Boot order troubles

Funky91 · 12-27-2007, 06:06 AM

Hello. I installed openSUSE on my pc yesterday alongside windows but am struggling to change it so windows xp is the default.

I tried editing /boot/grub/menu.lst but it would not let me into the file. It said Permission Denied. It also did this when I went in as root.

Please help!

saikee · 12-27-2007, 06:40 AM

Click terminal

Type "su", supply the root password

then type

Code:

kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst

You can do it in the desktop but it is OK from the terminal, which gives you the same thing.

masonm · 12-27-2007, 07:04 AM

Permission Denied means that you don't have permissions for what you are trying to do. A normal user is restricted from system files for obvious security reasons.

As mentioned above, you have to su to root to have permission to access system files. He told you how, but I thought it would help to know why as well.

Also, the instructions above assume you are running KDE, but if you're running Gnome you won't have Kwrite installed. In that case the command, after su to root, would be

Code:

gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Larry Webb · 12-27-2007, 10:55 AM

You may also use YaST and then click on "system" in the left panel then click on "Boot Loader" in the right panel. Now click the up or down arrows to the right side of panel and high light the one you want to open as default and then click on button near bottom right "Set as default". Click "Finish" and it should be changed the next time you boot.

joel2001k · 12-27-2007, 11:32 AM

do you have set the writable flag of file

`ls -l /boot/grub/menu.lst`
`chmod 644 /boot/grub/menu.lst`

saikee · 12-27-2007, 04:11 PM

menu.lst is meant to be configurable by the root user.

Never have to do anything to edit it once in root.

onebuck · 12-27-2007, 04:26 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by masonm

Permission Denied means that you don't have permissions for what you are trying to do. A normal user is restricted from system files for obvious security reasons.

As mentioned above, you have to su to root to have permission to access system files. He told you how, but I thought it would help to know why as well.

Also, the instructions above assume you are running KDE, but if you're running Gnome you won't have Kwrite installed. In that case the command, after su to root, would be

Code:

gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

A good explanation as to why the normal user is not allowed to have access for security reasons.

I prefer from the cli as root;

Code:

vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

That way you don't have to worry about gnome or kde. I won't get into the lilo vs grub issues.

masonm · 12-27-2007, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onebuck

Hi,

A good explanation as to why the normal user is not allowed to have access for security reasons.

I prefer from the cli as root;

Code:

vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

That way you don't have to worry about gnome or kde. I won't get into the lilo vs grub issues.

I agree but someone asking such a question is probably a newbie and thus is likely not familiar with vi. My personal preference is mcedit but didn't want to go there either LOL

Larry Webb · 12-27-2007, 08:31 PM

Not to be critical of anyone but I think my explanation above is best for a newbie using Suse. I will agree that it does not help him down the road with any other grub boot distros but it gives him gui interface to make his adjustments and the YaST in the later Suse distros works.

Funky91 · 12-28-2007, 05:02 AM

Thanks for your help. I managed to fix the boot order using the kwrite command.

Larry Webb · 12-28-2007, 08:22 AM

Thanks for letting us know that you solved your problem and how. As you can see there are usually two or many ways to accomplish a task in linux that will work. Some ways work easier than others for certain people.

saikee · 12-28-2007, 09:26 AM

From a root terminal invoking "kwrite" in KDE or "gedit" in Gnome desktop is pretty universal nowadays. One can use it almost in any Linux that has such desktop. Xfce also has its own graphic editor fired up in the same way.

I am in Solaris now and "gedit" works as expected in its Gnome environment.

I fire up "vi" only when no graphic editor is available.

onebuck · 12-28-2007, 11:41 AM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by saikee

From a root terminal invoking "kwrite" in KDE or "gedit" in Gnome desktop is pretty universal nowadays. One can use it almost in any Linux that has such desktop. Xfce also has its own graphic editor fired up in the same way.

I am in Solaris now and "gedit" works as expected in its Gnome environment.

I fire up "vi" only when no graphic editor is available.

My point! You will find 'vi' on any system. You don't need a GUI. Just the cli will do.

Larry Webb · 12-28-2007, 01:10 PM

My point exactly, this is supposedly a "newbie" and I was trying to make the easiest way. A newbie coming from the other "os" may find it easier if everything is graphical.

onebuck · 12-28-2007, 08:08 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Webb

My point exactly, this is supposedly a "newbie" and I was trying to make the easiest way. A newbie coming from the other "os" may find it easier if everything is graphical.

Spoon feeding doesn't always help! Cookbooks assume that you know something about hardware. pans, spoon or whatever. Linux is no different. The newbie needs to do a little work on their part. A GUI is not always as intuitive as everyone thinks. Heck most Internet user know about Google but does that mean they use it when they have a problem. No! Post it, I might have to think. Let someone else. Service Society, BULL!