Grub 2 Basics

[Merk42]

I'm trying to figure out how to do something very simple that isn't explicitly shown in any guide.

I have dual boot between Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows XP.
I want it to:

• Make XP the default (done)
• not show any menu unless I hold shift

That second one I cannot find out how to do, I'm guessing some script with 40_custom script but I don't know what.

Basically I just want the appearance that GRUB doesn't even exist, it boots to XP without any visual change (currently it shows the GRUB menu which made other users feel Windows did not shut down properly)

[drs305]

I'm trying to figure out how to do something very simple that isn't explicitly shown in any guide.

I have dual boot between Ubuntu 9.10 and Windows XP.
I want it to:

• Make XP the default (done)
• not show any menu unless I hold shift

That second one I cannot find out how to do, I'm guessing some script with 40_custom script but I don't know what.

Basically I just want the appearance that GRUB doesn't even exist, it boots to XP without any visual change (currently it shows the GRUB menu which made other users feel Windows did not shut down properly)

EDIT: Go to post #408 for a workaround on a dual-boot system to allow no menu with the capability to interrupt the boot using the SHIFT key.

There should be no # symbol at the start of the line: GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 line. "0" will boot the system without a timeout.

In your current situation, does the system boot eventually without your intervention? If not, and you must press ENTER, you may have a "recordfail" event that is preventing automatic boot. If it currently boots but displays the menu for a while before proceeding without your input, the above setting should allow it to boot without the menu.

[Merk42]

There should be no # symbol at the start of the line: GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 line. "0" will boot the system without a timeout.

In your current situation, does the system boot eventually without your intervention? If not, and you must press ENTER, you may have a "recordfail" event that is preventing automatic boot. If it currently boots but displays the menu for a while before proceeding without your input, the above setting should allow it to boot without the menu.

There is no # in front of GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

Currently it shows GRUB, with Windows XP selected by default, counts down, then boots XP.


I do want XP as default, I'd just like the GRUB menu to not show at all (unless I actively hold SHIFT during boot)

[drs305]

There is no # in front of GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

Currently it shows GRUB, with Windows XP selected by default, counts down, then boots XP.


I do want XP as default, I'd just like the GRUB menu to not show at all (unless I actively hold SHIFT during boot)

I forgot that on multi-system computers the GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT feature doesn't work (as you have found). Leave it set at 0 however, and set the GRUB_TIMEOUT to 0 and it should boot without hesitation.

One problem is that it also won't allow the SHIFT key to be active if 30_os-prober is deactivated, as the SHIFT keystatus check is part of the 30_os-prober script. If you want to bypass 30_os-prober and use a custom entry you can modify the scripts to re-add this feature back which is a good idea since otherwise you can't manually override the automatic boot.

In your case, as long as 30_os-prober is executable, setting GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 should be sufficient.

[Merk42]

One problem is that it also won't allow the SHIFT key to be active if 30_os-prober is deactivated, as it bypasses this part of the 30_os-prober script. If you want to bypass 30_os-prober and use a custom entry you can modify the scripts to re-add this feature back which is a good idea since otherwise you can't manually override the automatic boot.

In your case, as long as 30_os-prober is executable, setting GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 should be sufficient.

How do I do this?

[drs305]

How do I do this?

To be clear, copying the keystatus check is only necessary if you plan on not using /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober. But if you do plan on using a custom script and disabling 30_os-prober, here is the section which activates the keystatus check for a depressed SHIFT key:

if [ \${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if keystatus; then
if keystatus --shift; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=0
fi
else
if sleep$verbose --interruptible 3 ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
fi

You could add this section to another script which would be run, such as 00_header or even your custom script. Start the new section with:
cat << EOF
and end the section with:
EOF

[Merk42]

Welp, added the timeout 0 and now it won't boot to Ubuntu at all. Tried to run a LiveCD to increase the timeout but I can't run 'sudo update-grub' because "grub-probe: error: cannot find a device for /"

Why would I not use "/etc/grub.d/30_os-prober"? I don't even understand what that is!

All I did was set the default to XP and then try and get the menu to not show up unless I hold shift. Apparently that's far toooo complicated of a suggestion to do for this GRUB2. Since now I can't even boot Ubuntu, I guess I'm stuck with installing it all over again.

[drs305]

Updating this post:
The problem appears to be that the keystatus check is embedded in the /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober script. If the first conditional isn't met, the keystatus check is not run.

The solution is to comment out the first condition, which checks to see if another OS is located. If you disable the first conditional the keystatus check will work and SHIFT will interrupt the boot. Find the section below in /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober and place a comment where indicated. On both my Grub 1.97~beta and 1.98 versions, the lines to change are currently lines 28 and 62.

gksu gedit +27 /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober

adjust_timeout () {
# if [ "x${found_other_os}" = "x" ] ; then
if [ "x${GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT}" != "x" ] ; then
if [ "x${GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET}" = "xtrue" ] ; then
verbose=
else
verbose=" --verbose"
fi

if [ "x${GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT}" = "x0" ] ; then
cat <<EOF
if [ \${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if keystatus; then
if keystatus --shift; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=0
fi
else
if sleep$verbose --interruptible 3 ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
fi
EOF
else
cat << EOF
if [ \${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if sleep$verbose --interruptible ${GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT} ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
EOF
fi
fi
# fi
}

Save the file and then run "sudo update-grub" to put the changes into grub.cfg

[cmcginty]

I don't know the specifics of which partitions Grub2 is writing to on your system. Here are some options:

I fixed this by removing the /boot/grub/grubenv file.

[Merk42]

Been busy, but that did indeed work drs305