karmic and the grub2 will detect everything and sort the issue out , but even then i had the same error, so i put in lucid beta 2 and still the same error
now in a live cd session and tried running sudo update-grub, but this is the error i get
"grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /. "

here is the output of my sudo fdisk -l:


Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe603e603

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2611 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 2612 19456 135307432 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 2612 5222 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 5223 7833 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 * 7834 10444 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 10445 10705 2096451 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 10706 10836 1052226 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 10837 19456 69240118+ 83 Linux



sda1 - openSUSE
sda7 - fedora 12
sda6 - karmic
sda5 - lucid beta 2

this is the order i installed them in.
Please help me boot !!!


P.S: there was a install bootloader option ticked by default during fedora installation and i just went ahead with it. is it the cause of this problem??? just wanted to let you know about it...

[nitstorm]

would this be solvable if i just remove fedora, i.e., delete its partition altogether????????

[nitstorm]

ok so i reinstalled fedora 12 on /dev/sda1 and so the bootloader is in a primary partition now but fedora 12 uses just grub by default, anyone want to help me update the grub in f12? anyone please????

i mean update to grub2????

[nitstorm]

Ok guys, I finally have understood multibooting, right now running two Lucids , one karmic and a fedora 12. didnt know how to upgrade from grub to grub2 on f12 so jus installed lucid there.

Thanks everyone for ur help :D

[ranch hand]

I have been off line most of the day (problem with ISP server downtown).

There is no need to update grub in Fedora. Fedora is just a bugger. To boot to it you will probably need a custom menu entry for it.

I think there may be a working one in;

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275

I have an install of Mandriva on here and os-prober now almost gets it right but not quite. The custom entry does the job with no problem. It is in the first post on the link in my sig.

[oldfred]

If you have grub2 as the standard in one of your partitions you just have to reinstall it like you would after a window boot loader overwrites it. Distributions with old grub can have grub installed to the partition and chainbooting will work but that becomes a custom entry.

How to restore the Ubuntu/XP/Vista/7 bootloader (Updated for Ubuntu 9.10)
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708

[nitstorm]

I have been off line most of the day (problem with ISP server downtown).

No problem ranch hand , **** happens :P



If you have grub2 as the standard in one of your partitions you just have to reinstall it like you would after a window boot loader overwrites it. Distributions with old grub can have grub installed to the partition and chainbooting will work but that becomes a custom entry.


earlier i had one primary partition with openSUSE on it and f12 jus shifted the bootloader to its partition a logical one, then i reinstalled f12 and then shifted the bootloader back to the primary partion, and then tried updating the grub legacy to grub2 and was unsuccessful thanks to all the hostile package mgmt tools of the rpm distros. (i have no clue about rpm packagin and all that, just started off with ubuntu roughly 3-4 months back, only been using ubuntu since then...)and i put in lucid beta2 on the primary partition to get me outta trouble.

here is my fdisk -l


Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe603e603

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 2549 20472656+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 2612 19456 135307432 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 2612 5222 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 5223 7833 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 7834 10444 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 10445 10705 2096451 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 10706 10836 1052226 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 10837 19456 69240118+ 83 Linux

sda1 - Lucid Beta2
sda5 - Lucid Beta2
sda6 - Karmic
sda7 - F12
sda9 & sda10 - Storage

But I am not unhappy about all the failures coz I got to learn something :)
Thanks for all your help, especially ranch hand and oldfred
THREAD SOLVED!

cheers guys :D

[ranch hand]

One handy tool that you need is here;

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

It is handy for you to be able to run just to see what is up on your box. When having a problem posting the entire results test file is a real help.

If you have everything working now I would run that script and save the results some where. If you have trouble you can run it again (you can run it from the live CD if it is real bad) and compare the two and maybe pick up the problem yourself very easily.

A very cool script that you will see asked for in a lot of the boot problem threads.

The greatest gift to computing that the guy that came up with Debian gave was the .deb. I really like Mandriva an PcLinuxOS (the gnome version) is pretty nice but the RPM package management is not really nice. I don't really like Fedora or Suse as they have made the package management worse with the use of package kit.

Besides that, I am sure that you found you needed to really watch either of them to make sure they did not take over partitions used by your other Linux installs.

You should check out Debian and/or, I think better yet, PhatDebian (Lenny with the 2.6.30 kernel, it is ext3 but can see and read ext4).

[nitstorm]

Coool... Thanks for the info ranchhand will try out Debian and PhatDebia. Thanks a mil man :D

[nitstorm]

here is my bootinfoscript results if anyone was wondering and also give me some suggestions or advice for the next time.



Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #6 for /boot/grub.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu lucid (development
branch)
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu lucid (development
branch)
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Fedora release 12 (Constantine)
Kernel on an ()
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/grub.conf /etc/fstab

sda8: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda9: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

sda10: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xe603e603

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 63 40,945,375 40,945,313 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 41,945,776 312,560,639 270,614,864 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 41,945,778 83,891,429 41,945,652 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 83,891,493 125,837,144 41,945,652 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 125,837,208 167,782,859 41,945,652 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 167,782,923 171,975,824 4,192,902 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 171,975,888 174,080,339 2,104,452 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 174,080,403 312,560,639 138,480,237 83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda10 343af808-9da1-4cb4-a39d-433bb9d8bbaa ext4
/dev/sda1 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 ext4
/dev/sda5 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ext4
/dev/sda6 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ext4
/dev/sda7 a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 ext4 Fedora-12-i686-L
/dev/sda8 0dc51ee0-9432-44a6-9ca3-b9cacf5c9769 swap
/dev/sda9 f61c5279-aae5-47b1-b7ee-24bc53a34036 ext4

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda6 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda10 /media/Storage ext4 (rw)


=========================== sda1/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
saved_entry=${chosen}
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode)" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
echo Loading Linux 2.6.32-19-generic ...
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 ro single
echo Loading initial ramdisk ...
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Fedora (2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686) (on /dev/sda7)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 ro root=UUID=a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 noiswmd LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda1/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda8 during installation
UUID=0dc51ee0-9432-44a6-9ca3-b9cacf5c9769 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda1: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


2.3GB: boot/grub/core.img
17.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
2.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
2.2GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic
2.2GB: initrd.img
2.2GB: vmlinuz

=========================== sda5/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
saved_entry=${chosen}
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode)" --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
echo Loading Linux 2.6.32-19-generic ...
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro single
echo Loading initial ramdisk ...
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "openSUSE 11.2 (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 45bb57d1-163f-452a-811f-cbe004259e43
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160215AS_5RA2WAB4-part1 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160215AS_5RA2WAB4-part8 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x31a
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.31.5-0.1-default
}
menuentry "Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.2 (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 45bb57d1-163f-452a-811f-cbe004259e43
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3160215AS_5RA2WAB4-part1 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x31a
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.31.5-0.1-default
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Fedora (2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686) (on /dev/sda7)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(/dev/sda,7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 ro root=UUID=a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 noiswmd LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda5/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda8 during installation
UUID=0dc51ee0-9432-44a6-9ca3-b9cacf5c9769 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda5: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


23.7GB: boot/grub/core.img
34.5GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
23.7GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
23.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic
23.7GB: initrd.img
23.7GB: vmlinuz

=========================== sda6/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-20-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=922e6f92-b6fa-4226-858c-ec94196021b6 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (on /dev/sda5)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-19-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda5)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,5)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-19-generic root=UUID=06e138a2-e42f-4207-aa23-b8a2f56e6401 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-19-generic
}
menuentry "Fedora (2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686) (on /dev/sda7)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,7)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 ro root=UUID=a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 noiswmd LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda6/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=98959f16-78fc-45bd-980e-81490bed30c7 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda8 during installation
UUID=0dc51ee0-9432-44a6-9ca3-b9cacf5c9769 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
#/dev/sda10
UUID=343af808-9da1-4cb4-a39d-433bb9d8bbaa /media/Storage ext4 defaults 0 2


=================== sda6: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


46.2GB: boot/grub/core.img
46.2GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
44.6GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
46.2GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-20-generic
44.5GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
45.0GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-20-generic
46.2GB: initrd.img
44.6GB: initrd.img.old
45.0GB: vmlinuz
44.5GB: vmlinuz.old

========================== sda7/boot/grub/grub.conf: ==========================

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd0,6)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/sda7
# initrd /boot/initrd-[generic-]version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=0
splashimage=(hd0,6)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora (2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686)
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686 ro root=UUID=a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 noiswmd LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img

=============================== sda7/etc/fstab: ===============================


#
# /etc/fstab
# Created by anaconda on Sat Apr 10 05:28:23 2010
#
# Accessible filesystems, by reference, are maintained under '/dev/disk'
# See man pages fstab(5), findfs(8), mount(8) and/or blkid(8) for more info
#
UUID=a5d893f5-209e-462e-94ca-3195aacdeba8 / ext4 defaults 1 1
UUID=0dc51ee0-9432-44a6-9ca3-b9cacf5c9769 swap swap defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

=================== sda7: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


66.5GB: boot/grub/grub.conf
66.5GB: boot/grub/menu.lst
65.6GB: boot/grub/stage2
66.5GB: boot/initramfs-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686.img
65.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.5-127.fc12.i686
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda2

00000000 a4 81 00 00 e4 2d 00 00 72 f2 ca 4a 15 8f 47 4b |.....-..r..J..GK|
00000010 72 f2 ca 4a 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 18 00 00 00 |r..J............|
00000020 00 00 08 00 01 00 00 00 0a f3 01 00 04 00 00 00 |................|
00000030 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 f7 06 29 00 |..............).|
00000040 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
00000060 00 00 00 00 a7 8e 9c c4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000070 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000080 1c 00 00 00 60 a4 60 5a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....`.`Z........|
00000090 15 8f 47 4b 60 a4 60 5a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |..GK`.`Z........|
000000a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
00000100 a4 81 00 00 19 30 00 00 72 f2 ca 4a 15 8f 47 4b |.....0..r..J..GK|
00000110 72 f2 ca 4a 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 20 00 00 00 |r..J........ ...|
00000120 00 00 08 00 01 00 00 00 0a f3 01 00 04 00 00 00 |................|
00000130 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 fa 06 29 00 |..............).|
00000140 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
00000160 00 00 00 00 a8 8e 9c c4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000170 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000180 1c 00 00 00 bc 4a 73 5b 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.....Js[........|
00000190 15 8f 47 4b 60 a4 60 5a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |..GK`.`Z........|
000001a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 fe |................|
000001c0 ff ff 83 fe ff ff 02 00 00 00 34 0a 80 02 00 fe |..........4.....|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 36 0a 80 02 73 0a 80 02 00 00 |......6...s.....|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

[nitstorm]

Now if I want to edit the names of the OS in the Grub, from where should i access it? /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda6 ( i am on sda6 right now)

[ranch hand]

You have the grub on sda6 doing the booting so that is where you need to be.

You will have to make a custom menu. This is done usine the /etc/grub.d/40_custom as a template.

You make your entries and save the file as 06_custom (06,07,08 or 09). The reason is that, if you look at your results test for the grub.cfg results, the scripts run in numeric order. By putting the custom menu in as 06 puts it at the top of the screen menu.

An entry for debian based OS' looks like;


echo "Adding Daily on sda13" >&2
cat << EOF
menuentry "Daily on sda13" {
set root=(hd0,13)
linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda13 ro quiet
initrd /initrd.img
}
EOF

That is a symbolic entry that just calls for the most resent kernel on that partition. I like them as they do not need updating.

If you want the same type entry as you are using now just copy/paste from your /boot/grub/grub.cfg file and ad the 2 top lines from mine and the EOF at the end.

You can edit the stuff between the "xxx" to anything you want. The "echo" line is what you see in terminal when you run "update-grub". The "menuentry" line is what you see on your screen menu.

There is some more info in the link in my sig and lots more at

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1195275

As you know, it is easy in grub to change which installation is supplying the menu. I change mine around to make sure they are working and to test different menu entries. If you have the black background it is easy to forget where it is from. I use the wallpaper from the OS supplying the menu as the menu background.

Just resize to 640x480 (format to .png), save to /usr/share/images/desktop-base, and edit the file name in 05_debian-theme.


else
WALLPAPER="/usr/share/images/desktop-base/menu.png"
COLOR_NORMAL="white/black"
COLOR_HIGHLIGHT="red/black"
fi

The colors have been edited in my entry so that I can read the menu over my image. Yes, I like a simple name on the image as I do not type that well.

[oldfred]

Besides the regular sites on grub2:

Grub 2 Title Tweaks
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1287602
drs305's hack to get hidden timeout to work:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1319672
ranch hand's custom grub2
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1284553

[nitstorm]

Thanks for the help guys, thanks again ranchhand and oldfred , you guys are simply great :D

Thread Solved! Cheers!

P.S: Sorry for the extremely late post.