Excellent post, but one small correction - grub will boot any OS as
default. Here's my config file from this laptop:
---
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda3
# initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,2)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Fedora Core (2.6.12-1.1378_FC3)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-1.1378_FC3 ro root=LABEL=/ acpi=off
apm=broken_psr
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.12-1.1378_FC3.img
title Fedora Core (2.6.11-1.35_FC3)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11-1.35_FC3 ro root=LABEL=/ acpi=off
apm=broken_psr
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.11-1.35_FC3.img
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.18-27.8.0custom)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18-27.8.0custom ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.18-27.8.0custom.img
title Billyware, XP flavor
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
---
The line "default=0" can be changed (in my case) to 1,2 or 3 to boot any
of the other 3 by default. If I change it to 3 the list comes up in the
order in the config file, with "Billyware" hilighted on the last line.
Bill Roddy wrote:
I dual-boot everything, multi-boot. I've found that GRUB is the easiest
bootloader, because you can change /boot/grub/menu.lst by rearranging or
adding other entries from other distributions you have install there.
The most recent distribution will write the MBR. Let it. It will always
look for and "see" the Windows partition and make an entry for booting.
Ubuntu, SUSE, and Debian will find all distributions and list them so
you can boot them from GRUB.
In the case of Fedora, Red Hat, and perhaps others, Windows is listed as
"Other," but it will boot it. However, I have not installed a distro yet
that will not pick up a previously-installed Windows partition, list it,
and make it bootable.
In the case of wanting other Linux distros to also be available, go to
their /boot/grub/menu.list, copy their boot instructions and then past
them into the distro's /boot/grub/menu.lst you just installed.
You can re-order them in any order you chose. The top one will always be
the default boot-up.
It is possible to install Windows on a primary disk that is second, but
then you will lose your GRUB settings and have to reinstall the Linux
distro(s) to have one of them write. The /grub/boot/menu.lost file is
the key to making it boot the systems, and in the order, you prefer.
The largest number of distros I've had on this piece of crap machine,
with a 40MB hard drive, at any one time is seven, including Windows.
That was allocating allocating only 5MB per distro. I save all my data
files on a second hard drive that is master 2. If it does not show to
mount, you can add the drive to the /etc/fstabs file. They all would be
available to boot using this method.
Like I've said before, this may not be the "right" way, but it's a way I
figured out myself and it has never failed, so I use it.
Thanks for listing.
Bill
Ed
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