Hello all. I'm new to this forum, not new to Linux.

I use GRUB as I multi-boot. Currently upon boot, GRUB pauses then launches the first linux header after a few seconds. That's fine but is there a way to have it automatically boot to the 1st one? But I still want the option to boot to other OS's. Similar to how windows let's you hit f8.

Edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and change timeout to 0. You need to be root.
EDIT: Forgot to mention to hit ESC instead of F8, and multiple times before the bootloader actually loads.

To automatically boot a particular GRUB "stanza" (= OS), change the "default" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. The first stanza is 0.

To have an option to boot to other OS's, you need a non-zero timeout in /boot/grub/menu.lst to allow you time to enter Esc when GRUB pauses to make it display the list for you to choose one.

Which version of Grub are you running? If it's a fresh install of Kubuntu 10.04 you're running, it'll be Grub2 (or if it's an upgrade from a fresh install of *buntu 9.10). If you've in-place upgraded from anything 9.04 or older, you'll be running 'old' grub.

With Grub2, /boot/grub/menu.lst has been replaced with /boot/grub/grub.cfg and is not for editing, it is overwritten on updates.

Configuration happens in /etc/default/grub for display and behaviour settings, and /etc/grub.d/ for kernels and the like. You then run update-grub to write a new grub.cfg using the contents of these file(s).


The option you appear to want is called [tt]hiddenmenu[/tt] in Grub, which I'm not sure Grub2 directly supports.

Thanks all. Since this is a fresh install of Kubuntu 10.04, I'm using grub2. I will do some research on this. Thanks again for the info.

In case you don't know these...

http://ubuntuforums.org/printthread.php?t=1195275
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub-2.html