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    #1

    Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

    I've been using 6.06 for a while and just tried to install 7.10 on the same disk. The grub bootloader fails with the 'file not found' error, even using the automatically generated menu file, which presumably has the correct paths. So I'm trying to use lilo, which is much simpler to use, although annoyingly it doesn't come with 7.10.

    However, whilst 6.06 boots find with lilo, the 7.10 boot sequence freezes at "waiting for root file system", then dumps me into some sort of emergency shell.

    I have two disks on my system, which 6.06 labels as hda and sda, but 7.10 has changed the labels to sda and sdb. I assume this may be related to my problem, but can't see how to fix lilo (or grub) to get them both to boot. Any suggestions?
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    #2
    Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

    You have a very simple system (good! -- like mine), and you should have absolutely no problems installing and dual booting the two OSs. If you do, it suggests a hardware/BIOS problem. No need for LILO; GRUB is a piece of cake; if you can do one, you can do the other.

    Start here:

    How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
    http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0

    You already have 6.06 installed on sda = hd0, so you are putting 7.10 on sdb = hd1, and when you do, simply have the installer put GRUB in the Master Boot Record of the hd0 drive. Using the regular Desktop Live Kubuntu CD, select the "Manual" method of partitioning, watch carefully for Step 6, the button at lower right called Advanced, and make sure it says hd0.

    The naming of devices changed with 7.10; all drives are now called sdx, not hdx. Long story, but it's better and makes no difference to you and I.
    An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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      #3
      Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

      I actually have four OSs on 2 disks - windows, 7.10 and 6.06 on hd1 and Mandrake on hd0. Anyway, I reinstalled 7.10 and this time made sure I chose hd1 as the boot device at step 6. However the grub bootloader still fails with the 'file not found' error. Using the 7.10 rescue disk I can resurrect the lilo bootloader and get back into 6.06, but can't boot into 7.10.
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        #4
        Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

        Here are the relevant parts of my menu.lst (for 7.07)

        title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
        root (hd1,5)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=20db22db-90b7-4ef3-b72c-5dff8999708c ro quiet splash
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
        quiet

        title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
        root (hd1,5)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=20db22db-90b7-4ef3-b72c-5dff8999708c ro single
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

        title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
        root (hd1,5)
        kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
        quiet

        ### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

        # This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
        # ones.
        title Other operating systems:
        root


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
        # linux installation on /dev/sda5.
        title mandriva (on /dev/sda5)
        root (hd0,4)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda5 splash=silent vga=788
        initrd /boot/initrd.img
        savedefault
        boot


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
        # linux installation on /dev/sda5.
        title Mandriva Linux release 2006.0 (Official) for i586 (on /dev/sda5)
        root (hd0,4)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-12mdk root=/dev/sda5
        savedefault
        boot


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
        # on /dev/sdb1
        title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
        root (hd1,0)
        savedefault
        map (hd0) (hd1)
        map (hd1) (hd0)
        chainloader +1


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
        # linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
        title kubuntu6 (on /dev/sdb5)
        root (hd1,4)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-29-386 root=/dev/sda5 ro quiet splash
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-29-386
        savedefault
        boot


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
        # linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
        title kubuntu (recovery mode) (on /dev/sdb5)
        root (hd1,4)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-29-386 root=/dev/sda5 ro single
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-29-386
        savedefault
        boot


        # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
        # linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
        title kubuntu7 (on /dev/sdb5)
        root (hd1,4)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-29-386 root=/dev/sdb6 ro quiet splash
        initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-29-386
        savedefault
        boot
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          #5
          Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo


          From what you say, then, the PC BIOS is set to boot first from the Mandrake drive, hd0. So there must be some bootloader installed to the MBR of hd0 and it must point to the OSs on hd1 or else those OSs won't be able to boot.

          File Not Found -- when? When you select 7.10 to boot?

          (Not too relevant just yet, but from what you say, Windows is on a non-first hard drive, hd1, and so it requires a special boot stanza to boot, using map commands. Edit--OK, I see you have that in menu.lst)

          In the How-To, looks like you need to re-install GRUB to the BIOS boot drive, hd0?
          root (hdx,y)
          setup (hd0)
          quit

          where (hdx,y) is the partition of 7.10 -- (hd1,5).
          An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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            #6
            Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

            The PC BIOS is set to boot the second drive, hd1, and I have installed a lilo bootloader on that drive.

            When I install the grub bootloader on hd1 and select 7.10 from the menu, it gives me the 'file not found' error. I don't think any of the OSs boot with grub but I can boot everything with lilo, except for 7.10.
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              #7
              Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

              Sorry, I'm just confused.
              By definition hd0 IS the boot drive, in BIOS.
              That How-To explains how to chainload LILO from GRUB, but not the other way around.

              If you are into LILO, then see herman's boot or GRUB page on LILO:

              Bigpond, home: http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
              An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                #8
                Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                There's two drives: a SATA and an IDE. The bios always boots from the SATA, and it's the one that contains the two kubuntu installs. Under 6.06 the IDE is hda, and the SATA is sda, and to get lilo to write the bootloader into the SATA, I have to run it using the '-b /dev/sda' option. Similarly, to get grub to work at all I have to tell it to write to (hd1) (in step 6 of the install).

                However, since the new kubuntu has changed the names of the disks (the SATA is now sdb) I can't create a lilo bootloader for 7.10 whilst I'm booted into 6.06. And I'd assume I can't create a lilo bootloader for 6.06 from 7.10 for the same reason, although I can't even try because 7.10 doesn't have lilo.

                I was hoping that ditching lilo for grub will help me overcome the naming problem, but it keeps giving me the 'file not found' error.
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                  #9
                  Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                  So, as viewed from your menu.lst -- the one you posted -- and that menu.lst is from K 7.10 at /boot/grub/menu.lst,

                  then . . .

                  Windows (hd1,0)
                  6.06 (hd1,4)
                  7.10 (hd1,5)

                  Mandriva (hd0,4) -- the BIOS first boot drive: the PC boots from this drive.

                  OK.

                  So, you need GRUB installed FROM (hd1,5) TO (hd0).

                  So, if you let the PC come on and boot from the Mandriva drive, and you see the boot menu from GRUB, then
                  hit the "c" key to get a GRUB prompt, grub>, and that prompt, type these commands, pressing Enter after each:

                  grub> root (hd1,5)
                  grub> setup (hd0)
                  grub> reboot

                  and see if that fixes it.

                  (space after root and after setup)
                  An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                    #10
                    Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                    Well, darned. Looks like I still don't get it!
                    You said:
                    "The bios always boots from the SATA, and it's the one that contains the two kubuntu installs."

                    Obviously, I'm thinking again that it boots from the Mandriva drive.

                    Here's the thing. Suppose your PC boots from some drive--any drive, hard drive, external drive, flash drive, whatever. Then at the time the PC boots, that drive is seen by BIOS and GRUB as hd0. Your other drives *as see from the boot drive* are then hd1, hd2, etc. That's just a fact.

                    You can see why I'm confused here. Your menu.lst suggests that Mandriva is the boot drive and Windows & Kubuntu are on hd1. And so on.

                    GRUB needs to be installed to the MBR of the boot drive from your main Kubuntu OS root partition.
                    And the menu.lst should refer to all OS located on the boot drive as root (hd0,y)'s. And all other OSs not on the boot drive will be named (in menu.lst) using root (hd1,y)'s.

                    An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                      #11
                      Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                      Qqmike -

                      Notice that in the listed menu.lst file for Gutsy, the kernel line is using the UUID option for drive identification to point to root. Is it possible that the UUID isn't correct?
                      Windows no longer obstructs my view.
                      Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                      "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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                        #12
                        Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                        > So, if you let the PC come on and boot from the Mandriva drive, and you see the boot menu from GRUB, then
                        > hit the "c" key to get a GRUB prompt, grub>, and that prompt, type these commands, pressing Enter after each:

                        I won't be able to look at this until this evening - but how do I get the pc to boot from the mandriva drive? I presume I have to go into the bios to do this? The pc always boots from the kubuntu drive, which is why I install the bootloader there.

                        Before I started with the upgrade, I had lilo installed on the kubuntu drive. During the first attempt at the 7.10 install, I asked for grub to be installed on (hd0) (at step 6, advanced). At the next boot it went straight to lilo. Next time I attempted a 7.10 install, I chose (hd1) at step 6, and this time the pc booted with grub. Except grub couldn't load anything. I concluded that if I use (hd1) grub installs itself on the kubuntu drive, and if I use (hd0) it installs on the mandriva drive., and that the menu.lst file it created was probably wrong.

                        So is the kubuntu install failing to identify the drives correctly? What I mean is, suppose that it thinks that the mandriva is the boot drive, and is therefore hd0, but when the pc comes up it's actually the kubuntu drive that's hd0. That means that kubuntu is generating an incorrect menu.lst, and probably generating incorrect uuids. If I can fix up the menu.lst to so that, eg, 7.10 is on (hd0,5), but install the bootloader to hd1 (which is really hd0 - are you still with me?), then it might work. The other possibility is to do an alternative install and use lilo, but that will probably mean I'll lose 6.06 and mandriva but I shouldn't need them once I get 7.10 completely working.
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                          #13
                          Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                          OK, good. You've explained it very well, thanks. I'm reviewing all of this and am preparing a response. (For one thing, I thought that menu.lst was made custom by you! whereas I see it was automatically generated, as you said in your first post. That explains a few things, like how Windows got its map dance.) It may take a few hours (putting it together in OOo Writer) as I'm being pulled away for various distractions at the start of Monday here. I'll be back with something that we can live with.
                          An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                            #14
                            Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                            Some of the entries on the menu.lst (such as the "kubuntu6" and "kubuntu7" entries) were entered by me, but the entries I was trying to use, that gave me the 'file not found' were generated by the Kubuntu 7.10 install.
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                              #15
                              Re: Boot 7.10 and 6.06 with lilo

                              OK, yes. The Windows entry is confusing because it implies that Windows is *not* on the boot drive. Any way, I'm re-reading the thread now and am typing up a decent reply here. As I said, I'll be pulled away soon for some business but will return to it asap. This looks like it is easy now, but I want to write it clearly.


                              EDIT added: Yes, it looks like the K 7.10 installer has confused the naming of the drives, which btw is not unheard of.
                              An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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