[SOLVED] elilo/grub?

gregors · 05-03-2018, 11:49 AM

Hi there!

I want to install slackware to give it a closer look. I already have a Debian system (version 7.11) running that uses grub 0.97. And I don't want to overwrite grub with elilo unless I know I will be using Slackware as my new distribution for a couple of years.

And since I read tons of docu all day I don't feel like reading the grub docs right now just to know what I have to add to my installed grub. So it would be nice, if someone told me what to enter in my existing installation of grub. The new system will be installed in the first partition of the first drive (sda0, partition 0).

Thanks in advance!

Gregor

yancek · 05-03-2018, 12:09 PM

If you are using Debian with Legacy Grub, do you even have an EFI partition? If not, installing ellilo to a legacy system will just cause problems. Slackware installs with Lilo give you several option, install to Mbr, install to partition and don't install at all. The latter is what you should use then simply manually create an entry for Slackware in the menu.lst file of Debian. Lots of examples online.

colorpurple21859 · 05-03-2018, 12:28 PM

If your using grub legacy:
edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst and add the following entry:

title 'Slackware'
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1

Grub2
edit /etc/grub.d/40_custom with this then run update-grub:

menuentry 'Slackware' {
set root=(hd0,1)
Linux /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1
}

This should work unless one the "root=" is wrong.

Ne01eX · 05-03-2018, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gregors

Hi there!

I want to install slackware to give it a closer look. I already have a Debian system (version 7.11) running that uses grub 0.97. And I don't want to overwrite grub with elilo unless I know I will be using Slackware as my new distribution for a couple of years.

And since I read tons of docu all day I don't feel like reading the grub docs right now just to know what I have to add to my installed grub. So it would be nice, if someone told me what to enter in my existing installation of grub. The new system will be installed in the first partition of the first drive (sda0, partition 0).

Thanks in advance!

Gregor

0. before run Slackware setup exec this:

Code:

blkid | grep "sda1"

1. Use huge kernel. This will save you additional questions.

1. Ignore the installation of the bootloader (in Slackware this is not mandatory) and paste (with nano, or with another text editor) this in your /boot/grub.cfg from Debian:

Code:

menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Current)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        insmod %YOU_SLACKWARE_TYPE_FILE_SYSTEM%
	set root=(hd0,1)
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root %YOU_SLACKWARE_ROOT_UUID%
	echo	'Booting Slackware Linux ...'
	linux	/boot/vmlinuz root=UUID=%YOU_SLACKWARE_ROOT_UUID% ro  quiet
}

Or save this snippet as ~/add_to_grub.cfg and run from Debian after installation Slackware and run into you terminal emulator:

Code:

cat ~/add_to_grub.cfg >> /boot/grub.cfg

UUID=$(blkid /dev/sda1 | cut -f 2 -d"\"") ; TYPE=$(blkid /dev/sda1 | cut -f 4 -d"\"") && sed "s|%YOU_SLACKWARE_ROOT_UUID%|$UUID|" -i /boot/grub.cfg && sed "s|%YOU_SLACKWARE_TYPE_FILE_SYSTEM%|$TYPE|" -i /boot/grub.cfg

update-grub

Also, into Debian you may be use Grub Customizer:

Code:

sudo apt install grub-customizer

This is simple and with color pics.

Rocky Leon - Darkwing duck (disney) / Live at Orlandina, 16.03.2012

colorpurple21859 · 05-03-2018, 02:17 PM

If you make the changes to /boot/grub/grub.cfg instead of /etc/grub.d/40_custom, the next time Debian does a kernel update, you will loose your slackware entry.

273 · 05-03-2018, 02:22 PM

When I install Slackware dual-boot I just install it as normal but don't install a bootloader. Then boot into Debian and run (as root) update-grub and, voila, on reboot there's an option to boot into Slackware.
The same should work for most distributions.

Ne01eX · 05-03-2018, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorpurple21859

If you make the changes to /boot/grub/grub.cfg instead of /etc/grub.d/40_custom, the next time Debian does a kernel update, you will loose your slackware entry.

Oh, yes. This is a valuable observation.

yancek · 05-03-2018, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Then boot into Debian and run (as root) update-grub and, voila, on reboot there's an option to boot into Slackware.

One of the big advantages of Grub2. Unfortunately, the OP specifically states s/he is using Grub Legacy for which there is no 'update-grub' or 'grub-mkconfig'. Best option for him/her would be not to install Lilo/Elilo at all and create a manual entry in his Debian menu.lst file.

jostber · 08-05-2018, 12:02 PM

See a couple of the last posts here:

https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ub-4175472763/