hi, im a newbie in linux and im trying to increase the timeout value in my boot menu but cant seem to get it, im running a dual boot of linpus linux and winxp. heres what ive done

booted using livecd and then opening a terminal and typed

mkdir linpus
sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/hdc1 linpus
sudo nano linpus/boot/grub/grub.conf

default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0) /boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
#hiddenmenu

title linpus linux lite
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzimage changes=/dev/hdc1 root=/dev/ram0 rw max_loop=255 init=linuxrc selinux=0 vga=0x311 splash=silent quiet loglevel=1 console=tty1 load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=14000 from=/dev/hdc1 acpi=force ide0=noprobe ide2=noprobe ide3=noprobe lang=en
initrd /boot/initrd.gz

title linpus linux lite(rescue)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzimage changes=/dev/hdc1 root=/dev/ram0 rw max_loop=255 init=linuxrc selinux=0 vga=0x311 splash=silent quiet loglevel=1 console=tty1 load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=14000 from=/dev/hdc1 acpi=force ide0=noprobe ide2=noprobe ide3=noprobe lang=en
initrd /boot/initrd.gz

title windows os
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

ive tried adding a # before the timeout, as i understand this will disable the timeouts but it still boots after 4 seconds

ive changed the timeout value to 30 and 900 but it still gives me only 4 seconds before booting to linpus

as of now the timeout value is at 10 but it still boots after 4 seconds

am i doing it right? any other solutions? ty

Linpus uses KDE. In your control center, there should be an option to edit the boot manager.

:~$grep timeout /boot/grub/menu.lst|grep -v "#"
timeout 10

There is no "=" between the word timeout and the number.

grub configuration file's named /boot/grub/menu.lst, and you're able to edit it from your linpus installation, without a booting in live-cd.

Since he has already edited the configuration file, one would think he knows what it's called.
Alas, good point about the not needed live-cd.

i dont really know what im doing, someone just taught me that from another forum and from googling it. so i dont know what its called. someone told me that i dont have a menu.lst and i have a grub.conf instead. i'll try to remove the =

Login as root .Then edit the grub file as
.
from here change the time value,.

Another way to confuse jundcb further... It's /boot/grub/grub.conf.

I might not change the /etc/grub.conf file. It is a link to /boot/grub/grub.conf and it is always better to change the file directly than through the link.

how do u edit the installation inside linpus?

ive tried

sudo nano /boot/grub/grub.conf
su
nano /boot/grub/grub.conf

but it tells me command not found

tried

alt+f2 kdesu kate /boot/grub/grub.conf and kdesu mousepad /boot/grub/grub.conf

it says command failed to run
failed to execute child process "kdesu" (no such file or directory)

also tried

gksu mousepad /boot/grub/grub.conf

tells me that using that command gives me root user privileges without the need for a password due to my systems setup, after closing that box nothing happens, i tried checking the box do not show this message again after that when i typed gksu mousepad /boot/grub/grub.conf nothing happens

I'd recommend going the same way you already walked - boot the live cd and do the same as you did before to edit that file.
Not the most elegant - but you know how you did it...

There is no "=" in the "default" nor in the "timeout" statements (...should not be...).
default 0
timeout 30

thx jomen, i was hoping to do it inside linpus so that i can learn some more about linux

mount
ls -al /boot
ls -al /boot/grub
you should see the file grub.conf (or: menu.lst) - if not then I don't know furter - if you do:

vi /boot/grub/grub.conf

(hit "i" to get to edit mode - hit escape followed by :wq to save the file)

sudo mousepad should work too

this is what i got

[linpus@LINPUS ~]$ mount
tmpfs on / type tmpfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
/dev/hdc2 on /media/disk type vfat (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,utf8,shortname=winnt,uid=500)
[linpus@LINPUS ~]$ ls -al /boot
total 84
drwxr-xr-x 9 root root 4096 Jul 12 20:05 .
drwxr-xr-x 44 root root 4096 Jul 17 17:36 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 18 07:13 .base
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Jun 3 07:54 boot
drwxr-xr-x 14 root root 4096 Jul 17 17:36 changes
-r--r--r-- 1 root root 704 Mar 21 04:46 COPYRIGHT
drwxrwxrwt 6 linpus linpus 4096 Jul 12 21:01 data
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 17992 Jul 23 2007 GPL
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Jun 3 08:01 images
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 389 Jul 23 2007 LICENSE
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 243 Jul 23 2007 livecd.sgn
drwx------ 2 root root 16384 Jun 3 07:52 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 10 23:50 manual
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 232 Mar 21 05:01 README
-rw-rw-rw- 1 root root 0 Apr 18 07:13 .update.log

[linpus@LINPUS ~]$ ls -al /boot/grub
ls: /boot/grub: No such file or directory

What you have booted up here is the live-cd - not an installation on hd.
Attempting to change grub's config there is pointless and impossible.