Grub configuration for triple boot Mandriva 2007 / Suse 10.2 / Windows XP

willy_9 · 01-03-2007, 08:26 AM

Hi everyone,

I wanted to install Suse 10.2 along with Mandriva 2007 and XP, but ran into a couple of issues regarding grub configuration.

I started by installing Mandriva One 2007 in addition to Windows XP. It installed and set up correctly Lilo as a boot manager. I've been using this distro for a while and I enjoy it.
Prior to Mandriva, I had been using Suse 10.0 x86_64 which was quite good, so I wanted to see if 10.2 x86_64 could suit my taste. Install went fine, and right after I got on the desktop, I entered Yast to modify the Grub settings. I remebered from 10.0 the "Merge with existing grub configurations" option, so I tried that. Stupid me forgot that I had Lilo installed by Mandriva 2007, and not Grub...

I didn't notice that until I first rebooted, and found the only option that was left in grub was... Windows ! Damn !!!
I reinstalled Mandriva so that I could at least boot into my main distro, changed the boot manager into grub, but I still would like to be able to boot in Suse 10.2.

So here is my question (at last...

) : what are the files I need to modify to be able to boot Suse 10.2 ? And do I have to write in them ? I have tried playing with the menu.lst, but to no avail.

Thanks in advance,

Willy

pljvaldez · 01-03-2007, 11:28 AM

My advice would be to install grub to the / partition of the Suse install and then chainload it with the Mandriva grub/lilo. That'll make things really simple. Follow these instructions from within Mandrake

Code:

mkdir /mnt/temp
mount /dev/hda8 /mnt/temp
chroot /mnt/temp
grub-install /dev/hda8

change /dev/hda8 to whatever your suse partition is. This will install grub to the root partition of your suse install. Type "exit" a few times to get out of the chroot and close the terminal.

Then add this to your Mandrake's /boot/grub/menu.lst

Code:

root (hd0,7)
chainloader +1
boot

Again, change (hd0,7) to whatever your root Suse partition is. Since grub starts counting at zero, (hd0,7) => hda8 or (hd1,0) => hdb1...

willy_9 · 01-03-2007, 02:50 PM

Thanks for your quick answer and your help. Unfortunately, the chroot command gave the following error :

Code:

[root@obelix guillaume]# mkdir /mnt/temp
[root@obelix guillaume]# mount /dev/sda5 /mnt/temp
[root@obelix guillaume]# chroot /mnt/temp
chroot: ne peut exécuter la commande `/bin/bash': Erreur de format pour exec()

Which could be translated in

Code:

cannot execute command `/bin/bash': Format error for exec()

Where did I go wrong ?

pljvaldez · 01-03-2007, 03:31 PM

Were you the root user?

EDIT: Sorry, I'm a moron! It says you were root user...

pljvaldez · 01-03-2007, 03:35 PM

From some quick googling, it looks like maybe the chroot program wasn't compiled against your current kernel... What does file chroot say?

If you still have problems, you could also set it up from a Live CD (like Knoppix). Just boot the live CD and follow the same steps for installing grub to / partition of Suse. Then reboot into mandrake and modify the grub menu.lst.

willy_9 · 01-05-2007, 08:02 AM

pljvaldez,

Sorry for the late answer, I've been sick and had to stay away from the computer for a while.
Anyway...

Code:

[root@obelix guillaume]# file chroot
chroot: cannot open `chroot' (No such file or directory)

Does it mean that chroot is not installed on my Mandriva ?

Something that might help : I am able to boot into Suse using the DVD. It has an option where it can boot into the installed Suse. Could I use this and then use Yast to install Grub onto my suse "/" partition ?

Thanks again for your help,

Willy

abisko00 · 01-05-2007, 08:49 AM

I have only theoretical knowledge on this particular issue, but it may help:

To boot one Linux from anothers bootloader shouldn't be a problem. All you need to do is to point grub to the kernel of the other distro. You can do this by modifiying menu.lst. Grub itself doesn't need to be installed on the other system, as all required files can be loaded from the first one. You could create an entry in Mandrivas menu.lst like this:

Code:

title SUSE
   kernel (hd0,4)/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda7 vga=791
   initrd (hd0,4)/initrd

You simply need to point to the correct partition, where the SUSE kernel is installed. Have a look at the quite comprehensive grub manual from suse: http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:The_Boot_Manager_Grub

Hope it helps!

EDIT: Maybe I should mention that I don't think it would help to install grub from SUSE, even if you can boot it from the CD. It will just do that same as it did during you initial installation and ignore the installed Mandriva partition. Unfortunately, most Linux installer automatically recognize a Windows installation, but ignore other Linux systems.

willy_9 · 01-06-2007, 05:02 PM

Thanks abisko00 for your help.

This more or less what I tried without success :

Code:

title openSUSE 10.2
kernel (hd0,4)/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 splash=silent vga=791
initrd (hd0,4)/initrd

When I try booting on that, I get an error message saying something like "couldn't find specified file", without any hint regarding which file...

For your information, my partition layout is as follows :

sda1 : Windows system restore
sda2 : Windows XP
(sda3 : Logical partition)
sda4 : Mandriva 2007
sda5 : Suse 10.2
sda6 : Home
sda7 : Swap

Anyway, I skimmed through the grub guide you attached, and there are definitely somethings in there that might help me ! So, time for a bit of

Thanks,

Willy

abisko00 · 01-12-2007, 03:30 PM

Sorry for the late reply, I have been on skiing vacation.

The above example assumes that hd(0,4) is a boot partition. If the kernel is located on the root partition (as in most cases), the path should point to /boot/vmlinuz. It might have been misleading. Try:

Code:

title openSUSE 10.2
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 splash=silent vga=791
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd

sadiqdm · 01-12-2007, 05:54 PM

I have Suse 10.2, Mandriva 2007 & Windows XP on my laptop. The hard drive is arrange thus:

Code:

/dev/hda1            /xp-util             vfat
/dev/hda2            /win                 vfat
/dev/hda4            /                    ext3
/dev/hda5            /home                ext3
/dev/hda6            /opt                 ext3
/dev/hda7            /usr/local           ext3
/dev/hda9            /mandriva            ext3
/dev/hda8            swap                 swap

Mandriva is installed all in one directory, and when it boots the /home directory (for Suse) is mounted as /suse

My menu.lst file is like this:

Code:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Mon Dec 18 07:31:57 UTC 2006
default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,3)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: openSUSE 10.2###
title Linux - openSUSE 10.2
    root (hd0,3)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.2-34-default root=/dev/hda4 vga=0x317
    resume=/dev/hda8 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18.2-34-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: mandriva 2007.0###
title linux - Mandriva 2007.0
    kernel (hd0,8)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda9 resume=/dev/hda8 splash=silent vga=788
    initrd (hd0,8)/boot/initrd.img

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader (hd0,1)+1

I've cut out a couple of additional entries that boot Suse or Mandriva in safe mode.

The way I do multi-boots with GRUB is to have the 1st instance of Linux install GRUB to the MBR. Then when I do another install, I have it install it's own GRUB in it's root, then I cut and past into the 1st GRUB menu.lst. The extra GRUB's are never used.

I have 4 OS's (Win98se, FC6, Kubuntu 6.10 & Slackware 11.0) on a desktop and that also works fine. Out of habit I keep Windows in the first partition. The only trouble I've had is when Windows trashes it's FAT.