KDE Neon Grub Edit

[tushar21nov]

I want to edit the grub in KDE Neon. My OS is KDE Neon and it is 64 bit. I want to edit the boot timeout and boot order. I am using it alongside with windows 10. Can you show me the process of how to edit the grub. In Ubuntu or Kubuntu I have successfully edited the grub by editing the grub file in /etc/default/grub directory. But in KDE Neon the file was not there. Thanks

[Snowhog]

The way KDE neon uses Grub2, and so, how one manages it, is significantly different than how it is used in Kubuntu and, I think, most *buntu and Debian based Linux distributions.

I've contacted Jonathan Riddell and asked if there is a KDE neon Grub2 guide he can point me to. I've Googled and I can't find one.

[Qqmike]

I have no idea about KDE NEON. I also didn't have any luck searching. I wonder if KDE NEON will boot with the normal GRUB2? If so, one could use Boot-Repair to purge the NEON GRUB and install a "normal" GRUB2. At the Boot-Repair site, I don't see any mention of whether it works with NEON. There's some risk here: if you remove NEON's GRUB2 using Boot-Repair and try a re-install of GRUB2, well, anything could happen--it may or may not work.

[Snowhog]

KDE neon is using a controlling text file to 'manage' Grub2. I don't know why, and I don't remember where it is; I did edit how Grub2 acted on KDE neon "once", but I don't remember what I did. Waiting for a reply from Jonathan.

[Qqmike]

Maybe try to locate GRUB config files using some command, like

cd / && sudo find -name *grub*

?

[Snowhog]

IIRC, the controlling text file isn't named grub anything.

Added:

KDE neon uses grub 'themes'. By default, at least here, the theme is 'breeze'. Look at /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_THEME=/boot/grub/themes/breeze/theme.txt

#GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=""

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

/etc/grub/themes/breeze/theme.txt:

# Copyright (C) 2016 Harald Sitter <sitter@kde.org>#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
# modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
# published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of
# the License or any later version accepted by the membership of 
# KDE e.V. (or its successor approved by the membership of KDE
# e.V.), which shall act as a proxy defined in Section 14 of
# version 3 of the license.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.


# paperwhite - #fcfcfc
# icongrey - #4d4d4d
# plasmablue - #3daee9
# black - #000000


# Global Property
# General settings
title-text: ""
title-font: "Unifont Regular 14"
message-font: "Unifont Regular 14"
message-color: "#7f8c8d"
message-bg-color: "#4d4d4d" # TODO: whatever is this for?
desktop-color: "#000000" # black


# title
# NOTE: can't put this in a vbox because GRUB is crap and item highlighting
#   is broken if you put the boot_menu in a vbox...
# TODO: file bug report
+ label {
    top = 50%-225 # (150+43+32) menu + height + spacer
    left = 0%
    width = 100%
    text = "Select Operating System"
    align = "center"
    font = "Unifont Regular 32"
    color = "#ffffff"
}


# Show the boot menu
+ boot_menu {
    left = 50%-200
    width = 400
    # NB: this is scooped upwards from the middle.
    #     effectively 50px are below and the remaining 150 above
    top = 50%-150
    height = 200
    # Icon
    icon_width = 4
    icon_height = 0
    # Item
    item_height = 33
    item_padding = 1
    item_icon_space = 0
    item_spacing = 1
    item_font =  "Unifont Regular 16"
    item_color = "#7f8c8d"
    selected_item_font = "Unifont Bold 16"
    selected_item_color = "#ffffff"
}


+ vbox {
    left = 50%-200 # same as menu
    top = 50%+113 # (50+16+19+28) half menu + spacer + progress + spacer
    width = 400 # same as menu
    + label { width = 400 align = "center" color = "#7f8c8d" font = "Unifont Regular 14" text = "[Enter] Boot the selected OS" }
    + label { width = 400 align = "center" color = "#7f8c8d" font = "Unifont Regular 14" text = "[Up and Down Key] navigation" }
    + label { width = 400 align = "center" color = "#7f8c8d" font = "Unifont Regular 14" text = "[E] Edit Selection" }
    + label { width = 400 align = "center" color = "#7f8c8d" font = "Unifont Regular 14" text = "[C] GRUB Command Line" }
}


# Show a styled horizontal progress bar
+ progress_bar {
    id = "__timeout__"
    left = 0
    top = 100%-32
    width = 100%
    height = 32
    show_text = false
    bar_style = "progress_bar_*.png"
    highlight_style = "progress_bar_hl_*.png"
}


# Show text progress bar
+ progress_bar {
    id = "__timeout__"
    left = 50%-200 # same as menu
    top = 50%+66 # (50+16) half menu + spacer
    width = 400 # same as menu
    height = 19 # 14pt
    show_text = true
    font = "Unifont Regular 14"
    text_color = "#7f8c8d"
    align = "center"
    text = "@TIMEOUT_NOTIFICATION_MIDDLE@"
    bar_style = "progress_bar2_*.png"
}

[vinnywright]

I think you can still use the /etc/default/grub to set things as long as it dose not interfere with the "theme" if one is set,,,,,,,,you can comment out the "theme" line .

my /etc/default/grub is modified so I can have the frame buffer device (/dev/fb0) loaded at boot ,,,,,,so I can take screenshots of TTY's with fbcat.

and it works with the edits in /etc/default/grub

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash [COLOR=#ff0000]vga=0x034d[/COLOR]"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
[COLOR=#ff0000]GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080x24
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep[/COLOR]

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
GRUB_THEME=/boot/grub/themes/breeze/theme.txt

the edits for the frame buffer are in red

VINNY

[MoonRise]

I can confirm Vinny's comments. That is what I do and all seems OK.

[Snowhog]

I think you can still use the /etc/default/grub to set things as long as it dose not interfere with the "theme" if one is set,,,,,,,,you can comment out the "theme" line .

And when I had KDE neon installed on my HP laptop, that's what I ended up doing. For us long time users of Kubuntu however, the 'change' that KDE neon made to how Grub2 is configured, by using a theme, makes it a tad confusing. All the basic controls we are used to seeing in /etc/default/grub simply aren't there in the same file in KDE neon.

[vinnywright]

All the basic controls we are used to seeing in /etc/default/grub simply aren't there in the same file in KDE neon.

I see then ,,,,mine was already edited from when it was a Kubuntu-16.04 install , befor I added Neon repo .

when I get a new grub ,like a few day's ago , it will ask if I want to keep my edited version of that file (/etc/default/grub) or take a new default one ,,,,,,I keep mine

VINNY

[GreyGeek]

Hope this thread isn't dead! Anywhoo,
I don't see an app or a grub config setting that lets me set which kernel I want to run automatically in KDE Neon.
There used to be graphical app which let you do that and other things with grup, like remove old kernels, etc., other than just using app-get or app.

[dequire]

Hope this thread isn't dead! Anywhoo,
I don't see an app or a grub config setting that lets me set which kernel I want to run automatically in KDE Neon.
There used to be graphical app which let you do that and other things with grup, like remove old kernels, etc., other than just using app-get or app.

Yepp, that was "kde-config-grub2", and it was awesome. It looks like it hasn't been ported to Plasma 5 yet, at least based on the last commit date and the accompanying screenshot.

http://packages.ubuntu.com/precise/a...e-config-grub2

[vinnywright]

Hope this thread isn't dead! Anywhoo,
I don't see an app or a grub config setting that lets me set which kernel I want to run automatically in KDE Neon.
There used to be graphical app which let you do that and other things with grup, like remove old kernels, etc., other than just using app-get or app.

in /etc/default/grub ,,,the line GRUB_DEFAULT=0 is defaulting to the newest kernel ,,,,the one at the top of the list when you boot ,,,,,,,IF you want the second entry in that list then change the "0" to "1" and so forth .

if you dont have that file in /etc/default then create it ,,,,,,,,,hear is mine .

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash [COLOR=#ff0000]vga=0x034d[/COLOR]"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
[COLOR=#ff0000]GRUB_GFXMODE=1920x1080x24
GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=keep[/COLOR]

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
GRUB_THEME=/boot/grub/themes/breeze/theme.txt

the parts in "red" are my edits that you wont need ,,,,,,they allow the frame buffer device to load at boot (/dev/fb0) so I can get screen shots of TTY's if I wish

VINNY

[GreyGeek]

in /etc/default/grub ,,,the line GRUB_DEFAULT=0 is defaulting to the newest kernel ,,,,the one at the top of the list when you boot ,,,,,,,IF you want the second entry in that list then change the "0" to "1" and so forth .

.... snip ...

VINNY

That's the old way I didn't want to use, even though I had to. I was hoping that a new GUI was available. I just couldn't see any in the repository and the deb package I found wasn't compatible.

[Snowhog]

"The Konsole is weak with this one!" [Deep breathing]

Do not go to the GUI-side! Embrace the konsole!!