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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Wed Nov 06, 2002 9:54 pm Post subject: Convert from lilo to Grub |
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Is there any bennefit to staying with lilo?
Otherwaise I would like to change to using grub.
If there is no bennefit to stay with lilo, can someone direct me to instructions on how to do this, or possibly walk me through this?
Thank you. |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2002 1:42 am Post subject: |
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I'd recommend GRUB. I doubt you'll ever regret making the switch. LILO seems to have more options for graphical menus, but that's about the only signifigant advantage I've seen. Even if you switch and hate it it's a piece of cake to switch back. |
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guero61 l33t
Joined: 14 Oct 2002 Posts: 811 Location: Behind you
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2002 1:56 am Post subject: |
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I used to use LILO, and I find GRUB much easier to use and much more flexible. Some of the things I like about GRUB that I didn't know about/couldn't do in LILO:
1. Simply edit the config file and reboot; no need to run 'lilo' to make sure it parses your file! That also means no editing the boot config when you recompile your kernel, as long as you rename the new kernel the same as the old
2. Boot-time editing of parameters -- what if you screw up your config file? In GRUB, you can simply edit your config file right then and there, and get a solid boot.
3. Easier to understand config file -- just makes more sense to me.
4. GRUB is also available as a command line interpreter: You can call it up on a terminal and experiment with commands before you even write them to your config file.
5. It has a very cool name!
6. Incredibly simple M$ OS loading.
7. GRUB can be used as a rudimentary recovery tool. Not very powerful, but a whole lot more so than LILO
8. Great menu/background/color support.
9. How can you go wrong with something with "Grand Unified" in it's name?
My best example was the time I compiled a new kernel -- removed the old one, then got distracted. (Okay, I'm already dumb at this point). Came back later, and tried to reboot. No such luck. I had no kernel, no boot disk, I thought I was SOL. Then I remembered that I could edit my GRUB parameters, and the newly compiled kernel was still on the disk -- just another partition and really deep. I just edited the kernel line in GRUB, and it booted like a charm. I've been a fan of GRUB ever since. |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2002 2:15 am Post subject: |
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OK, so how do I go about making the switch? |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2002 3:31 am Post subject: |
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Way easy. Make sure you have GRUB merged. As root type grub. When you get the GRUB prompt...
Code: | root (hdN,N)
setup (hdN)
qui |
Where (hdN,N) is the drive number starting at zero and (hdN,N) is the partition number starting at zero
After that GRUB owns the boot sector of whichever drive you boot from. From there you can boot using the GRUB prompt, but it's much more convenient to create a grub.conf and a symlink menu.lst to grub.conf inside the /boot/grub dir. Sample grub.conf contents from the gentoo install docs are quoted below.
Note: that the sample assumes the kernel is located on the first partition of the first drive.
Quote: | default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title=My example Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda3
#Below is for setup using hardware RAID
title=My Gentoo Linux on RAID
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/discX/partY
# Below needed only for people who dual-boot
title=Windows NT Workstation
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
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That's it! for details check out:
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/grub.html
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/build.html#doc_chap16 |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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This is the first result that I get:
grub> root (hda,1)
Error 23: Error while parsing number
grub>
What did I do wrong? |
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guero61 l33t
Joined: 14 Oct 2002 Posts: 811 Location: Behind you
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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Grub's drive ordering system is numeric, not letters. That should be
Of course, if you're trying to boot from the first partition, that should actually be
It's different from Linux; that's all I can say. |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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ok, now what have I done?
grub> root (hd0,1)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... no
Error 15: File not found
grub> |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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Remember, GRUB only recognizes numerical references for for both disks and partitions. Your input Quote: | grub> root (hda,1) | should be This will tell grub that your /boot partition is the second (1) partition on your first (0) hdd. After that use if you want GRUB to take over you MBR on your first (0) hdd.
Lastly, unless you want to manually point it to your kernel and feed it the appropriate kernel parameters when GRUB boots make sure your grub.conf file is properly configured. It's also a good idea to symlink menu.lst to grub.conf.
Happy GRUBing! |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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So my reply was a tad late....
If you emerged GRUB all of those files will be located at /boot/grub. If it's having trouble you're not pointing it to your /boot partition with the root command. If /boot is the first partition on (h0) it would be instead of Quote: | grub> root (hd0,1) |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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I am using the root (hd0,1) rather than the root (hda,1) like you suggested. that seems to work fine, then next line that I type setup (hd0) gives me the grief.
grub> root(hd0,1)
Error 27: Unrecognized command
grub> root (hd0,1)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... no
Error 15: File not found
grub> |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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hang on... just got your other post./ |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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OK, let's back up a bit. I think Iresolved the setup error issue, but based on you most recent post i tried:
grub> root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82
Where as if I use:
grub> root (hd0,1)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub>
is there a command that will display my partition info from terminal? |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:47 pm Post subject: |
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Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1584 1653 562275 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda2 * 1 1583 12715416 83 Linux |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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Just in case it matters, I am not using Gentoo anymore. I used to use it, and have found that this is one of the best forums available, so I have stayed here. I am currently using slackware which should not have too many differences. Grub was then obviously not emerged, rather compiled. This was the problem, I think with my setup command. I did not have the files in the right place.
Last edited by ckwall on Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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So is this telling me that my boot partition is hda,2? That cant be right, can it? |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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Well, based on what you posted... Quote: | Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1584 1653 562275 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda2 * 1 1583 12715416 83 Linux | hda2 is your boot partition. That shouldn't make a difference. GRUB is quite flexible. You'll need to point GRUB to (hd0,1) like you had in your earlier post and make sure that all the grub files are in /boot/grub. The setup command should still refernce (hd0). All of that should be distro independent. |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... no
Error 15: File not found
grub>
Stage one does exist in /boot/grub:
Code: | root@amd1400:/boot/grub# ls
AUTHORS NEWS config.guess depcomp* stage1/
BUGS README config.h docs/ stage2/
COPYING THANKS config.h.in grub/ stamp-h
ChangeLog TODO config.log install-sh* stamp-h.in
INSTALL acconfig.h config.status* lib/ stamp-h1
Makefile acinclude.m4 config.sub missing* util/
Makefile.am aclocal.m4 configure* mkinstalldirs*
Makefile.in compile* configure.in netboot/
root@amd1400:/boot/grub# |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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not understanding how this works, Iam assuming that the stage1 that grub is looking for is not the directory, rather the stage1 that is in the stage1 directory. Is this correct?and would that also be true for stage 2? |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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OK, I have run all of that:
Code: | grub> root (hd0,1)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... no
Running "install /boot/grub/stage1 (hd0) /boot/grub/stage2 p /boot/grub/menu.l
st "... succeeded
Done.
grub> |
walk me through the config files and symlink? |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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whoa... just noticed the stage5, is that bad?
Code: | Checking if "/boot/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... no
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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Here's what I see at a glance...
All you appear to have in /boot/grub is the GRUB source code. stage1 and stage2 are actual files rather than directories.
You may have to run find to see where make install stuck those files. If slackware has a GRUB package I'd recommend using that for the sake of convenience and simply to get everything running. Once it's up you can complie a version from source and upgrade to it later. |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Thats what I thought after I posted my directory, so I did that, I installed the package. The results of which are in my posts just before this one? |
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ckwall Apprentice
Joined: 31 May 2002 Posts: 163
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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I guess this is a n00b question, but tell me real quick is there a switch for rmdir that will delete the content of a directory even if it is not empty? I am going to try this one more time from scratch with the slackware package and see what happens. |
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boyo n00b
Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 53 Location: MI
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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2002 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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use Code: | rm -rf directoryname | or Code: | rm -rf directoryname/* | if you want to wipe the contents of the directory but keep the directory itself. |
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