How do I access Grub

[jacatone]

How do you access Grub in Kubuntu 6.06? I have three OS's installed but it's only reading two in Grub. How would I configure this loader to show all three? I've attached a snapshot of my drives. Ext 3 (Ubuntu 6.06) is the one not accessible. Thanks.

[Ant2ne]

Re: How do I access Grub

How do I subscribe to this thread without replying to it? (Like I am now) I don't have the answer this person is looking for, but I too would like to know the answer.

[dibl]

Re: How do I access Grub

The Grub menu is generated by the file /boot/grub/menu.lst

There are quite a few prior posts on the subject, in this forum and the Ubuntu Forums.

My thin experience with customizing Grub menus suggests that, using a text editor like Kate, you would take one of the existing stanzas of menu.lst that is actually working now (one of the first two), copy it to become the third stanza, and then edit it to refer to the 6.06 instance, location, and bootup characteristics that you want (similar to the first two). For example, here is a functional stanza in the Debian section of a menu.lst that happens to be laying around:

title Kubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=84445218-c1c0-41fc-9616-2c92a5a348d5 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

So, by looking at this working stanza, one can see that replacing the (hd1,1) with a different kernel location, and replacing "2.6.20-15-generic" with the correct kernel of your Dapper version, and replacing the UUID number of the root directory with either the correct UUID number, or a conventional device filename like /dev/hda2 (as named in the dev/media directory), and then finally change the initrd.img to the correct one for your Dapper version, and you may just find a new bootable OS on your menu list.

I'd make a backup copy of the working menu.lst file that you have now before starting the surgery, however.

Hope this helps.

[jacatone]

Re: How do I access Grub

So how would I get these stanzas into a text editor like Kate. Obviously, I'd make the changes you outlined then click Save. Just unsure about initial setup. Thanks.

[dibl]

Re: How do I access Grub

OK, let me try it step by step.

1. Kmenu>System>Konsole (this opens a Konsole terminal window).
2. In the Konsole, type

kdesu kate

and enter your password when prompted.
3. Kate opens, and you click on the file folder icon in the upper left, which opens the "Open File" browse window.
4. You browse by clicking the up-arrow (upper left corner) two times. You will be looking at the directory structure of the root directory.
5. You click once on "boot", and then once on "grub", and then twice on the file named menu.lst (I know, consistency in click routines would be nice ....)
6. You will now have the file open in Kate. You will notice a very lengthy list of preliminary and example information, all commented out with preceding "#"s. Scroll down until you see this:

## ## End Default Options ##

7. The very next line, which should not be commented, is the actual beginning of your boot menu text. It should look something like this:

title		Kubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic

Note that the information related to this boot option is organized in a "stanza" -- a six-line arrangement of information that resembles this:

title		Kubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root		(hd1,1)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=84445218-c1c0-41fc-9616-2c92a5a348d5 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

Then below that is a line space and then another stanza, probably for a recovery mode version of the first bootable kernel.

So, what you need to create is a new stanza to boot your Dapper kernel. In Kate, you can highlight, right-click, and "copy" one of your working stanzas, go to the point where you would like to create the menu to boot Dapper, and do a "paste" by inserting a space, putting your cursor there, and right clicking and selecting "paste".

8. Now you have a new stanza, but it reads wrong - it's just a duplicate of the one that you copied. So, you must edit it as I described in the previous post, to give the correct name and location and device designation to the partition and the Dapper kernel that you wish to be able to boot. Since you are the Super User at this point in your adventure, you will be able to click the "save" button and the menu.lst file will be modified according to your edits. When you have it edited correctly, you will be able to exit Kate, shut down anything else you have running, and shut down/restart your system, and have the new Grub boot menu appear with the option to boot your Dapper kernel.

Good luck with it! 8)

P.S. Suppose your Dapper was installed in the first partition of the second hard drive, say sdb1. At the time you installed it, Dapper wrote itself a Grub boot menu. That boot menu, which is no longer used, still exists at sdb1 /boot/grub/menu.lst. In that version of menu.lst, it will have precisely the stanza that you need to insert in the menu.lst that you are editing as Super User, as described above. So, the smart bunny might just open a second instance of Kate (not necessarily as Super User, just open a new Konsole and type "kate"), and then browse to /media/sdb1, and then to the /boot/grub/menu.lst of that device, and then copy the boot stanza for the Dapper kernel and paste it into the instance of Kate where you are editing the functioning menu.lst. 8)

[penguin.ch]

Re: How do I access Grub

Just an addition to Dibl's guide: placing the "3rd stanza" below the "end kernel list" line might prove helpful on the long run, for what's written there won't get changed by a later upgrade of the main system's kernel.

[dibl]

Re: How do I access Grub

Wow -- now THERE is some smart help!

Thanks, UR 8)!