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#1 2012-01-30 07:16:59

hcaulfield
Member
Registered: 2012-01-24
Posts: 37

Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

Hello again,

Sorry for posting so much, but I'm really enjoying Arch so far! I had been reading a lot about Cinnamon so I wanted to try it (without installing the dependencies on my Arch installation), so I decided to install Mint, that went fine, and then I was hoping to add the entry to GRUB. I couldn't figure out how to do this, so I decided to try and install GRUB2 because it can autodetect other OS'. Well it didn't work and then I found myself without a bootloader. I couldn't figure out how to reinstall grub to the MBR (I tried the solution in the wiki and a couple of other places). I decided to reinstall Mint, and now I am booting into Arch through Mint's GRUB2. Two questions:

1) How can I fix grub through Arch to have that as my bootloader again? Nothing seems to work that I've tried.

2) What is the best way to configure grub or grub2 from Arch to allow myself options to multiboot other OS's in the future? I want to learn as much about UNIX as possible so I was planning on installing some other Linux distros and some other non-Linux UNIX OS's. I know this is a really newbie question, but I'm at a loss, I thought it was easier than it turned out.

PS. I didn't really like Cinnamon that much. I've been using Xfce and Openbox since I started using Linux (about a month ago), and it just seems too complicated! I don't like how little options you are given for customization. But that's just my opinion, everyone is different, I can see how it would be an improvement over GNOME3.

Thank You!

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#2 2012-01-30 09:12:01

vwyodajl
Member
Registered: 2012-01-21
Posts: 183

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

You could always try using something like rescutux, will help you fix grub and grub2 issues. Since you are saying the method in the wiki does not work.

HTH

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#3 2012-01-30 10:15:38

gotunandan
Member
Registered: 2012-01-30
Posts: 8

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

I have Arch Linux and Debian Testing installed side by side on my laptop.

Arch uses Grub (legacy) and Debian uses Grub2. The way I have set it up is to have Arch's Grub on the MBR and then chainload Debian's Grub2 from there.
Debian's Grub2 is installed on its own partition rather than on the MBR

This is the line I use to chainload Grub2 from Grub (legacy)

# (4) Debian chainload
title Debian chainload
root (hdX,X)
chainloader +1

Additionally just for kicks, I also have an entry in Grub2 to get back to Grub.

menuentry "Arch Linux chainload"        {
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='(hd0)'
        chainloader +1
        boot
}

Note that the (hd0) above always points to the MBR.

I do not have to bother with one bootloader interfering with the other and the OS entries on each are handled separately on their own.

This setup has worked well for me for quite a while now. Before I started with Arch, I used a similar setup when I tried out various distros (Fedora,opensuse,etc.) alongside Ubuntu

Hope it helps !


~ Less is more ~

gotunandan

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#4 2012-01-30 10:32:34

gotunandan
Member
Registered: 2012-01-30
Posts: 8

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

Another bit of info, if you need to chainload from Grub2 to another Grub2. here is the bit of code for that

menuentry "Another Grub2 chainload"   {
       insmod part_msdos
       insmod ext2
       set root='(hdX,X)'
       multiboot /boot/grub/core.img
}

Found that bit of info here :- http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p= … stcount=21


~ Less is more ~

gotunandan

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#5 2012-01-30 16:32:09

hcaulfield
Member
Registered: 2012-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

I was thinking about it last night, and it seems the best solution is just to chain load other OS's through Arch's GRUB on the MBR. I suppose I just didn't understand what I was doing last night. That's probably what I'm going to plan on doing.

I'm not sure how 'doable' this is, but is it possible to reinstall my / partition of Arch while keeping my /home partition the same? I'm not really sure how to do this, but it seems much better than reinstalling everything altogether.

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#6 2012-01-31 03:23:24

vwyodajl
Member
Registered: 2012-01-21
Posts: 183

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

You can use grub2 on Arch as well, I have it on mine. One laptop that Arch is the main OS on I have grub2 and it boots Arch, Ubuntu11.10, Fed16, DebianSid, 2Versions of Win7.

Just install os-prober if you go the grub2 route. The wiki in my opinion should really solve your problem. I followed to the letter going from grub to grub2 and had no issues, nor any getting every other OS to show up on grub.

If you lost grub for everything the rescutux disk I suggested, is only a couple pushes of enter and it works automagically.

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#7 2012-01-31 05:36:07

hcaulfield
Member
Registered: 2012-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

I'm looking for rescutux, but I cannot find it, can anyone give me a download link? Thank you.

I might try installing grub2 again, and this time being more careful.

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#8 2012-01-31 05:48:29

skunktrader
Member
From: Brisbane, Australia
Registered: 2010-02-14
Posts: 1,538

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

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#9 2012-01-31 22:28:06

vwyodajl
Member
Registered: 2012-01-21
Posts: 183

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

Thanks skunktrader, was a typo on my part you couldnt find it.

Its pretty simple to use smile

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#10 2012-01-31 22:40:28

hcaulfield
Member
Registered: 2012-01-24
Posts: 37

Re: Best Way to Configure Multi-boot System With GRUB/GRUB2

Yes, thank you for the link! I will try this out, I don't really feel like installing Arch again (despite the fact that it only takes like 20 minutes). Overall I'm very impressed with Arch, everything has basically worked 'out of the box' and any problems that I've had are user error, the documentation is excellent too.

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