Ubuntu Installation :: Changing Orders Of Boot Options In Grub
Dec 29, 2010
I just want to confirm something before I mess with the bootloader. It kind of scares me to rewrite my MBR. It appears that the grub version that comes with Ubuntu 10.10 drives its menu generation from /etc/grub.d/* when you execute update-grub. If I want to put windows first in the list, could I just rename "30_os-prober" to something like "09_os-prober" and run update-grub? My reason for this is every time Ubuntu updates the kernel, it adds 2 new entries to grub's boot menu. It's easy enough to remove these via the Synaptic Package Manager, but that means for at least 1 boot cycle, my default OS gets messed up (Windows). I have to leave it as the default for others that use the computer, even though I prefer Ubuntu.
I am trying to streamline my boot screen/GRUB Menu. I know what I want it to look like (grub_wanted.jpg), and I think I know how to get it by uninstalling a couple of things, (synaptic.jpg). Now I have too many items on the screen, and it looks cluttered to me (grub.jpg).
This is no huge problem, but it is rather annoying to me. I am using the 10.4 beta, and whenever I get a large update (like a updated kernel) GRUB adds another boot option to the menu (I'm dual booting Vista and Ubuntu.) So my GRUB menu looks something like this when I turn my computer on:
GNU GRUB version 1.98-1ubuntu2 Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-18-generic Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-18-generic (recovery mode)
I am running Lubuntu 10 from a USB drive. Despite this, I believe this question pertains to any other variant as well. Running from the USB drive with a persistent directory, there is no boot options file that I can locate. As an example, for an installed version, the file /boot/grub/menu.lst can be changed to make boot options permanent.
Is there any way I can do something similar when booting from a USB live version? Specifically, I want to add "vga=799" to the options without typing it in at every launch.
Or is the only option for something like this actually installing to a USB drive instead of just running the live version?
I am upgrading a system to have encrypted disks, it's a two disk system, so I want the BIOS to look at /dev/hdb first to unlock it, then it should reboot, see that isn't a system disk and try to boot /dev/hda. Then that gets unlocked, and the system boots. After unlocking hdb I get a Grub error 17. I can't edit Grub to look at hda as on normal boot it hasn't been unlocked yet, so it can't see the file system at that point. I reformatted an old XP disk as hdb, and it worked fine, but I'd rather not install windows every time, just to reformat it as ext3. Is there a simple way of clearing the boot sector of hdb?
So I have the burned ubuntu CD, and I'm attempting to install it on a system that has one HDD with XP/Vista on it, and another that is completely formatted and unpartitioned. However, when I boot to the ubuntu CD, I can use the menus from the bottom, and select the language when initially prompted, but I can't select any of the menu options except for boot from first hard drive.
I'm a noob but enjoying dual booting. However, every time I run update manager I get a new vmlinuz entry and now I have multiple boot options in my grub boot menu. Now when I have like 5 ubuntu entries to move past to select Windows. and the latest Ubuntu is always at the bottom so I have to annoyingly scroll down to select the latest there. I don't really understand what the vmlinuzXXX entries in the boot folder are for so I don't want to delete them. I've thought about editing the loop in the 10_linux file in the grub.d folder but it looks like its calling a function or macro or something:
Code: linux='version_find_latest $list'
But like I said, I'm a noob to all this (a .Net developer on Windows professionally) and don't understand where this is. It looks like this function call has the logic I need to fix. Because its not finding the latest, its just finding all. How to I get back to one Ubunutu boot option like when I first installed?
Is there a way to access the list of boot options from Ubuntu? I don't want to change the options, just have someone access the information, then copy and paste it in an email so I can see what the heck is going on with their computer.
The problem is this:
User has 2 physical drives.
Drive 1 has XP Drive 2 has another version of XP on it as well as Ubuntu.
We want the computer to have the option to boot into XP on Drive 1 and Ubuntu on Drive 2. Booting into XP on Drive 2 is an option.
We can get into Ubuntu, and XP on the 2nd Drive, but not XP on the 1st drive.
I recently switched my laptop from Ubuntu 11.04 to 10.04.2, and during the process, I used GPARTED to partition the drive so that I could have both versions installed simultaneously while I transferred files and settings and such. A few days ago, I removed the 11.04 partition, formatted and added that disk space to 10.04's /home partition. However, when I boot up, GRUB still gives me the option of loading into the newer 11.04 partition with the newer kernels. How do I remove those options from the GRUB menu? I checked the Ubuntu GRUB help pages, but didn't feel confident that I could do edits without messing up the 10.04 boot settings.
I am looking at this computer, running Ubuntu 10.10 and Windows 7, Home Premium with GRUB 2 as the boot loader. I am looking to get to the Windows 7 advanced boot options screen; however I think it requires the windows boot loader to do so.
I am currently doing a tri-boot (using refit) with Linux, Windows, and OS X. I was wondering if it was possible to change up the boot loader for Linux. I basically wanted grub to not pop-up and just boot the default version of Ubuntu. Also the boot loader comes up with the options to boot Windows and OS X and I was wondering if it would be possible to remove those from the list as well?
I'm working my way through my Linux self-education and I'm hitting a slight road block. After consulting forum posts here and elsewhere, I have tried to alter my grub boot order by editing my menu.lst file found in /boot/grub. I don't seem to be having any luck. Changing the default [value] doesn't seem to work, nor does the savedefault. Below is a copy of my file.
Code: # menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8) # grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8), # grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub # and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.
default 4 # Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and # the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used. # You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry # is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'. # WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your # array will desync and will not let you boot your system. default0
## timeout sec # Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry # (normally the first entry defined). timeout10 ## hiddenmenu # Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu) #hiddenmenu
# Pretty colours #color cyan/blue white/blue ## password ['--md5'] passwd # If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing # control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the # command 'lock' # e.g. password topsecret # password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/ # password topsecret # examples
# titleWindows 95/98/NT/2000 # root(hd0,0) # makeactive # chainloader+1 # titleLinux # root(hd0,1) # kernel/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro # Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST ### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST ## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified ## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below ## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs
## ## Start Default Options ## ## default kernel options ## default kernel options for automagic boot options ## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z ## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted. ## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro ## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro ## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro # kopt=root=UUID=18250e14-e47e-4bf9-a927-6456120575f8 ro ## default grub root device ## e.g. groot=(hd0,0) # groot=18250e14-e47e-4bf9-a927-6456120575f8
## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options ## e.g. alternative=true ## alternative=false # alternative=true ## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options ## e.g. lockalternative=true ## lockalternative=false # lockalternative=false
## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the ## alternatives ## e.g. defoptions=vga=0x317 resume=/dev/hda5 # defoptions=vga=0x317 ## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options ## e.g. lockold=false ## lockold=true # lockold=false ## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option # xenhopt=
## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option # xenkopt=console=tty0 ## altoption boot targets option ## multiple altoptions lines are allowed ## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options ## altoptions=(recovery) single # altoptions=(recovery mode) single
## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst ## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the ## alternative kernel options ## e.g. howmany=all ## howmany=7 # howmany=all ## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option ## e.g. memtest86=true ## memtest86=false # memtest86=true
## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system ## can be true or false # updatedefaultentry=false ## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options ## can be true or false # savedefault=false ## ## End Default Options ## splashimage=18250e14-e47e-4bf9-a927-6456120575f8/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
titleBackTrack 4 R2, memtest86+ uuid18250e14-e47e-4bf9-a927-6456120575f8 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. titleOther operating systems: root
# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS # on /dev/sda1 titleWindows Vista/Longhorn (loader) root(hd0,0) savedefault makeactive chainloader+1
I am running the RedHat 7.3 install off a CD to put the system on an IDE flash drive. The flash drive appears as /sda1 on my system during installation. When I install the bootloader from the install CD it gives me the option of MBR on /hda which I do not want do. I select /sda1 and it puts the bootloader on first boot sector (not the MBR?) Although the installation works, is what I am doing creating a bootable primary hard drive? The flash IDE drive needs to be installed in an embedded system so my installation options are very limited i.e. the system does not have a CD-ROM or floppy to boot from. Are there options to put GRUB on the MBR of /sda1 during installation? Such as, with fdisk or the "force disk primary" option? Or, doesn't it matter?
i am running windows and fedora 12..both are working smooth...today when i switch on the laptop in morning i discovered that it automatically start windows..when again i restart it..it does not give any option to me for selecting which OS to run..i have seen grub.conf file it is right...i have done nothing...windows is booting smoothly..how can i boot to fedora 12 without reinstalling.
Would like to eliminate from the Grub menu of startup options all but the latest kernel update? Have made some attempts, but don't have authority is the message.
The grub splash were you choose which os you want to load. Is there a way to change it and make it look like iuno.... lm5/6 or opensuse? Obviously I'd change the image. I just don't want to just change the image. How can I change it to boot windows by default instead?
Today I found out how to change theme in OpenSuse 11.3 64 bit. I'm running KDE 4.4. Naturally I went to KDE-Look.org and trawled it through for eye-candy. I got this HAL-9000 boot splash: HAL-9000 KDE-Look.org
Its a .gz file and uncompressed its called .xpm, I think its just an image, that I should put somewhere, but I don't know where. I tried the bootloader settings through yast, though it didn't tell me anything.
Secondly I got a screensaver, which I'm supposed to compile and install: KCometen4 KDE-Look.org
I tried following these instructions, as best as I could:
Code:
KCometen4 also comes with a simple configure script that should work for a generic local install. If it doesn't suit your needs, you will need to edit the cmake settings by hand.
Quick installation steps:
Cmake's equivalent to 'make distclean' is 'rm -rf build'.
If you do a local installation, you might not see KCometen4 in the Screen Saver Settings module. In that case, you will need to do one of two things.
First, you can set the $KDEDIRS environment variable in your X session startup script so it includes your local installation prefix:
Or second, you can set this for all users by adding your local installation prefix to /etc/kde4rc:
After that, you may need to manually refresh the system configuration cache by running 'kbuildsycoca4'. KCometen4 should now appear in Screen Saver Settings.
So I installed kdebase-workspace-devel but I couldn't find libqt-opengl-dev, but it didn't seem to be a problem, according to the console output:
Code:
It mentions some Q_WS_WIN, Q_WS_QWS and Q_WS_MAC, that it doesn't find. Could that be the problem.
I tried to see if the new screensaver got into the screensaver menu, it didn't.
I am testing some boot splash screens but the ones I like most are darker and therefore the black font color during boot, well, shows on dark grey or black background, so I can't see.
I would like to change the font color of the messages, but not the results (green=DONE, red=FAILED, etc., I don't want to change that, only the messages like "doing fast boot", "Loading CPUfreq", and all the ones loading stuff, mounting, etc.).
Apparently I need to edit /lib/lsb/init-functions?
I found a few examples on google, mostly for debian based and the ones I have seen are far more complex than the very simple one opensuse uses. So I am stuck here. 11.2 version.
I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 from earlier versions. I have a dual boot system with Windows 7. Grub was set to boot Windows by default Things were working fine. I decided to upgrade to Grub2. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now when booting up,the name at the top of the Grub menu is 1.98, which is Grub 2. When I run grub-install -v, it comes back grub-install (GNU GRUB 0.97) which is not Grub2. Now when I boot up, Ubuntu 10.04 is the default. I have to manually choose Windows if I want to use that system. I have been unable to change the boot order following instructions from this site. Any Way changing the boot order to make Windows 7 the default. I am using a Toshiba Satellite.
Is there a way to do an install from the iso image to a new disk (USB or whatever), without changing the grub settings on the systems existing hard drive? Every time I try to do a full install to a USB stick, it hoses grub on my hard disk, even though I specify the partitioning during the install, and leave /dev/sda untouched. This has happened now with both Karmic and Lucid.
my two partitions (ubuntu and WinXP) worked fine, i always had a boot option at startup. however, my Win boot option simply disappeared. I did not do any update recently, so I do not really understand what could have happened. My /media/windows is also completely empty. when i try to open the windows partition, it says "could not mount".
I've recently been trying to attempt to install Ubuntu on a partition on my macbook pro OS X 10.6.6. I have attempted to create a bootable USB stick (as I currently do not have any CD's/DVD's to use). I have followed the guide on the Ubuntu installation page twice, word for word, command for command. Everything goes flawlessly, all the files are visible on the drive when I checked, and I have never received any errors in the terminal. The problem arises when I attempt to boot from the USB, it simply does not appear under the options when I attempt to boot. I have also checked the Start up Disk under system preferences.
I have attempted the installation on two different USB sticks, and the same problem on both, flawless to install to USB, but then it is somehow not booting. I have checked with the USB company and directly from the website it says that the PNY attache is capable of this. It is the 4GB model.
1. I have windows xp on my notebook compaq presario v2000. 2. Wanted to load linux as dual boot. 3. Tried with Suse linux, but there was some blank or black screen problem after installation. 4. Someone suggested Ubuntu linux. 5. Downloaded and burned ubuntu on a cd. 6. But this time during installation during partitioning there was a serious problem. 7. On ubuntu webpage they say for partiioning i will get 4 option, but i got only three options in my cd. 8. The missing option was the most important , which was required for dual boot. " Guided resize and use free space". 9. So i had to abort my Ubuntu installation as using any other option could have effected my current xp installation or might have formated my whole notebook. 10. So any comment why the dual boot partitioning option was absent in my ubuntu cd. 11. Or there is some thing to be activated in my notebook setting to enable dual boot.
I've had my laptop dual-boot with Ubuntu 10.03 and W7 for some time, and all has (mostly) been OK. Unfortunately, my windows installation was an upgrade from Vista, and always a bit of a pig's 4rse, so I deleted the partition and reinstalled it cleanly.
But now I no longer get a list of boot options, so I can't boot into Ubuntu.
Its partition is still there OK... I can get the dual-boot back...
Can some one point me in the right direction as to how to fix this.I have mint 10 gnome on /dev/sda1, then I have mint 10 kde on /dev/sda3, all working great. I have just installed ubuntu 10.10 on to /dev/sda4 all good after the first reboot (when asked to remove disc) there is a screen that shows all of my boot options (ie ubuntu 10.10 mint 10 gnome mint 10 kde) pick ubutnu do a full upgrade including new kernal reboot and at the screen it only shows ubuntu 10.10.result of boot info script below.
been trying to get linux installed on a troublesome laptop for 48 hours now without any luck so thought I'd post here as my last option.
I've tried installing 10.10 desktop, 9.04 netbook remix and just this minute 10.04 netbook versions of ubuntu, as well as other versions of various linux distros.
I woke up this morning and burnt 10.04 netbook to CD (not usb) as I wanted to put it on an old laptop with max resolution of 1024x768. I put it in an external CD drive and it boots up to the options screen on the Live CD, where you can choose to 'try Ubuntu netbook without installing' or 'install ubuntu netbook' etc.
The problem is, I can't click (press enter) on any of the options. The same problem arose with earlier versions, i.e 9.04 netbook remix Ubuntu.
I just installed a dual boot win7-Ubuntu 11.04. When I reboot, there is no list of OS options displayed, it just boots to windows. Below are the details of how I got to this point.I Used GParted to delete all partitions off a hardard drive. Then installed win7 from CD. Win7 works fine. Then I formated an ext4 partion and installed Ubuntu 11.04 from the iso CD. But on reboot I don't see a list of OS options. When I boot from the Ubuntu 11.04 CD, I can view the usual Unix directories in the hard drive Ubuntu root (bin, etc, lib, usr, var) and the /boot/grub directory. So Ubuntu looks like it got installed. What else can I trouble shoot to get the list of OS options displayed?
This appears to be a simple problem, but I struggled my way around google, trying to figure out the right words to search for, with no real success. The problem:When I plug-in any usb device or an external hard disk, my RedHat automatically mounts it to /media/<device_name>. Unfortunately, it's owner and group are both root, whereas, I would like to add other users to have write access (say, all users in a group usb_group to be able to write stuff in it). Currently only read access is there for others. I would like to change it to write access to a particular group and I can add the
