Grub - reorganisation
 

Hello,

For about a year I am experimenting with linux. I have installed some distro's ( RH 9 - Suse 9 - Suse 8.2 )but I want to install some others to compare their possibilities.

At this moment I have 3 hd's 120 + 120 + 200). Room enough, but in the beginning, due to my inexperience , I made some errors or the distro's didn't behave as I expected.

The following are the fstab files from the distro's.

diskb2/etc/fstab RED HAT 9 on hdb2

LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
LABEL=/boot /boot ext3 defaults 1 2
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hdb3 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,user,kudzu 0 0
/dev/hda1 /mnt/Win_c auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hdc2 /mnt/Suse auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/Fdrive auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0


/diskc2/etc/fstab SUSE 8.2 on hdc2
/dev/hdc2 / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hdb1 /bootb1 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hdb2 /drvb2 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hda1 /windows/C vfat users,gid=users,
umask=0002,iocharset=iso8859-1,code=437 0 0
/dev/hdc6 /drvc6 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hdb3 swap swap pri=42 0 0
/dev/hdc1 swap swap pri=42 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs noauto 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0
/dev/sda1 /media/sda1 auto noauto,user,exec 0 0 #HOTPLUG B3Fu.SFaHrVGraQF



/etc/fstab SUSE 9.0 HDC6?
/dev/hdc6 / reiserfs defaults 1 1
/dev/hdb1 /diskb1 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hdb2 /diskb2 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hdc2 /diskc2 auto noauto,user 0 0
/dev/hda1 /windows/C vfat users,gid=users,
umask=0002,iocharset=iso8859-1,code=437 0 0
/dev/hdb3 swap swap pri=42 0 0
/dev/hdc1 swap swap pri=42 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs noauto 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0

So in the moment I have :

hda1 = windows
hdb1 = boot ? I think See suse 8.2
hdb2 = red hat 9
hdb3 = swap red hat/ swap suse 9.0
hdc1 = swap suse 9.0
hdc2 = suse 8.2
hdc6 = suse 9.0

GrUB boots from hdc2 ( I changed the menu list so I could detect which one is activated)

Question 1
I think I have at least one SWAP to much.
I can edit the fstab files so that all use hdc1 and then I can delete hdb3.
Are there further consequences ?

Question 2
As I see it there is a boot partition on hdb1.
How do I make GRub boot from that partition.
First I have to edit the menu lst I think.
And then... editing the MBR ???

Question 3
To prevent this kind of things, I had the Idea to do the next.
Make a copy from the MBR with DD to a flop.
Install the new distro.
Start with the flop. Look to the Menu lst from the new distro.
Edit the menu lst on hdb1.
Put the MBR from the flop back to hda.
(I don't have the intention to change anything on hda, the distros go to hdb or hdc)
Did I forget anything ?

Thank for your help.

CloudBuilder

Yes one swap partition is all you need. To make grub use the menu.lst in /dev/hdb1 do

I have a question: What does the (hd0,0) mean? I only ask because I have 3 os on my hdd and the 3rd MDK8.1 won't work from grub. I have to use a disk.

HD0 = the first HD (normaly C: in win)
the netx 0 = the first partition.

So first HD First Partition.

Sometimes the install of a new LINUX distro makes an new grub menu.lst.
So look from where grub does start ( /boot/grub/menu.lst)

For trying you can change the text a little bit and see if this is the start menu.

If it is, you can ad you entry for the start, you can find the entry for this one also in
its /boot/grub/menu.lst.

CloudBuilder

As CloudBuilder says, (hd0,0) is the first partition on the first hard drive. If you want to put an entry for MDK8.1 on your /boot/grub/menu.lst , tell us what partition it is on and we'll have a stab at it.

MDK 8.1 is on hda7.

I tried tinkering with it a little this morning with the help of man and info pages but to no avail. I was trying to copy the syntax that boots RH9 on hda3? i believe? no good. n-e-help is appreciated.

Try those options work for Mandrake 9.2 but Mandrake 10 needs a lot moreso try combinations.

Apologies to CloudBuilder if we've hijacked your thread. Did you solve your problem?

Thanx. I will try it. :-}