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Grub

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porkchopexpress

IS-IT--Management
May 26, 2005
3,996
GB
I'm using Ubuntu 7.04 desktop which is dual booted with XP, i'm having a bit of an issue where XP won't come out of hibernation without blue screening since installung Ubuntu but it will boot normally. I was hoping that making XP the default OS might help.

I think I need to alter the menu/lst file to make XP the default but i'm not quite sure where to make the changes and Ubuntu also won't seem to let me log on as root to make the changes anyway.

As you've probably guessed i'm pretty new to linux.

Here is the contents of the grub file.

Thanks for any help.

Code:
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=8b9c7c90-5491-45de-a9ba-7bdd5a234f7e ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,5)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
##      lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=8b9c7c90-5491-45de-a9ba-7bdd5a234f7e ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic
quiet
savedefault

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-16-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-16-generic root=UUID=8b9c7c90-5491-45de-a9ba-7bdd5a234f7e ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-16-generic

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=8b9c7c90-5491-45de-a9ba-7bdd5a234f7e ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic
quiet
savedefault

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.20-15-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-generic root=UUID=8b9c7c90-5491-45de-a9ba-7bdd5a234f7e ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.20-15-generic

title		Ubuntu, memtest86+
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title		Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/hda1
title		Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root		(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1
 
Cheers for that i think i had just about found the answer in an old copy of Red Hat bible that i found on the bookshelf. I wasn't quite sure if i needed to count all of the ubuntu entries.

Any idea why i can't login as root from the login screen it just says you can't login as this user from here, as i can't login as that user i'm unable to edit the file?

Thanks.
 
In Ubuntu, the root account doesn't have a password set so you can't login with it. And even if you do set a password for the root account, it is not allowed to access an X session. You will have to use sudo for you administrative needs. i.e. sudo vi /boot/grub/grub.conf

--== Anything can go wrong. It's just a matter of how far wrong it will go till people think its right. ==--
 
I couldn't get that to work but 'sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst' seemed to do the trick in the end.

Whats the difference?

Thanks.
 
Appart from the fact that /boot/grub/grub.conf and /boot/grub/menu.lst
are two different files, and that VI and Gedit
are two different editors, the latter being graphical, none
IMHO...
 
menu.lst is a symlink to grub.conf. Since these are both in the same directory, I'd guess the reason for this symlink is to keep it compatible with distros that may use different naming conventions.

 
Code:
geir@geir-laptop:~$ ls -l /boot/grub/menu.lst
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4991 2007-08-31 11:08 /boot/grub/menu.lst
menu.lst is not a symlink.
Code:
geir@geir-laptop:~$ locate grub.conf
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-10/debian/examples/kpkg_grub.conf
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-11/debian/examples/kpkg_grub.conf
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-12/debian/examples/kpkg_grub.conf
and grub.conf is nowhere to be found....

 
I couldn't fing grub.conf anywhere so i assumed it was menu.lst in Ubuntu.

So VI and Gedit are two different editors, i see now thanks.
 
Sorry geirendre, I somehow thought that he was asking what was the difference between menu.lst and menu.conf. ( I combined a couple posts to come up with that). In some distros the file is called grub.conf while in some hoakie distros it is called menu.lst. Red Hat for example, plays the middle by creating a symlink called menu.lst which has grub.conf as its target. That not withstanding, your analysis of the editors was correct. ;-)



 
Yep, from my experience only the Red Hat family distros use grub.conf in lieu of menu.lst. It is symbolic-linked to menu.lst. I never edit grub.conf in any of the Red Hat distros myself.

To get Ubuntu booted to GUI as root, just edit /etc/gdm/gdmrc and change

Code:
AllowRoot=false

to

Code:
AllowRoot=true

However if one uses Ubuntu then one should log in as an ordinary user to enjoy the security Ubuntu has designed for its users, otherwise who not use Slax that always allow you to log in as root to the GUI.

 
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