Changing the Default OS in GRUB...

Norfolk_Newbie · 07-19-2010, 07:07 PM

How do I change the default operating system in Grub? I'm running Ubuntu and Windows 7. I've done it before but I've forgotten how (old age setting in....I guess).

yancek · 07-19-2010, 07:38 PM

There is a line near the top that says "default" without quotes. It depends upon which Ubuntu you are using. Ubuntu before version 9.04 used Grub Legacy so counting partitions starts with zero. So if you wanted the second title entry, you would have default 1. This is in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file.

If you are using Ubuntu 9.10 or newer, you will need to modify a file callled /boot/grub/grub.cfg - same line. Note at the top of this file it states explicitly "DO not edit this file"!

Here's a link to a very good tutorial on Grub2 which should explain how to do this in Grub2:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/g...mozTocId205199

spiderbatdad · 07-24-2010, 06:47 PM

The correct file to edit in grub2 should be /etc/default/grub
It might look something like:

Code:

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT="10"
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

You would change the "GRUB_DEFAULT=N" to correspond to the entry you wanted. Obviously, after editing the file you must run

Code:

sudo update-grub

meridius10 · 07-25-2010, 03:24 AM

Hi -

I've just got a question about this. What if you wanted to change only the display sequence in grub 2 (Ubuntu 9.10) and not which o/s boots first or is the deault o/s?

In previous versions of grub you could just copy & paste the lines in /boot/grub/menu.lst, but this version of grub doesn't allow you to edit /boot/grub/grub.cfg...

Thanks