Dual boot /triple boot

edj1963 · 05-24-2012, 10:24 AM

Hello all,

I am very much a noob and am in need of some help.
My goal: triple boot my laptop with ubuntu 12.04/Fedora 16/centos6

I am pretty sure i have already jacked this up, I thought I was proceeding correctly but i think my inexperience has got the better of me.

I installed ubuntu no fuss no muss, well except my LT only runs on BAT

I then ran the Centos live DVD, resized my partion, installed and foolishly believed that on reboot I'd have my option in grub...nope all I get is Ubuntu...centos is no where to be found and I don't have a clue as to where to go.

here is the output for update grub:

Code:

Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-24-generic-pae
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-24-generic-pae
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic-pae
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-23-generic-pae
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
done

and the output for fdisk:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 128.0 GB, 128035676160 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15566 cylinders, total 250069680 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0002e90a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048    12290047     6144000   83  Linux
/dev/sda2       237492222   250068991     6288385    5  Extended
/dev/sda3        12290048    13314047      512000   83  Linux
/dev/sda4        13314048   237490175   112088064   8e  Linux LVM
/dev/sda5       237492224   250068991     6288384   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/mapper/cryptswap1: 6439 MB, 6439305216 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 782 cylinders, total 12576768 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x71289498

Disk /dev/mapper/cryptswap1 doesn't contain a valid partition table

lost

Thank you.

weibullguy · 05-24-2012, 10:48 AM

What does your grub.cfg or menu.lst (don't know which Ubuntu uses) look like?

yancek · 05-24-2012, 02:08 PM

The most useful information you could get to post here would be by running the bootinfoscript. Download from the site at the link below and run it after reading the instructions:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/bootinfoscript/

sundialsvcs · 05-24-2012, 09:41 PM

My earnest suggestion to you is ... virtual machines.

jsaravana87 · 05-25-2012, 12:25 AM

U can achieve ur thing with ease by opensource virtualbox.

Try using these link

http://www.howtoforge.com/installing...u-9.04-desktop

https://www.virtualbox.org/
http://www.vmware.com/

edj1963 · 05-25-2012, 02:45 AM

yeah, I get the VM choice and have it installed. It's (managing the sys) is still a skill I need to develop and be comfortable with.

Larry Webb · 05-25-2012, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sundialsvcs

My earnest suggestion to you is ... virtual machines.

This still will not solve OP's problem, it maybe a work around.

Larry Webb · 05-25-2012, 03:31 AM

as yancek says or use your ubuntu as a live cd and from terminal run

sudo update-grub

tommcd · 05-25-2012, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edj1963

My goal: triple boot my laptop with ubuntu 12.04/Fedora 16/centos6

I have been multi booting several Linux distros with or without Windows for several years now. Here is how I would do this:

1. Install Ubuntu to a 20GB root partition. You will choose manual partitioning from the Ubuntu installer. Also create a 20GB partition for the Fedora root partition and another 20GB partition for Centos root partition. (You could use as little as 10GB for each distros root partition if you are using a small hard drive).
2. Create a 1GB swap partition while you are installing Ubuntu.
3. Use the rest of the hard drive for a /data partition when you install Ubuntu. This will be for all of your data that all 3 distros will share. This is to avoid all of the hidden config files that are stored in your home directories from getting all mixed up together in a common home partition. This could potentially cause conflicts.
4. Install Ubuntu's grub to the MBR.
5. Then install Fedora and Centos to their respective partitions. When you get to the part where you install grub on Fedora and Centos, either choose to not install grub or install grub to the root directory of each distro. This way Ubuntu's grub will control the MBR. When installing Fedora and Centos be sure to select the partition for your /data partition as mount point /data. All 3 distros will share the /data partition for storing and accessing files.
6. After all 3 distros are installed, run sudo update-grub from Ubuntu and (hopefully!!!) Fedora and Centos will be added to Ubuntu's grub menu so you can choose which OS to boot when you boot up the computer.

I have been multi booting several Linux distros for many years using this method and I have never had a problem with it.

edj1963 · 05-25-2012, 09:14 AM

@Yancek That's a great utility, it will help immensely in the learning process, thank you.

@TOMMCD: Perfect! A real starting point that's going to be invaluable to my learning this bit. I went and got gparted to help in this, I would rather have the skill to do this without a GUI, but that will happen in time I suppose.

Learning by breaking!

Thanks for all the responses, guess what I'll be doing this weekend

kehawes · 05-26-2012, 01:29 AM

@tommcd, thanks for such a great reply/post!

I'm a complete noob too and am, curiously enough, trying to do the same thing... plus adding Debian to the mix, on a 500GB HDD. Yes, I'm going for a quad-boot setup.

You lost me with:
4. Install Ubuntu's grub to the MBR.

How is this done?

I've been able to get Ubuntu and Fedora to play nicely together, more or less, after a few rounds/installations; beginning with Ubuntu, then Fedora, and lastly Ubuntu once more. Debian was a brute, ignoring the Ubuntu/Fedora combo completely and taking over the full HDD on installation. With Debian on board, Centos wouldn't play at all after three tries; giving me error messages, mostly along the lines of, "panic occurred, switching to text console."

Ideally, I'd like to tinker with all four OS installations, to see/compare/learn... and I have much to learn! I'll settle for the Ubuntu/Fedora combo but am now determined to figure out this multi-boot, Pandora's box I've opened. I'm reading a lot on GRUB, MBR, gparted tutorials, etc... so any amount of detail is very much appreciated!

Thanks!