I usually set my system like this

first partition windows -just cause i like corel draw
second fedora -with grub in boot partition(my easy way)
third mandrake06 -with grub in mbr (my os of choice)

today i decided to try kubuntu
so i installed it in my second partition erasing fedora.
I did not like it
and also when i tried to boot mandrake
the x server would not start. conclusion forget kubuntu

so i installed mandrake in the second partition so I can
back up all my files from mandrake in the third partition

so now i have mandrake in the second partition and
the unbootable mandrake in the third

the queston is how do I reinstall grub to boot
just like before into mandrake on the third partition
I want to leave the second partition for data once
i am finished and can boot to the third partition again

I think i can do this from the mandrake in the second
partition or boot from the cd to rescue mode, but then what

As long as you remember where the bootloader is you should be able to Rescue Mode then re-install boot loader, I think. Another way is to select Install then Update, can be frought with problems, You may need to format /root and /usr which could be a problem if they're not on separate partitions.

Won't hurt to try it, more than likely it will roll back to the standard i586 kernel from the Install CD.

i edited the grub menu.1st file

then i did not know if i had to re-run grub for that to
take effect so I opened up the mandrak system configuration
and went to the boot section saw my changes and then exited
I think the changes were written upon exit.

round about way to do things but i dont know how to activate that menu.1st file

i think you run grub to activat the menu.1st file but with what command.

well anyway i fixed it

thanks

You do not need to do anything but edit menu.lst
(if you only adding / removing menus)

if you mess with different distros and let the latest to install grub on the MBR,
then the latest distro will have the corresponding menu.lst.

If you want to use the menu.lst (and bootloader) from a previous distro, then
you need to issue the grub-install command (whatever it is)
(if same bootloader you can copy/merge menu.lst )

davidleroux1, you said you wanted to keep all your data on the second partition?

1) Edit menu.lst in /boot/grub so it can boot to the second partition.
2) Backup all the data onto the second partition.
3) Install Mandriva onto the third partition.
4) When partitioning your drive with the Mandriva installer, set the second partition to
mount at "/backup" (or something like that).
5) Copy what files you need into your home directory.
6) Format the second partition.
7) Re-mount the second partition, and copy all the files you wanted to keep into the
newly created & mounted directory.

I've done things like this before - where I try to "poly-boot" my computer with more than one OS. Basically, it's asking for trouble, but you can make it work with some luck.

One thing I suggest is, next time you re-partition your hard drive, make room for a 10GB partition (or whatever you see fit), and mount that as your "/home" directory. Pretty much, always keep your data separate from your system (words of wisdom from my dad - a Bell UNIX system administrator).



EDIT: In my opinion, Lilo > GRUB.

I was brought up on an old Solaris SPARC5 system running Solaris 7.

I had a very similar problem awhile back.Follow the link below and read the cure.Pay particular attn to saikee AND follow the link he gives to another forum and read that tutorial he wrote.Most excellent stuff.

Find a newer post by saikee and his signature has links to some great multi boot info.

Hope this helps.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=398143