How to get to GRUB boot menu directly after the computer start?

[nkao]

Hello,
I did a clean installation of Ubuntu 10.04 and I found that after the computer booted, the GRUB stopped by waiting for entering command -- "grub >". The GRUB version is 1.98.

I want to go directly to the GRUB boot menu after computer booted. Could someone help me to fix this easy problem?

Thanks.

[darkod]

Boot with the ubuntu cd in live mode, and in terminal do:

sudo fdisk -l (small L)

Post the results, so we can give exact commands.

[nkao]

I will post the required information later today because I don't have access to the computer this moment. (home vs. office)

[nkao]

Hi, the following is the output of "sudo fdisk -l" after booted from a 10.04 liveCD --
================================================== =========
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ 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
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00086806

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 18707 150259712 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 18707 19458 6028289 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 18707 19458 6028288 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 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: 0xe888e888

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 38261 307331451 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 38262 38913 5237190 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 38262 38913 5237158+ b W95 FAT32
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$
================================================== =========

And please note that /dev/sdb is an IDE hard drive and /dev/sda is a SATA hard drive.

Thanks for the help.

[oldfred]

Usually you need to reinstall grub to the MBR of the drive you boot from. Which should be set to the sda or 160GB drive in BIOS.

While in the LiveCD, open terminal and run:
sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda
If that returns any errors run:
sudo grub-install --recheck --root-directory=/mnt /dev/sda

Then reboot and in Ubuntu:
sudo update-grub #should add windows to grub.cfg for next reboot.

[alterpinguin]

if it is grub2
you are using?
Then check the file:
/etc/grub/grub.cfg

In this file, there are some defaults setup,
like the GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
...
.......

comment this line with a "#" in front, to not use it.
The HIDDEN_TIMEOUT may be activated to automatically boot
the standard version - this might be nice for a user
who dont cares and only want to do his/her job after the booting.

For people, who care for more, like installing, updating etc.
and who know a bit about the grub-commandlines and the grub-shell,
this might be bad - you need to boot and change the setting to get into
the grub-shell and to change some things ! but think about if you dont want the user to make changes without the knowledge what he/she is doing.

forgot it: you need to update the grub after doing this,
like with:
sudo update-grub

[nkao]

Thank you, oldfred and alterpinguin.
I will try your suggestion later. (Again, home vs. office)
And let you know the outcome.

[nkao]

Hi alterpinguin,
I have dual OS (Ubuntu & XP) installed on separated hard drives in this computer, so I think the GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMOUT may not be the one to fix my problem.

Here is the reason quoted from "The Grub 2 Guide":

GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0 [ Note: This setting only applies to computers with only a single operating system. ]

Thanks.

[nkao]

Hi oldfred,
I tried to re-install GRUB 2 by following your instruction but the outcome remains the same. The GRUB boot loader get into interactive mode (prompting "grub >") and I had to enter command "exit" to have the boot menu displayed.

I believe that there must be only a setting somewhere in the GRUB configuration files that I need to modify in order to get into the boot menu directly after GRUB boot loader is loaded.

Thanks for suggestion or comment.

[alterpinguin]

Hi alterpinguin,
I have dual OS (Ubuntu & XP) installed on separated hard drives in this computer, so I think the GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMOUT may not be the one to fix my problem.

Here is the reason quoted from "The Grub 2 Guide":

Thanks.

No - i had no problems with old grub (legacy). The new grub2
had some problems (like using different device-map order)
and it happened suddenly with one update in 10.04 beta ... or? - i dont remember it any more, later - when suddenly the grub2 menu did disappear.
I could enable it again after i did comment (#) this variable-setting.