churlishbeaver
July 2nd, 2011, 12:30 PM
I Installed "ubuntu 11.04 Alpha 2" on my Intel Computerr.[1]
I had already installed Debian Linux (presumably version 6.0) all on the /dev/sda1 partition[2], so I set up the installer to install Ubuntu Linux on /dev/sda2.
In the roughly 2 hours installation time, during which time it must presumably have downloaded a lot from the non-Alpha-2 version from somewhere in ubuntu.com, it had installed 2.4G on /dev/sda2 , but none of the needed changes seem to have been made to the boot sector.
My computer would NOT boot to Ubuntu Linux. It booted again straight to Debian Linux without even presenting me with a bootloader menu.[3]
Can someone tell me how to rectify this, so that I can boot to either Debian Linux[4] on /dev/sda1 or to Ubuntu Linux on /dev/sda2 ?
I presumably need to change the bootloader, presumably GRUB, to rectify the problem, but even though I have been searching, reading and trying to install GRUB for well over a week now, I can't locate what I would find to be straightforward instructions that must exist somewhere that would shown me how to configure GRUB to allow booting from /dev/sda1 as well a /dev/sda2 . An example of one of a number of pages I have read that has not given me the answers in a form I have found helpful is http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=194877 . Perhaps others may be able to see there the answers I need, but I cannot.
What I need instructions for is:
1. What file do I edit to say that I want GRUB to cause my computer to boot from either /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2 . (Is it /etc/default/grub or what?)
2. What do I need to put into the configuration file and ...
3. ... what command (grub-install, grub-mkconfig, grub-mkimage, ...? ) with what command line parameters do I need to run to write the required information to the boot sector of /dev/sda(, /dev/sda1, dev/sda2 or whatever)?
Can Linux be installed to boot up from a partition on a physical disk drive other than the first?
Also, could anyone tell me if it is possible to boot up Linux (or another OS) from a parttion on other than on /dev/sda (or /dev/hda)? It was not even my first preference to have to install those two Linux distributions on /dev/sda .
Footnote(s)
1. I obtained the DVD from "Linux User and Developer" magazine (http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/. I am unable to say at this moment what issue it was, but it would have been one in the last six months around issue 97. The DVD also had on the label "PureOS 3.0" and "OpenSuse11.4"
2. /dev/sda3 was set up to be the swap partition for my installation of Debian Linux as well as for my installation of Ubuntu Linux. No other partitions other than /dev/sda1 for Debian and /dev/sda2 for Ubuntu, were used
3. Even though I can't boot up Ubuntu Linux, I appreciate, at least, the fact that the installation of Ubuntu Linux has not in any way prevented my existing installation of Debian Linux from functioning. On more than one recent occasion, this has not been my experience when I have installed a second or subsequent distribution of Linux.
4. Debian Linux currently lacks Drupal ver 7.2.
I had already installed Debian Linux (presumably version 6.0) all on the /dev/sda1 partition[2], so I set up the installer to install Ubuntu Linux on /dev/sda2.
In the roughly 2 hours installation time, during which time it must presumably have downloaded a lot from the non-Alpha-2 version from somewhere in ubuntu.com, it had installed 2.4G on /dev/sda2 , but none of the needed changes seem to have been made to the boot sector.
My computer would NOT boot to Ubuntu Linux. It booted again straight to Debian Linux without even presenting me with a bootloader menu.[3]
Can someone tell me how to rectify this, so that I can boot to either Debian Linux[4] on /dev/sda1 or to Ubuntu Linux on /dev/sda2 ?
I presumably need to change the bootloader, presumably GRUB, to rectify the problem, but even though I have been searching, reading and trying to install GRUB for well over a week now, I can't locate what I would find to be straightforward instructions that must exist somewhere that would shown me how to configure GRUB to allow booting from /dev/sda1 as well a /dev/sda2 . An example of one of a number of pages I have read that has not given me the answers in a form I have found helpful is http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=194877 . Perhaps others may be able to see there the answers I need, but I cannot.
What I need instructions for is:
1. What file do I edit to say that I want GRUB to cause my computer to boot from either /dev/sda1 or /dev/sda2 . (Is it /etc/default/grub or what?)
2. What do I need to put into the configuration file and ...
3. ... what command (grub-install, grub-mkconfig, grub-mkimage, ...? ) with what command line parameters do I need to run to write the required information to the boot sector of /dev/sda(, /dev/sda1, dev/sda2 or whatever)?
Can Linux be installed to boot up from a partition on a physical disk drive other than the first?
Also, could anyone tell me if it is possible to boot up Linux (or another OS) from a parttion on other than on /dev/sda (or /dev/hda)? It was not even my first preference to have to install those two Linux distributions on /dev/sda .
Footnote(s)
1. I obtained the DVD from "Linux User and Developer" magazine (http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/. I am unable to say at this moment what issue it was, but it would have been one in the last six months around issue 97. The DVD also had on the label "PureOS 3.0" and "OpenSuse11.4"
2. /dev/sda3 was set up to be the swap partition for my installation of Debian Linux as well as for my installation of Ubuntu Linux. No other partitions other than /dev/sda1 for Debian and /dev/sda2 for Ubuntu, were used
3. Even though I can't boot up Ubuntu Linux, I appreciate, at least, the fact that the installation of Ubuntu Linux has not in any way prevented my existing installation of Debian Linux from functioning. On more than one recent occasion, this has not been my experience when I have installed a second or subsequent distribution of Linux.
4. Debian Linux currently lacks Drupal ver 7.2.