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-   -   Grub2 problem adding slackware (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/grub2-problem-adding-slackware-4175605346/)

BasieBop 05-05-2017 09:11 PM

Grub2 problem adding slackware
 
Just tried installing Absolute Linux which is a Slackware based distro. Still using LILO. Not sure why. I have multiple distros installed all using Grub2. When updating Grub it does add Absolute but I get a kernel panic when selecting it from the boot menu. Since I declined installing LILO I’m not sure what to edit in Grub.cfg to get Absolute to work. Any help would be appreciated.

bassmadrigal 05-05-2017 09:35 PM

First off, a Slackware based distro is not Slackware and may not be able to get proper help in this forum. We may not be familiar with whatever modifications they might make to the core distro. For the best support, it would probably be best to find where Absolute provides support.

As with the lilo, it is likely being used because that is what Slackware uses by default. It is a simple bootloader that works for most people. For those running UEFI, the Slackware installer will prompt to use elilo instead. grub2 is installed and available for people to use if they want, but it isn't able to be set up during the installation.

As to your issue, my guess is that grub is detecting the generic kernel, which requires an initrd. If your derivative has it, you should be able to run /usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh to help you determine a proper mkinitrd command for your computer. Once it is generated, hopefully grub will detect it. Or, you'd need to find out how to force grub to use the huge kernel, but I've never used grub and I'm not sure how to force that.

(Personally, this is why I like lilo. While autodetection might be nice when it works, when it breaks, many don't know how to fix it. lilo can take a bit of effort to set up the .conf file properly, but it doesn't take much to figure it out and it is quite capable as a loader.)

Richard Cranium 05-06-2017 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BasieBop (Post 5706840)
Just tried installing Absolute Linux which is a Slackware based distro. Still using LILO. Not sure why. I have multiple distros installed all using Grub2. When updating Grub it does add Absolute but I get a kernel panic when selecting it from the boot menu. Since I declined installing LILO I’m not sure what to edit in Grub.cfg to get Absolute to work. Any help would be appreciated.

Good grief, it's grub. Use the interactive boot option to figure out what's wrong and use that information to fix it.

BasieBop 05-06-2017 01:02 AM

Since I never really got comfortable with CLI I usually edit grub.cfg by launching Nautilus from a root terminal. Then using gedit or similar I edit the file. Don't have many problems in doing it that way except for Slackware which does not have an initrd file as far as I can see. Don't know too much about elilo and I am running UEFI. Did use lilo back in 2005 when first started my experience with Linux.
Gave up for awhile because of software and package management issues. But since Grub and Grub2 have been around that's where I have all my fun. My knowledge is fragmented. Basically learn as needed.
So, right now my issue is a non existant initrd. Though I do have Zenwalk and not sure if that is a Slack derivative but it does use lilo and I have no problems with Update-grub seeing it and it working fine.

Fat_Elvis 05-06-2017 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium (Post 5706870)
Good grief, it's grub. Use the interactive boot option to figure out what's wrong and use that information to fix it.

This is not as simple as it sounds for someone who is not very familiar with GRUB.

Fat_Elvis 05-06-2017 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BasieBop (Post 5706887)
Since I never really got comfortable with CLI I usually edit grub.cfg by launching Nautilus from a root terminal. Then using gedit or similar I edit the file. Don't have many problems in doing it that way except for Slackware which does not have an initrd file as far as I can see. Don't know too much about elilo and I am running UEFI. Did use lilo back in 2005 when first started my experience with Linux.
Gave up for awhile because of software and package management issues. But since Grub and Grub2 have been around that's where I have all my fun. My knowledge is fragmented. Basically learn as needed.
So, right now my issue is a non existant initrd. Though I do have Zenwalk and not sure if that is a Slack derivative but it does use lilo and I have no problems with Update-grub seeing it and it working fine.

Care to post the contents of your grub.cfg? Also, what do you get when running "/usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh"?


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