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just installed ubuntu

lockmac

Senior member
Just need to know what is the best program for a boot loader? Can i edit the boot.ini file in Windows? I have XP and Ubuntu on separate hard disks and at the moment im changing the BIOS so that I can load between Windows and Ubuntu but thats getting thrustrating!

Many thanks
 
Making the XP bootloader boot Linux has always been a tricky endeavour at best. You should use Ubuntu's GRUB bootloader as your primary bootloader, which will in turn fire up the XP bootloader when you want to boot XP.
 
thanks made, i got that working a few hours ago. but im having trouble getting it to default to the windows xp install. i used a program (cant remember what its called) which is a gui and then writes to the file and it will say that xp is the default boot but it will still boot linux. i even went into the file and changed the default to my xp and it still boots the linux. i had it working once but then it stopped working.

anybody konw why? probably a pretty open question without giving you more information such as my boot file
 
i also am thinking of trying ubuntu for the first time so i wont be much help, would like to know if you get it fixed as i would also like xp to be the default while in trial.
 
In GRUB's config file you just put default X where X is the entry number that you want to be the default.
 
Originally posted by: blazer
i also am thinking of trying ubuntu for the first time so i wont be much help, would like to know if you get it fixed as i would also like xp to be the default while in trial.

If you just leave the harddrive with xp on it plugged in while you are installing Ubuntu, then the installer will automatically set up the dual boot configuratin for you. lockmac apparently unplugged his XP drive while installing Ubuntu, which is why he is having to do extra work.

Originally posted by: lockmac
thanks made, i got that working a few hours ago. but im having trouble getting it to default to the windows xp install. i used a program (cant remember what its called) which is a gui and then writes to the file and it will say that xp is the default boot but it will still boot linux. i even went into the file and changed the default to my xp and it still boots the linux. i had it working once but then it stopped working.

anybody konw why? probably a pretty open question without giving you more information such as my boot file

Without knowing what the program is that you installed, there is probably not any help anyone can give you. Was the program just a gui frontend to grub? Or was it it's own boot loader software that wrote itself to the mbr? Was this a program you installed/ran on Ubuntu or on Windows?
 
Originally posted by: lockmac
thanks made, i got that working a few hours ago. but im having trouble getting it to default to the windows xp install. i used a program (cant remember what its called) which is a gui and then writes to the file and it will say that xp is the default boot but it will still boot linux. i even went into the file and changed the default to my xp and it still boots the linux. i had it working once but then it stopped working.

anybody konw why? probably a pretty open question without giving you more information such as my boot file

Aas you may have noticed, there are multiple ways to fix this. personally, I think the following is easiest.

open terminal (applications > accessories > terminal)

enter "sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst"

when prompted, enter your password

a text editor will pop up with your grub boot menu file

the last text should look something like this:

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=6a6ea0ce-7c6a-4ff4-b7b2-1d9bd2545222 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=6a6ea0ce-7c6a-4ff4-b7b2-1d9bd2545222 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root (hd0,1)
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 Home Edition
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

all you need to do is move the Windows XP part up to the top (not the *very* top, just the top of the partition lists as shown above)

your final product will look something like this:

# 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 use 'savedefault' 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=6a6ea0ce-7c6a-4ff4-b7b2-1d9bd2545222 ro

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

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,1)

## 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

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/hda1
title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=6a6ea0ce-7c6a-4ff4-b7b2-1d9bd2545222 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 7.10, kernel 2.6.22-14-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-14-generic root=UUID=6a6ea0ce-7c6a-4ff4-b7b2-1d9bd2545222 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-14-generic

title Ubuntu 7.10, memtest86+
root (hd0,1)
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

please note you can delete those last four lines, as they will become meaningless, but you don't *have* to

also note that you have to move the text in your own file, not copy and paste from my examples, because my hard disk config is not the same as yours

once you have finished, save the file and exit

that should do it
 
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