GRUB using /boot partition for multiple Linux/Windows boot?

cpv204 · 04-01-2003, 02:01 PM

Hi, I need a little help configuring GRUB for a second Linux distro (Slackware) on my system that already has WindowsME and Red Hat 8.0.

When I installed RH8, it recommended to create a /boot partition, so I did.

When I look in my grub.conf file I see

Code:

# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg...

Does this mean that for subsequent Linux entries in the grub.conf file, (in particular the Slackware that I'm about to install) GRUB is going to look for the kernel and initrd files in the /boot partition, which up to now contains only Red Hat stuff?

I've read a lot of posts saying, go ahead and just drop your new kernels into the /boot partition and you're done. I've also seen a lot of posts saying don't mix your kernels.

So, what if I don't want to mix my Slackware files in with the Red Hat files that are currently in the /boot partition? How does GRUB find them in Slackware's own partition? Do I even have a choice?

david_ross · 04-01-2003, 02:14 PM

You can specify the root explicitly - eg

Code:

        kernel (hd0,5)/path/to/vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 ro root=/dev/hda2
        initrd (hd0,5)/path/to/initrd-2.4.18-14.img

Obviously you can change "(hd0,5)" to the disk and partition where the files reside.

EDIT: Version numbers etc too

cpv204 · 04-01-2003, 02:31 PM

Yes, I'm with you. If it's that easy, great! Thanks.

It was just that comment (that Red Hat's installer puts in your grub.conf) that made me think GRUB would only look to the /boot partition for kernels.

david_ross · 04-01-2003, 02:34 PM

One thing to be careful with when installing a new system is LABEL vaules in grub.conf and /etc/fstab. Some OS's setups overwrite them making the old OS unusable until you change them - to save time I do this before the install.

cpv204 · 04-01-2003, 02:46 PM

You manually set up your grub.conf and /etc/fstab? Wouldn't the new OS setup still overwrite them, regardless of whether you changed them ahead of time or not?

Or are they smart enough to read that the entries have already been added correctly and therefore don't need to touch those files?

david_ross · 04-01-2003, 02:52 PM

I don't mean in the way they change the files - I mean the way that the new partitions are being formatted with LABELS that already exist. If you look in /etc/fstab the first column may contain labels like LABEL=/ you should change this to the device name eg /dev/hda2. It is OK if you want to share a home partition but you can't really have two root partitions with the same label.

cpv204 · 04-01-2003, 03:49 PM

Yes, understood now. Thanks!

david_ross · 04-01-2003, 03:54 PM

I was working late when that one first hit me and it took a while to click. Maybe someone will correct me but I haven't seen a valid reason for using LABEL values. So until I here differently I'm going to access the devices directly