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Old 04-13-2007, 04:48 PM   #1
Duane
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Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 11

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bios lists 3 issues of ubuntu, all same


From an old newbie (75)but still trying.
I first used Dummies Ubuntu 10 to get on this computer about 6 weeks ago. Worked fine.
Then an update came, I did and I was back to ubuntu 4 or 5 from an update site.
Now I have 6.06 when it said it was going to be 6.10.
Here is the "problem" if it is one. The bios lists 3 start up choices of ubuntu, all the same.
The bios will load the first ubuntu or any if I choose them like I would on XP start up.
How do I delete extra's or just leave them alone till 7 comes out next week? They all seem to work the same and listings are identical but too long to copy here if not needed. If needed I will copy and send.
I have several problems with ubuntu that I do not know how to address but I will take one at a time after this is put away.
 
Old 04-13-2007, 05:11 PM   #2
rickh
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Registered: May 2004
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
Distribution: Debian-Lenny/Sid 32/64 Desktop: Generic AMD64-EVGA 680i Laptop: Generic Intel SIS-AC97
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Quote:
bios lists 3 issues of ubuntu
I'm assuming that you mean, "grub lists 3 issues of ubuntu." If that's not the case, ignore this.

It's fairly common for Grub to include multiple lines representing boot options. It can happen under several conditions. The easy solution is to edit the grub configuration file. On different distributions, it goes by different names, but the correct name is /boot/grub/menu.lst

As root (or with sudo priviledges), open menu.lst in an editor, and go to the bottom of the file. You should see the components that make up the various lines on Grub. Delete all of them except the first one, save the file, and you should be OK.
 
Old 04-15-2007, 05:34 PM   #3
Duane
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Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 11

Original Poster
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickh
I'm assuming that you mean, "grub lists 3 issues of ubuntu." If that's not the case, ignore this.

It's fairly common for Grub to include multiple lines representing boot options. It can happen under several conditions. The easy solution is to edit the grub configuration file. On different distributions, it goes by different names, but the correct name is /boot/grub/menu.lst

As root (or with sudo priviledges), open menu.lst in an editor, and go to the bottom of the file. You should see the components that make up the various lines on Grub. Delete all of them except the first one, save the file, and you should be OK.


Rick: I know my way around XP but darned if I can figure out how to do this on Ubuntu. I tried sudo and command you listed. Nothing. I am lost. I dont know much about linux as you now know. What is first step to get this up. I can edit it I think, just cant access it. I have gedit but it doesnt get to menu or anything else.
 
Old 04-15-2007, 05:53 PM   #4
tromboneman
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You should be able to open it by typing "sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" in the terminal. Then, go down to the bottom of the file, but DON'T DELETE ANYTHING!!! Place a # at the beginning of each line instead, except the first group. Also, skip the lines that say something similar to
Quote:
title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
if you dual boot your machine with XP. So, the end of a menu.lst file would look similar to this
Quote:
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-3-486
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-3-486 root=/dev/hda6 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-3-486
savedefault

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-3-486 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-3-486 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-3-486
savedefault

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
savedefault

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386 (recovery mode)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
savedefault




title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
until you change it to this
Quote:
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-3-486
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-3-486 root=/dev/hda6 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-3-486
savedefault

#title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-3-486 (recovery mode)
#root (hd0,5)
#kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-3-486 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
#initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-3-486
#savedefault

#title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386
#root (hd0,5)
#kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro
#initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
#savedefault

#title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386 (recovery mode)
#root (hd0,5)
#kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda6 ro single
#initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
#savedefault




title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
Your file will look slightly different, because you use Ubuntu, where I use Debian.

I hope this makes sense!
 
Old 04-15-2007, 06:02 PM   #5
rickh
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Registered: May 2004
Location: Albuquerque, NM USA
Distribution: Debian-Lenny/Sid 32/64 Desktop: Generic AMD64-EVGA 680i Laptop: Generic Intel SIS-AC97
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Edit: I see Tromboneman beat me too it. That's good. Study his method, and mine, and when you understand what's happening, and do it successfully, you will have graduated from "newbie" status.

OK. I don't know how Ubuntu's sudo business works with a grahical editor like gedit.

I'll take a guess at a workaround for you. From a terminal prompt, ...
$ cat /boot/grub/menu.lst > grubconf.txt

Now, look in your home folder, and you should see a file named grubconf.txt

Open it with Gedit, and follow the instructions in my previous post. When that's done, if you want, post before and after images of the significant lines (not all the commented lines, just the area you changed.

If you're pretty confident you did it right, ...

$ sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.bak
$ sudo cp grubconf.txt /boot/grub/menu.lst

Last edited by rickh; 04-15-2007 at 06:05 PM.
 
Old 04-16-2007, 10:24 AM   #6
Duane
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 11

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by tromboneman
You should be able to open it by typing "sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst" in the terminal. Then, go down to the bottom of the file, but DON'T DELETE ANYTHING!!! Place a # at the beginning of each line instead, except the first group. Also, skip the lines that say something similar to

if you dual boot your machine with XP. So, the end of a menu.lst file would look similar to this

until you change it to this


Your file will look slightly different, because you use Ubuntu, where I use Debian.

I hope this makes sense!
YES! This method did the trick. This may or may not have affected the running of Ubuntu but I learned a lot here.
 
Old 04-16-2007, 10:33 AM   #7
Duane
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Apr 2007
Posts: 11

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickh
Edit: I see Tromboneman beat me too it. That's good. Study his method, and mine, and when you understand what's happening, and do it successfully, you will have graduated from "newbie" status.

OK. I don't know how Ubuntu's sudo business works with a grahical editor like gedit.

I'll take a guess at a workaround for you. From a terminal prompt, ...
$ cat /boot/grub/menu.lst > grubconf.txt

Now, look in your home folder, and you should see a file named grubconf.txt

Open it with Gedit, and follow the instructions in my previous post. When that's done, if you want, post before and after images of the significant lines (not all the commented lines, just the area you changed.

If you're pretty confident you did it right, ...

$ sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.bak
$ sudo cp grubconf.txt /boot/grub/menu.lst
THIS method did not work for me on Ubuntu. I pasted your commands and it didn't work. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I know a little bit more as a result of trying. Tromboneman had solution. It works. I have a couple other problems I will post in a bit.

Did I reply properly--add my reply to end or should it have gone to top of message?
 
  


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