JDS is my main distro for its nice gnome screen. i tried to install sles and grub failed to boot - the same if install sles then jds.

i prefer to use grub bootloader and didn't succeed yet. didn't try use windows one - maybe an option but will stay for last

there are other suggestions after google this:
1. have a /boot partition and share with all distros - i prefer not to do this as i want the distro independent on its own (partition)
2. install boot image to partition root and use chainloader in grub. didn't try this yet. seemed a nice suggestion. a
3. seemed grub has to be installed on the same hd with mbr? didn't find document on this but it always failed me if my grub on hdb while mbr on hda
4. tried install sles 9 with grub bootloader then jds2 with or without bootloader. boot to sles and config bootloader. it doesn't boot to jds from grub. detailed instruction on how to do this (and maybe sample menu.lst) appreciated
5. same after 4, was able to boot jds if boot from cdrom - various error message about modprobe - eg, not able to mount NFTS during boot though manually mounting ok. question: does grub tie itself with installation base kernel, in my case sles kernel 2.6.5?

tried slp9 and jds2 the same.

basically my individual distro insallation ok but i couldn't boot them from one grub bootloader. thank you, shen

This comes from the JDSHelp KB -- written by Terje Hannsen


While the JDSK installation make a dual boot for Windows and Linux, it doesn't look to handle multiple Linux distros correspondingly.

This is my tips how I have created a multiboot for my five working OS, which I have installed in the following (historical) order:
1. Windows 98
2. Windows 2000 Pro
3. Redhat 9
4. SuSE Linux 9.0 Pro
5. Sun Java Desktop System

The Win2k installation provided a dualboot for 1+2
RH9 installation with Grub bootloader provided a dualboot for (1+2)+3
SuSE9 installation provided a dual boot for (1+2)+4
SJDS installation provided a dualboot for (1+2)+5

The tips is to mount the previous Linux root disk partition, copy&paste between the previous and current /boot/grub/menu.lst configuration files.
As an example, here is included a copy of my edited SJDS menu.lst:

gfxmenu (hd0,10)/boot/message
color white/blue black/light-gray
default 0
timeout 10

title Sun Java Desktop System 1.0 (2.4.19-4GB)
kernel (hd0,10)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda11 acpi=off hdc=ide-scsi vga=791
initrd (hd0,10)/boot/initrd

title SuSE Linux 9.0 Professional (2.4.21 opt.)
kernel (hd0,9)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda10 vga=0x317 splash=silent desktop hdc=ide-scsi hdclun=0 showopts
initrd (hd0,9)/boot/initrd

title Red Hat Linux 9.0 (2.4.20-8)
root (hd0,7)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.20-8 ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.20-8.img

title Windows
root (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Failsafe Sun Java Desktop System 1.0 (2.4.19-4GB)
kernel (hd0,10)/boot/vmlinuz.shipped root=/dev/hda11 ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off vga=normal nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 3
initrd (hd0,10)/boot/initrd.shipped

title Failsafe SuSE Linux 9.0 Professional (2.4.21 opt.)
kernel (hd0,9)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda10 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off vga=normal nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 3
initrd (hd0,9)/boot/initrd

title Memory Test SuSE Linux 9.0 Professional (2.4.21 opt.)
kernel (hd0,9)/boot/memtest.bin

Post script: I locate the grub.conf or menu.lst file to get the values. You can get them from the /boot/grub/ directory.

thank you, tom. your site is very helpful.

this was exactly what i did. later on i realized that it could be sles or slp9's problem that it doesn't succeed in installatioin on another hard disk hdb. the grub itself doesn't work though it worked when on hda. i have no idea how and why. did anyone report this before - the dvd was from novell?

i am happy with jds's boot loader and i really do not need another distro on this box. thanks, shen

ps: a quick read from
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=243931
reveals the problem with fix. i would call this terrible for a release. luckily not jds.