(SOLVED)I want to install Squeeze on my triple-boot system

[nadir]

Why from me too.
What is the point of installing grub to the partition, in case it ain't used at all?
This is a question, not a sarcastic side note.

[edbarx]

So, the grub menu that appears first should not be allowed lo directly load the kernels and initrd.img of the other operating systems. Instead, I suggest you to force the first bootloader that is called to chainload the other bootloaders from their respective partitions.

why?

Why from me too.
What is the point of installing grub to the partition, in case it ain't used at all?
This is a question, not a sarcastic side note.

So, I will answer.

bootloader 1 (I am assuming it to be part of a Debian installation)
Installed to MBR and called by the BIOS
|
|------>> Let's say it is Ubuntu (bootloader 2 installed to Ubuntu's partition)
|
|------>> Other distro 1 (bootloader 3 installed to partition)

Bootloader 1 only chainloads bootloader 2 and 3. This avoids that updates mess the links in grub.cfg providing links to inexistent kernel versions.

In addition, bootloaders 2 and 3 do not provide links to load anything except their respective distribution's kernels.

I found that this setup avoids that updates to any installation create invalid links to kernels that fail.

My setup is more complicated than this. I have a grub-legacy installation in a 24MB partition that boots from the MBR. All distributions are chainloaded and no installation is allowed to link to other kernels apart from its own.

You may wonder that it is complicated, but what interests me is that it is robust and that all distributions are effectively isolated.

[MeanDean]

So if you wanted to add the 'quiet' option to the kernel line for all your installs then you would need to edit every one of your menu.lst or grub.cfg files??? Is that right?

Chainloading is what I use to do also but I found it to be aggravating due to the above problem. Plus if you keep the /boot/grub folder on one of your installs then you have to be sure to keep that install.

What I do nowadays...and am very happy with....
I install grub to the mbr
I do not let a distro install grub at all anymore. Not to the partitions or the mbr.
I have /boot/grub folder on sda1 which is where I keep all my stuff. sda1 is used only for data
I have generic entries for all my partitions as well as more specific ones that includes some options I prefer
I also have a entry to boot my usb stick
I also have a entry to start a hard drive install
Nothing changes my menu.lst entries but me. I only need to change one file. That file is on my data partition and is as safe as my data is.
It really is not complex at all once you think about grub being entirely seperate from the operating system. If anything I consider it to be more simple this way.

[edbarx]

So if you wanted to add the 'quiet' option to the kernel line for all your installs then you would need to edit every one of your menu.lst or grub.cfg files??? Is that right?

Isolation comes at a price and that is one of the cons. However, I am happy with that disadvantage as I do not want any installation messing the files of another.

Chainloading is what I use to do also but I found it to be aggravating due to the above problem. Plus if you keep the /boot/grub folder on one of your installs then you have to be sure to keep that install.

The bootloader that loads from the MBR is independent of all installations. In other words it does not belong to any of them.

What I do nowadays...and am very happy with....
I install grub to the mbr
I do not let a distro install grub at all anymore. Not to the partitions or the mbr.
I have /boot/grub folder on sda1 which is where I keep all my stuff. sda1 is used only for data
I have generic entries for all my partitions as well as more specific ones that includes some options I prefer
I also have a entry to boot my usb stick
I also have a entry to start a hard drive install
Nothing changes my menu.lst entries but me. I only need to change one file. That file is on my data partition and is as safe as my data is.
It really is not complex at all once you think about grub being entirely seperate from the operating system. If anything I consider it to be more simple this way.

I can understand your approach as your aim is to access all installation from one grub.cfg file enabling you to make changes that affect any distro installation on your disks. I chose the opposite because I wanted distributions not to affect each other in any way.

[MeanDean]

The bootloader that loads from the MBR is independent of all installations. In other words it does not belong to any of them.

Correct. But if someone chainloads other installs AND they have /boot/grub contained in one of the installations....then if they wipe that installation then the grub config files are gone with it...

I can understand your approach as your aim is to access all installation from one grub.cfg file enabling you to make changes that affect any distro installation on your disks. I chose the opposite because I wanted distributions not to affect each other in any way

None of my distributions affect the other. My installs are all isolated the same as yours, yet I only need to edit one file.


...and as a bonus....I do not have the following problem http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 73&start=0

[edbarx]

If you update the kernel of one of the distributions which share grub that belongs to the distribution having it installed in the MBR, you will need to boot that distribution (the one having grub) and run update-grub, otherwise the other distribution would not boot. It used to happen to me and I devised a way to avoid it. That's why I wanted complete isolation.

[MeanDean]

Once again, I install grub to the mbr. The grub config files reside on a seperate partition ( sda1 - my data partition where I store all my goodies).

None of my installs share grub. None of them even know about grub. Usually the grub package is not even installed. Normaly update-grub is never called because it usually does not exist on my system since the grub package is not installed.

You obviously do not have complete isolation according to that thread you posted. With my method I do not have the problem you describe in that thread. With my method even if update-grub is called (very unlikely since it is not installed usually) then it harmlessly writes files to the current partition which doesn't matter because grub (in the mbr) knows my REAL config files are on sda1.....

[edbarx]

Code: Select all

root@edbarx-pc2:/home/edbarx# update-grub
Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
done
root@edbarx-pc2:/home/edbarx# cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
  insmod video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-5-686' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-5-686 ...'
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686 root=UUID=c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a ro  quiet
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
}
menuentry 'Debian GNU/Linux, with Linux 2.6.32-5-686 (recovery mode)' --class debian --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a
        echo    'Loading Linux 2.6.32-5-686 ...'
        linux   /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-686 root=UUID=c5306806-0b07-4fe1-af26-47103ee1f91a ro single 
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd  /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-686
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
root@edbarx-pc2:/home/edbarx# 

As you can see that problem has been resolved. Now, my various installations of Linux and Windows, enjoy complete independence from one another as I wanted them to be.

[MeanDean]

as do mine....

I installed grub to this system just so I could run update-grub....normally even this would not happen....

Code: Select all

# /usr/sbin/update-grub 
Searching for GRUB installation directory ... found: /boot/grub
Searching for default file ... found: /boot/grub/default
Testing for an existing GRUB menu.lst file ... found: /boot/grub/menu.lst
Searching for splash image ... none found, skipping ...
Found kernel: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-686
Updating /boot/grub/menu.lst ... done

OHNOES, it created a menu.lst file in /boot/grub....but that doesn't matter because the REAL menu.lst file that grub looks for is sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst and I manually change it, if it ever needs changing, which is rare.

Code: Select all

# more /media/sda1/boot/grub/menu.lst
default         0
timeout         5

# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST
# kopt=
# groot=
# alternative=false
# lockalternative=false
# defoptions=
# lockold=false
# xenhopt=
# xenkopt=
# altoptions=
# howmany=all
# memtest86=false
# updatedefaultentry=false
# savedefault=false

title           hda5
root            (hd0,4)
kernel          /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 ro 
initrd          /initrd.img

title           hda6
root            (hd0,5)
kernel          /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda6 ro 
initrd          /initrd.img

title           hda7
root            (hd0,6)
kernel          /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda7 ro 
initrd          /initrd.img

title           hda8
root            (hd0,7)
kernel          /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda8 ro quiet vga=791
initrd          /initrd.img

title           install debian from hard drive
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /vmlinuz
initrd          /initrd.gz

title           install debian from usb drive
root            (hd1,0)
kernel          /vmlinuz
initrd          /initrd.gz

[edbarx]

To be sincere, I am liking your system: it's snappy and nice!

[TobiSGD]

@MeanDean: Will your boot method work with Installations on RAID drives? It looks cool, but I am not sure if this will work for me.

[MeanDean]

@MeanDean: Will your boot method work with Installations on RAID drives? It looks cool, but I am not sure if this will work for me.

no clue...

[StanTheMan]

Here is my hard drive layout.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6501752/gparted.jpeg

sda1 is the C:drive for Windows 7
sda3 is a hidden Windows system backup (which you NEVER touch).
sda11 is the root for Debian Squeeze which is running at the time I took the snapshot
sda5 is a data partition mounted on /home. It is also mounted on the /home of any other Linux OS here which happens to be using Gnome.
Some of my boot list distros run KDE and I do NOT mount the /home with them to avoid conflict between the two disktp types.
sda14 happens to be UberStudent which is a very heavy distro.
In my case I installed Squeeze last, in which case it wrote the MBR on sda pointing to sda11 to read its grub.cfg file.
However if you later wish to use one of the other distros for a boot loader , you can boot and log into that distro , and use this command - - (in Root) grub-install --root-directory="/" sda .
This will immediately re-write the MBR in sda and point it at this new distro's Root parttion, and use its grub.cfg boot list.
Remember that this will not work with a grub-legacy distro , but the latter can still show on a boot list and be booted in its time.
There are more involved ways to edit the boot list to hide unnessary listings. For example in my case the Windows back up " sda3 " is automatically listed in the boot list , but by editing I have hidden it.

[DougieFresh]

Still haven't installed Debian yet, but have been using it in 'live-cd' to get a feel for it.
I am no 'guru' but can pretty much handle fixing up grub as I have in the past.
My set up is simple as my computing consist of 'playing' (not games) around and no major computing task.
Win7 was installed first, then 'Ubuntu Maverick' and while partitioning, I chose to install to /.
When I installed 'Natty' I also chose / again. I did a re-install of 'Ubuntu Maverick' again and in the partitioning portion of install I deleted the 'Ubuntu Maverick' install and with the free space I used to install 'Ubuntu Maverick' again choosing / again.
When I boot machine, grub shows
Ubuntu Maverick, (which was the last installed)
Win7
Ubuntu Natty Testing
had a kernel upgrade in 'Natty' install and had to boot into 'Maverick' and run update grub2 to get grub menu when booting to show the new kernel.
Hope maybe I have explained it a little better.
Now I will want to put 'Debian' where the 'Maverick' install is. Which means I will delete that partition again and choose 'free space' again and should I go ahead and choose / when asked, and will that then fit 'Debian' in nicely as well as show my other 2 installs.
If it matters, I wish to install maybe the 'testing' Debian, and I would want whatever is after 'Squeeze'
Thanks for all the replies and info

[kedaha]

Interesting post but I don't see much point in keeping Ubuntu once you've installed Squeeze. And as for Windows... The only reason I might dual-boot would be to have a separate KDE but I never get round to doing it.

[MeanDean]

Which means I will delete that partition again and choose 'free space' again and should I go ahead and choose / when asked,

or just select that partition for the install and select to format the partition....no reason to delete and recreate

[DougieFresh]

install debian
allow it to install grub
it will detect your other operating systems and add them to the grub boot loader
done

Done. Thanks for the 'push'
I just let it install and when I rebooted, all was great in grub.
Squeeze is what I installed but I would like to use the testing version as that is what I had been doing with Ubuntu all these years.
Thanks
(now where is that 'solved' button?)

[ivanovnegro]

(now where is that 'solved' button?)

You have to edit your first post.