i have two harddrives on my system. On hdb i have FC2 installed. On hda i just installed slackware 10. I can only boot into FC by using a boot disc i made. i did grub-install /dev/hda to install it. So when i start up i can get into the grub shell. It is grub 0.94. my question is that the config file should be menu.1st in /boot/grub/grub.config or something like that right? But this is the content of /boot/grub/

device.map ffs_stage1_5 reiserfs_stage1_5 stage2
e2fs_stage1_5 jfs_stage1_5 splash.xpm.gz vstafs_stage1_5
fat_stage1_5 minix_stage1_5 stage1 xfs_stage1_5

I read you can do grub-update to create a default config file but when i do whereis grub-update i get no results. I've been reading info grub and online but haven't been successful yet. If anyone could help i'd appreciate it.

Well, you basic grub.conf or menu.lst is as follows:

default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.10
initrd /initrd-2.6.10

Now it all depends on how you partitioned your hard drive. hd0,0 refers to the first hard drive {hda} and the first partition {hda1}. I don't know how you partitioned yours so mine may not work for you.

From the grub shell i did this command.

install (hd1,0)/boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) (hd1,0)/boot/grub/stage2 p (hd1,0)/boot/grub/menu.conf

in emacs i created /boot/grub/menu.conf - this is the file i created.

default = fedora core 2
timeout = 10
color = white/black blue/black
splashimage = (hd1,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm

#Fedora Core 2
title Fedora Core 2
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinux-2.6.5-1.358
boot /boot/initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img

then i rebooted and now instead of going to the grub shell grub is printed at the top left corner of the screen in capital letters in white with a blinking cursor next to it. If anyone can help i give my thanks in advance.

well i created a file menu.config. should i change the name of it to menu.lst then do in the grub shell:

p (hd1,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst

or does it not matter?

well i have had some sucess. I changed the file to grub.conf. Now i get a menu but i get Error 15: File not found when it looks for vmlinuz. This is my current grub.conf:

default = Fedora Core 2
timeout = 10
color = white/black blue/black
splashimage = (hd1,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

#Fedora Core 2
title Fedora Core 2
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358
initrd /initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img

my guess is that im not refering to vmlinuz correctly in the grub.conf file so im looking up that. At first it was because i out of habit put vmlinux and i just double checked that the version numbers matched up.

ok im getting closer now FC2 starts to load up but then i get this error message:

Kernel panic: no init found try passing init= option to kernel.

here is my newest grub.conf file.

default = Fedora Core 2
timeout = 10
color = white/black blue/black
splashimage = (hd1,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

#Fedora Core 2
title Fedora Core 2
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img

thanks for any help. i appreciate it.

Here's what a menu.lst / grub.conf for FC3 might look like. You will need to change the vmlinuz and initrd to match your setup.

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd1,1)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb2
# initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=15
splashimage=(hd1,1)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Fedora Core
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-1.766_FC3 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.10-1.766_FC3.img
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1