Grub Problem [SOLVED]

[Brianrh]

I've just installed the latest PCLinuxos KDE as the second OS on my laptop. When restarting, Grub shows PCLinuxOS but nothing of the other OS. I checked with Dolphin and the other OS partition is still intact and all the files readable.

Why has this happened and please how do I fix it?

Thanks.

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

I've just installed the latest PCLinuxos KDE as the second OS on my laptop. When restarting, Grub shows PCLinuxOS but nothing of the other OS. I checked with Dolphin and the other OS partition is still intact and all the files readable.

Why has this happened and please how do I fix it?

Thanks.

Brianrh

Tell us what the other OS is, and the partition it's on, and we can give you a stanza to add to your menu.lst file to give you a boot menu entry for the other OS.

[Brianrh]

The other OS is SolusOS RC4 and I am fairly sure it is installed on SDA5 but I can't be sure until I get home tonight and check my laptop.

Is the stanza just a line or block of text that is added to the menu.lst file?

Thanks for help.

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

The other OS is SolusOS RC4 and I am fairly sure it is installed on SDA5 but I can't be sure until I get home tonight and check my laptop.

Is the stanza just a line or block of text that is added to the menu.lst file?

Thanks for help.

Brianrh

Yes.

[Brianrh]

I ran and got the follower:

     /dev/sda5:SolusOS Eveline RC4 (RC4):SolusOS:linux

I searched for and found menu.lst and there is a menu.lst.old as well in /boot/grub, but both are blank with no text in the file.

Please can you suggest what to tweak or is it worth trying a fresh install first?

Thanks.

Brianrh

[Bald Brick]

I ran and got the follower:

     /dev/sda5:SolusOS Eveline RC4 (RC4):SolusOS:linux

I searched for and found menu.lst and there is a menu.lst.old as well in /boot/grub, but both are blank with no text in the file.

Please can you suggest what to tweak or is it worth trying a fresh install first?

Thanks.

Brianrh

If you aren't root /boot/grub/menu.lst will appear empty to you. su to root before you try to read it.

[Brianrh]

Thanks for the patience gents but I am learning and slowly getting there. su to root gave:

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=6a957cba-a59b-40e3-a57b-df98ad72ec35 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=6a957cba-a59b-40e3-a57b-df98ad72ec35
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet failsafe vmalloc=256M acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title SolusOS
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/solus-vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=SolusOS root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82


Can anyone tell me if there is anything obviously wrong or what I need to add to this to be able to dual boot?

Thanks again.

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

Thanks for the patience gents but I am learning and slowly getting there. su to root gave:

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=6a957cba-a59b-40e3-a57b-df98ad72ec35 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet vmalloc=256M acpi=on resume=UUID=6a957cba-a59b-40e3-a57b-df98ad72ec35
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1  quiet failsafe vmalloc=256M acpi=on
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img

title SolusOS
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/solus-vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=SolusOS root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82


Can anyone tell me if there is anything obviously wrong or what I need to add to this to be able to dual boot?

Thanks again.

Brianrh

You are trying to find the kernel on the PCLinuxOS / partition, rather than its own.

[7272andy]

The last stanza looks incomplete and probably wrong, I believe you need to amend the start of the final line to read kernel (hd0,4) rather than kernel (hd0,0).

if you mount sda5 can you read the menu.lst for that installation (assuming it uses grub)

EDIT
Oh. Hi O-P, guess I'll leave it with you

[Brianrh]

Hi Guys

I looked in the grub folder of the SolusOS but there was no menu.lst file but the grub.cfg  seemed to contain lines which looked like something I will need. I tried deleting the last line of the PCLinuxOS menu.lst file as suggested with kernel (hd0,4) followed by copying and pasting various lines from part of the grub.cfg:

insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
   echo   'Loading Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos ...'
   linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82 ro  quiet splash vga=792
   echo   'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
   initrd   /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos

 but none of my efforts worked. This is the complete grub.cfg file:

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function load_video {
  insmod vbe
  insmod vga
  insmod video_bochs
  insmod video_cirrus
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
  set gfxmode=640x480
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
set timeout=5
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
insmod png
if background_image /usr/share/images/desktop-base/spacefun-grub.png; then
  set color_normal=light-gray/black
  set color_highlight=white/black
else
  set menu_color_normal=cyan/blue
  set menu_color_highlight=white/blue
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos' --class solusos --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
   echo   'Loading Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos ...'
   linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82 ro  quiet splash vga=792
   echo   'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
   initrd   /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos
}
menuentry 'SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos (recovery mode)' --class solusos --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
   insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,msdos5)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82
   echo   'Loading Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos ...'
   linux   /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82 ro single
   echo   'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
   initrd   /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos (on /dev/sda1)" {
   insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1
   linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1 ro splash quiet splash vga=792
   initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos
}
menuentry "SolusOS GNU/Linux, with Linux 3.0.0-ck1-solusos (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
   insmod part_msdos
   insmod ext2
   set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
   search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1
   linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=702edead-10aa-4241-b60d-c026eab27bc1 ro single splash
   initrd /boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###


Is this the file I need to copy bits from and which bits do i need?

Thanks.

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

Brianrh:

Try this;

title SolusOS
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-ck1-solusos root=UUID=f1e14e70-d4b9-4f7e-8d3c-08183d423b82 ro  quiet splash vga=792
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.img-3.0.0-ck1-solusos

There are three lines total, starting with;

title
kernel
initrd

Watch out for word wrap.



Post your results.

[Brianrh]

Hi O-P

Your three lines of text were spot on and worked perfectly.

I know I can easily go back to SolusOS if I need to but at the moment I am having too much fun here. Other distros may appear to be more cool or more hip to be on, but this OS and the support from the forum is second to none.

One more question if I may. The only way I found to mount the other partition without using terminal after I had Googled how to. I had thought that if I ran Thunar from root this would let me do so but I couldn't find a way. Is there any other way to do this without resorting to terminal?

Thanks again O-P for your help.

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

Hi O-P

Your three lines of text were spot on and worked perfectly.

I know I can easily go back to SolusOS if I need to but at the moment I am having too much fun here. Other distros may appear to be more cool or more hip to be on, but this OS and the support from the forum is second to none.

One more question if I may. The only way I found to mount the other partition without using terminal after I had Googled how to. I had thought that if I ran Thunar from root this would let me do so but I couldn't find a way. Is there any other way to do this without resorting to terminal?

Thanks again O-P for your help.

Brianrh

I thought you said you installed KDE?

[Brianrh]

Sorry didn't mean to mislead you. I had the KDE version installed originally but I tried a re-install to see if it would sort my problem and I tried the Xfce version but the result was the same.

Is mounting another partition different with KDE to Xfce desktop?

Brianrh

[Old-Polack]

Sorry didn't mean to mislead you. I had the KDE version installed originally but I tried a re-install to see if it would sort my problem and I tried the Xfce version but the result was the same.

Is mounting another partition different with KDE to Xfce desktop?

Brianrh

In KDE the left side Places panel of the Dolphin file manager allows one to mount or unmount various partitions. I'm not sure what XFCE uses for the same functionality.