Grub 2 Basics

[drs305]

Belteshazzar,

Are you sure you are editing the correct 40_custom file (in the /etc/grub.d folder of the OS your system boots to)?

Is /etc/grub.d/40_custom executable? Check it's Properties with your file browser?

I added your 40_custom entry into mine and it showed correctly in the Grub2 menu.

It would probably be best to run the boot info script and post the results.
http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

Added:
Your splash image line is a bit different than the latest version of Grub 2, which uses a "WALLPAPER=" convention, and the earlier 1.97 which used a "for i in ...." expression.
You might find an answer in the following section of the Grub 2 community doc:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gr...plash%20Images
Since you are seeing a mention of it as grub updates, it could be the formatting of the image that is a problem, or a setting in /etc/default/grub. I'll look at that in the RESULTS.txt

[ranch hand]

.tga first. convert to a .png and re-edit 05_debian-theme. You may find that using the /usr/share/images/desktop-base file is better than the images file. I like it because then I can store images in the /images file and swap them out in the /desktop-base file if I want too.

I would edit your custom file to look like this;

# 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.


echo "Adding Ubuntu Fr on sda6" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry 'Ubuntu 10.04 (Français)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic root=UUID=4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
}
EOF

echo "Adding Lubuntu Es on sda1" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "Lubuntu 10.04 (Español)" {
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e ro quiet splash
    initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
EOF

run

sudo update-grub

then

sudo grub-mkconfig

this will output your /boot/grub/grub.cfg file so you can check it.

The language used in whatever version you are running should make no difference.

My entry for Lubuntu looks like this and never needs updating and will work for ANY Debian based OS on that partition. I change things on this drive a lot and it is nice that the menu entry, while labeled wrong, boots to what ever is on the partition called for.

You could edit it for your box and your 2 installs and it would work too;

echo "Adding Lubuntu on sda12" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "Lubuntu on sda12" {
    set root=(hd0,12)
        linux /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda12 ro quiet
        initrd /initrd.img
}
EOF

In either menu entry type the stuff between the quotation marks is safe to fill with what ever you want. The first one (adding) is what you will see in terminal when running update-grub. The second is what you will see on your screen menu.

[bcbc]

Does anyone have the details of grub-install modifications under wubi (in package lupin-support)? I think these were introduced with 10.04 although there is some mention of it in the source modification notes under karmic (but clearly this didn't help with the karmic wubildr issue).

Basically it overrides the grub-install command with a wubi version. You can run the standard grub-install by using grub-install.real otherwise it uses the lupin-support version which does the following:
grub-install --root-directory=xxx /dev/sda does not work.
grub-install /dev/sda1 will attempt to rebuild the wubildr file under the windows partition.
grub-install /dev/sda fails

It appears that when the wubi is not on the same partition as windows (in my tests I installed under an external drive) the grub-install acts normally.

I'm not sure if this belongs in the grub2 thread since it's to do with wubi, but since it's not widely known that there is an separate grub-install command out there, maybe it should be?

[drs305]

bcbc,

I've put your post back in this thread since it was generating no interest on its own in the Installation forum. Give it a few days in here and if you get no answers try starting a post of your own in the General or ABT forum.

[drs305]

Does anyone have the details of grub-install modifications under wubi (in package lupin-support)? I think these were introduced with 10.04 although there is some mention of it in the source modification notes under karmic (but clearly this didn't help with the karmic wubildr issue).

bcbc,

You might try asking the grub developers on the Freenode or Ubuntu Servers #grub IRC channel. You would probably have to get an Ubuntu dev to speak on the Wubi issue. The devs may or may not choose to answer you - it depends on their mood - but some of them are really helpful.

[bcbc]

bcbc,

You might try asking the grub developers on the Freenode or Ubuntu Servers #grub IRC channel. You would probably have to get an Ubuntu dev to speak on the Wubi issue. The devs may or may not choose to answer you - it depends on their mood - but some of them are really helpful.

OK thanks for the advice. I'll try the IRC.

Also, when I get the time I'll run some comparison tests again and then post them to a bug report, maybe this one: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...in/+bug/460192

I decided to create a new bug report: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...in/+bug/604417

[Belteshazzar]

drs305 and ranch hand,

Thank you for your speedy replies - it's a great joy to know that there are always people to help with Linux! I ran the boot info script and got the following:

 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 #1 for /boot/grub.

sda1: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
    Boot files/dirs:   /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda4: _________________________________________________________________________

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

sda5: _________________________________________________________________________

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

sda6: _________________________________________________________________________

    File system:       ext4
    Boot sector type:  -
    Boot sector info:  
    Operating System:  Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
    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:  
    Boot files/dirs:   

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

Drive: sda ___________________ _____________________________________________________

Disque /dev/sda: 120.0 Go, 120034123776 octets
255 têtes, 63 secteurs/piste, 14593 cylindres, total 234441648 secteurs
Unités = secteurs de 1 * 512 = 512 octets
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition  Boot         Start           End          Size  Id System

/dev/sda1    *          2,048    39,063,551    39,061,504  83 Linux
/dev/sda4          39,065,598   234,440,703   195,375,106   5 Extended
/dev/sda5         230,471,680   234,440,703     3,969,024  82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6          39,065,600    87,891,967    48,826,368  83 Linux
/dev/sda7          87,894,016   230,467,583   142,573,568  83 Linux


blkid -c /dev/null: ____________________________________________________________

Device           UUID                                   TYPE       LABEL                         

/dev/sda1        0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e   ext4                                     
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos" 
/dev/sda5        4f641bc6-5e2c-4e07-93e6-e059875ab2e7   swap                                     
/dev/sda6        4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac   ext4                                     
/dev/sda7        0569357d-6774-47ed-b6f4-f59d7397c817   ext4                                     
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos" 

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

Device           Mount_Point              Type       Options

/dev/sda6        /                        ext4       (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda7        /home                    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 ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=es
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/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.
menuentry "Ubuntu 10.04 (Français) (on /dev/sda6)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,6)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic root=UUID=4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
}
menuentry "Lubuntu 10.04 (Español) (on /dev/sda6)" {
	insmod ext2
	set root='(hd0,6)'
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
	linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e ro quiet splash
	initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}### 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=0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=4f641bc6-5e2c-4e07-93e6-e059875ab2e7 none            swap    sw              0       0

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


   8.8GB: boot/grub/core.img
   8.8GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
   9.1GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
    .6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
   9.1GB: initrd.img
    .6GB: 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 $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 ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  insmod gfxterm
  insmod vbe
  if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
    # For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
    # understand terminal_output
    terminal gfxterm
  fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=fr
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 ###
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
insmod png
if background_image /usr/share/images/desktop-base/img_0619.png ; then
  set color_normal=black/black
  set color_highlight=magenta/black
else
  set menu_color_normal=white/black
  set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### 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.


echo "Adding Ubuntu Fr on sda6" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry 'Ubuntu 10.04 (Français)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    recordfail
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,6)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic root=UUID=4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac ro   quiet splash
    initrd    /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
}
EOF

echo "Adding Lubuntu Es on sda1" >&2 
cat << EOF
menuentry "Lubuntu 10.04 (Español)" {
    insmod ext2
    set root='(hd0,1)'
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=0b929c70-ddfd-458d-b76a-be6e8ebded0e ro quiet splash
    initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
EOF
### 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    nodev,noexec,nosuid 0       0
# / was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=4d5cb90b-89d0-4d84-8323-ee5adcf900ac /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=0569357d-6774-47ed-b6f4-f59d7397c817 /home           ext4    defaults        0       2
/dev/sda5       none            swap    sw              0       0

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


  41.7GB: boot/grub/core.img
  42.1GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
  41.7GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
  42.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-22-generic
  43.1GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-23-generic
  41.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
  42.3GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-22-generic
  43.1GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-23-generic
  43.1GB: initrd.img
  42.4GB: initrd.img.old
  43.1GB: vmlinuz
  42.3GB: vmlinuz.old
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader  on sda4

00000000  c6 99 ad 22 3a a5 a6 e2  54 55 67 60 94 56 93 da  |...":...TUg`.V..|
00000010  ce b1 62 7f ab ed d6 aa  32 4d 6e ce 51 b9 9f 70  |..b.....2Mn.Q..p|
00000020  be 85 71 ea c2 6a 55 b4  87 c2 e7 8a dc ad e8 5b  |..q..jU........[|
00000030  7a 4b 6d 31 b7 60 89 ee  95 6c 5a 18 4e 0e ca fa  |zKm1.`...lZ.N...|
00000040  eb 98 76 ec 4b d6 e7 d1  52 77 3b 1d b7 c4 5b 6c  |..v.K...Rw;...[l|
00000050  0f 89 27 51 26 6e df 81  82 00 9e 6e 4b 67 92 68  |..'Q&n.....nKg.h|
00000060  89 e9 13 11 a3 19 ed 41  60 2f 55 56 b3 37 e0 52  |.......A`/UV.7.R|
00000070  68 b9 bb af 28 18 52 4f  69 2f fa f2 9c e7 f7 34  |h...(.ROi/.....4|
00000080  1d 95 72 66 32 a4 a0 a1  98 ea 40 48 2f 06 93 91  |..rf2.....@H/...|
00000090  70 bb a0 14 9a 01 51 2d  80 c0 12 94 05 a9 c4 dd  |p.....Q-........|
000000a0  58 f9 5f 56 2d 3f d0 a4  da 8f 45 c2 9e e3 e4 4e  |X._V-?....E....N|
000000b0  59 76 bc b2 03 04 14 a1  44 03 4b 07 b6 49 60 29  |Yv......D.K..I`)|
000000c0  eb f9 18 60 46 61 f3 53  8e 58 c6 2e 28 c8 ec 47  |...`Fa.S.X..(..G|
000000d0  14 71 b2 75 2e 24 b4 66  ba 89 c7 74 38 dc 0c f4  |.q.u.$.f...t8...|
000000e0  3a 9f ae 7e 27 be e2 e5  8e 69 56 17 55 7f 33 2b  |:..~'....iV.U.3+|
000000f0  6d 9a fb 13 d1 01 8a 58  8c 10 b8 e2 d5 08 a4 da  |m......X........|
00000100  a8 e7 c4 4c 10 19 c1 30  00 b3 c2 62 d2 1b f5 5c  |...L...0...b...\|
00000110  9f ff e4 b0 9c e0 c6 d5  3a 37 86 ed bc 3e f7 7e  |........:7...>.~|
00000120  86 78 0c 11 61 68 36 0d  3e 5a 9e d1 b0 45 04 40  |.x..ah6.>Z...E.@|
00000130  c3 da 20 85 75 f6 7a 71  4d e8 0f 77 fd f6 ae da  |.. .u.zqM..w....|
00000140  bf 85 7c 6d 6b ba b7 1e  59 b1 79 e9 fa 90 88 5a  |..|mk...Y.y....Z|
00000150  e1 a5 e3 8f 6f 66 b3 89  da 2d c9 fe 7f fe ff e3  |....of...-......|
00000160  f4 26 9b 30 26 08 2b 85  15 83 61 80 d8 50 36 24  |.&.0&.+...a..P6$|
00000170  0c 86 04 41 70 c0 d4 88  23 18 0d fe a6 af 92 e4  |...Ap...#.......|
00000180  ab 06 74 4b 17 7c 37 1a  ba cb 1e 2c 27 58 35 0e  |..tK.|7....,'X5.|
00000190  eb c0 79 61 97 90 f9 4f  69 ad 42 bf 15 3d 41 b5  |..ya...Oi.B..=A.|
000001a0  31 cc 7e 41 9e a1 5f 3c  44 f1 b4 ae 66 89 cd 60  |1.~A.._<D...f..`|
000001b0  4f d5 e6 37 ba 15 b5 b4  db c3 f3 d9 c7 2d 00 fe  |O..7.........-..|
000001c0  ff ff 82 fe ff ff 02 a0  68 0b 00 90 3c 00 00 fe  |........h...<...|
000001d0  ff ff 05 fe ff ff 01 00  00 00 01 08 e9 02 00 00  |................|
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

I have changed the /etc/grub.d/40_custom file in both the Ubuntu and Lubuntu filesystems, firstly to what I had originally edited it to and then to what ranch hand suggested, and made sure I ran update-grub, but neither seemed to have any effect on what Grub presented me with.

I also changed the image to .png and put it in the desktop-base folder, but this also didn't seem to make a difference. (The image doesn't really matter but would be nice if I could get it to work.)

[ranch hand]

Belteshazzar


According to your boot script out put the menu should be showing up. It is in your grub.cfg file and that is where your screen menu comes from.

However, taking another look at the output we see that the grub.cfg file is on sda6 and what is being looked for is sda1.

Boot to your Lubuntu install and run;

sudo grub-install /dev/sda

If you can't boot to Lubuntu just copy the 40_custom file to Ubuntu and run;

sudo update-grub

I use the same custom file in all my installs with a different background so that I know which one I am booting from. I use that OS' wallpaper resized to 640x480 and renamed menu.png and put in desktop-base.

I think that you are not seeing your image because you are not using the right grub install for your MBR.

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

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #1 for /boot/grub.

[drs305]

Another Grub 2 improvement is on the way. Colin Watson has proposed an update to the grub scripts to include an option to limit the number of displayed kernels. This would be similar to the "howmany" option in Grub legacy.

This is a welcome improvement and I'll update the main post when it is incorporated in Ubuntu's Grub 2.

For those that can't wait, you can check the Grub 2 Title Tweaks link in my signature line for a workaround which does the same thing until the devs approve the 'official' change.

[Belteshazzar]

drs305 and ranch hand, thanks very much for your help - the Grub seems to be working now according to my specifications. Limiting the number of kernels displayed sounds like a great idea since after a while they can certainly pile up!