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Hello, I ham trying to triple boot gentoo, slackware, and ubuntu. I have ubuntu installed on /dev/sda1. I have slackware installed on /dev/sda2. I have gentoo installed on /dev/sda4. they all use /dev/sda5 as swap space. slackware and ubuntu share /dev/sdb1 as the home partition.
the problem is, ever since I installed gentoo (and did not install a boot loader), slackware or gentoo will not boot from grub.
slackware says error 15: file not found
gentoo says error 22: partition not found.
From ubuntu I can mount both partitions and read and write their files. this is what fdisk looks like:
Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000e6654
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 2633 21149541 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 2634 5251 21029085 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 11662 12161 4016250 5 Extended
/dev/sda4 5252 11661 51488325 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 11662 12161 4016218+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
Disk /dev/sdb: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0004ecf0
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 12161 97683232 83 Linux
this is my grub menu.lst (from the original ubuntu install):
title Gentoo
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro
title SLack
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro
boot
someone on the ubuntu forum told me to put the boot under the slackware part, it was working till I installed gentoo. Anyway I tried the changes you suggested, they result in kernel panics about unable to mount root fs for both gentoo and slackware
somehow the symlinks to config-2.6.18 and System.map-2.6.18 for my slackware installation got messed up, I restored them and slackware boots again. I think I screwed up installing gentoo because the only thing in the boot directory of that partition is the kernel image?
I ran into this sort of problem a couple of years ago. The root cause of my problems was that I had 2 distros installed, each with their /boot directory on their own partitions. To get the bootloader to work (lilo then, grub now) I had to make sure my "main" partition's /boot directory had the necessary files from all my distro's /boot directories in it: config... initrd.img... System.Map... vmlinux... [Replace .. with the appropriate bits for you!]
So you'll have to do some mounting, and copying of files (there are only four) to your "main" partition's /boot directory. Your "main" partition will be the one you installed your first linux distro to.
When you have lots of distros installed, I found it is better not to use symlinks in your /boot directory: reference the files by their exact /paths/names in grub's menu.lst or lilo's lilo.conf (does anyone still use lilo?)
The better solution, I eventually found, was to make a separate partition for /boot and make sure this was referenced at install time, for each new distro. That way, all the required boot files for the different distro's automatically end up in the right place at install time. All my distros share the same /boot partition, and all is well in linuxland . But you do not have to do this, or at least not now. Just make sure all the files are there.
Here is a thread I wrote today explaining the multi-booting.
If your claim of Slackware is in sda2 is correct then these lines in Grub's menu.lst will fire it up
Code:
title SLackware in sda2 known to Grub as (hd0,1)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda2 ro
I need you to list the /boot of the Gentoo directory to advise how you can boot it. I got a feeling Gentoo uses an initrd.
You could have let the 2nd and 3rd Linux to install its boot loader into each respective root partition. That way you can chianload each one easily by indirect method, by mentioning just the partition that each one resides. You are doing it the hard way using the direct method.
Saikee,
Glad to see you here. [Earlier, I nearly asked the OP to PM you to alert you to this thread as LQ's boot-guru, but then thought better of it (you'll find it if you have the time ..)]
So, it's "over & out" from me! Thanks.
I'm sorry I had the wrong numbers, I was thinking that grub thinks of partitions as like sda1 +1, sda2.. but it is minus one, I have since changed the menu.lst, slack boots fine. this is what is in my gentoo boot directory: ( i copied system.map, config, and vmlinuz and what the links pointed to, recreated the links but there is still a kernel panic.
bash-3.1$ ls -l
total 2292
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2007-10-21 12:21 System.map -> System.map-2.6.18
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 698235 2007-10-21 12:20 System.map-2.6.18
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 2007-10-19 09:28 boot -> .
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 2007-10-21 12:21 config -> config-2.6.18
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43303 2007-10-21 12:20 config-2.6.18
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1589736 2007-10-19 10:33 gentoo
bash-3.1$
I copied all those files from slackware, which is using the same kernel config file. I would copy the initrd from ubuntu, but ubuntu's kernel is a different version...
I couldn't find evidence of Gentoo's kernels in your Post #10 apart from the file "gentoo". Although one can boot Gentoo with a Kernel from Slackware of even Ubuntu but it is safer to use Gentoo's own.
Can you also provide the output of
Code:
ls /
?if the following amendment in Grub fails
Code:
title Gentoo
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/gentoo root=/dev/sda4 ro
I know Gentoo uses non-standard names for the kernel while most distros start with vmlinux-XXXXX.
I popped in the gentoo livecd, chrooted into the gentoo partition, noticed that I had compiled my root filesystem (ext3) support as a module. even i know that that just wont work. i changed that and recompiled the kernel. it still did not work, chrooted in again from livecd. this time I noticed there was no sata support in the kernel. i must have been really tired or something when i did this. i recompiled and installed it again, rebooted again, still the panic. I have never had so much trouble configuring a kernel before. I am going to emerge genkernel and see if that works, from there I'll strip it down
Last edited by pauledwards03; 10-22-2007 at 05:17 PM.
I use a custom kernel, as far as I can tell there is no initrd. I just reinstalled gentoo, everything works fine. By default I have a framebuffer console that is of higher resolution than any one I have ever seen And portage is quite revolutionary. I think i will be very happy with this distro
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