On Tuesday 04 November 2008, Allen Weiner wrote: > The original multiboot setup on my desktop PC consisted of Windows ME > and Fedora, and used the GRUB bootloader. I later added Ubuntu. During > Ubuntu installation, I elected not to install a bootloader. I manually > added an Ubuntu entry to /boot/grub/grub.conf (Fedora's /boot). With > this configuration, I'm not able to select a newer kernel when Ubuntu > does a kernel update. > > I'm trying to repair my GRUB configuration without having to reinstall > Ubuntu and without having to use an Ubuntu CD. I did a Google search and > found lots of seemingly different (and hard to understand) ways to > install GRUB. The solution I selected uses Knoppix and comes from the > book "Knoppix Hacks". I used a Knoppix v5.1.1 (Jan 2007) live-CD to > install and automatically configure /boot/grub/menu.lst (in > Ubuntu's /boot) and to install GRUB in Ubuntu's boot sector. (The > Knoppix GRUB is probably downlevel). > > I then added the following entry to Fedora's /boot/grub/grub.conf > > title Ubuntu 8.04 chainload > rootnoverify (hd1,7) > chainloader +1 > > > The Ubuntu kernel hardcoded in my Fedora /boot/grub/grub.conf is > 2.6.24-17 and this boots OK. When I select "Ubuntu 8.04 chainload" from > my GRUB menu a second GRUB menu is displayed offering a choice of three > Ubuntu kernels: 2.6.24-21, 2.6.24-19, and 2.6.24-17. I tried each choice > and they all fail in the same way. Ubuntu begins booting and displays > numerous informational (nonerror) messages. Each boot freezes at message > "Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision 3.20". > > I subsequently booted Ubuntu using my hardcoded kernel entry in the > (Fedora based) GRUB menu. I ran Synaptic to check the status of GRUB. > Synaptic reported GRUB was not installed but GRUB 0.97 was available > for installation. I installed this and retried booting Ubuntu using the > " Ubuntu 8.04 chainload" entry in the (Fedora based) GRUB menu. This > boot failed in the same way as before. > > Any ideas on what's going wrong and/or how I can fix this? (preferably > without reinstalling Ubuntu or using an Ubuntu CD).
Okay, I think I understand what you're looking to do. GRUB needs to be installed in the partition that Ubuntu is on -- and there are two parts to GRUB -- the "stage 1" is what generally gets booted from the MBR but can also be booted from a partition, and the "stage 1.5" and "stage 2" portions are files in /boot/grub/ that are called by the "stage 1" portion. In order to chainload Ubuntu, you need to install the GRUB "stage 1" portion onto the partition that Ubuntu is installed on (hd1,7) so that this second Grub can be booted from the first Grub from Fedora. So install grub in (hd1,7), which should also install the stage 1 portion there. I suggest changing the colors and/or splash images between the two GRUBs so that it's clear which GRUB menu you're in. I understand why you want to do this -- because in both cases you want to allow Fedora and Ubuntu to automatically modify the Grub menu when new kernels are installed, and each of the Linux installs don't know about the other's kernels. There is a minor downside to the chainload setup -- booting Ubuntu will be dependent on Fedora's Grub, so if you eventually uninstall Fedora you won't be able to boot Ubuntu. An alternative that gets around that problem would be to use a self-contained boot loader in the MBR such as "GAG": http://gag.sourceforge.net/ and there are other options: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_boot_loaders Setting this up would involve installng GRUB into the partitions for both Fedora and Ubuntu, and then using another self-contained boot loader in the MBR to "chainload" to GRUB in both cases. Another advantage that using another self-contained boot loader has is that installing another version of Linux won't need to involve manually editing the GRUB menu to add another "chainload" entry. I'm running GAG now -- for the same reason -- and find it easy to install and use. I wasn't thrilled at having to go through two boot menus in order to boot Linux at first, but I got used to it. And there's nothing stopping you from doing BOTH, by the way. Either one of the GRUB menus can still have a chainload entry to boot the other one. :-D -- Chris -- Chris Knadle [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Sep 3 - Porkchop - The Areas of My Expertise Oct 1 - Ubikeys Oct 4 - Linux Fest Nov 5 - Releasing Open Source Software Dec 3 - TBD
