Grub/partitions question

[sbradley07]

I have a number of partitions on a single hard drive that were installed in my first attempts to get Kubuntu up and running. There are multiples because it took me a couple of times before I figured out how to size the partition properly. As a result, my system looks like the table below, but I am now only using partitions /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda5. I don't use, nor do I intend to use the other partitions, so they are just taking up space on the hd.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 2235 2482 1992060 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 1 1848 14844028+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 2115 2234 963900 5 Extended
/dev/sda4 * 1849 2114 2136645 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 2136 2234 795186 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 2115 2135 168619+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Here's my questions (and I read much of the Grub doc and think I am describing this correctly):

It looks like Grub is installed on /dev/sda4, because that's where my PC boots from. When my boot menu first comes up, it's using the /boot/grub/menu.lst file on that partition. There is also a /boot/grub/menu.lst on /dev/sda2, so I guess that means that Grub is installed on /sda2 as well, but it's not booting from there. To fix this, do I need to re-install Grub on /sda2 with:

grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

Or do I need to do something like: sudo grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/sda2 ?

If I can get it to boot properly from /dev/sda2, then I can (hopefully) format the unused partitions and recover the diskspace using GParted. Am I on the right track?

[Qqmike]

Re: Grub/partitions question

“Am I on the right track?”

Yes. Your root (hd0,1), setup (hd0), quit is correct.
(You might have to double-check that the menu.lst on sda2 has the correct boot entry--not a problem; and generally speaking, when doing these things, either have Super Grub Disk handy (in case you need emergency rescue boot) and/or a copy of my/some/any How-To handy (so you could always boot manually into any OS you wish).)


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

[sbradley07]

Re: Grub/partitions question

Yes, I was planning on having a grub disk handy in case things go sour. Your Grub Toolkit was my primary source of info on this topic - - awesome post btw! If I post my /dev/sda2 menu.lst, can you give it a quick look? Actually, it's posted in another thread here: http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3089961.0 about 3 entries from the top.

[Qqmike]

Re: Grub/partitions question

Looks right. Main thing you want is the sda2 Kubuntu boot entry so you can boot into Kubuntu there.

[sbradley07]

Re: Grub/partitions question

I'm having trouble making a grub floppy. Getting a "no space left on device" message when trying to copy /boot/grub files. I formatted it as FAT32, but did it from DOS on another machine. Does that matter?

I have a Gparted Live CD. Would that serve as an adequate replacement to a grub floppy?

[sbradley07]

Re: Grub/partitions question

Never mind...just read your post #22...doh!

[sbradley07]

Re: Grub/partitions question

The re-install of Grub on /dev/sda2 worked like a charm!! Now it's on to cleaning up those useless extra partitions.

Thanks for the help.