A grub menu booting 100+ systems of Dos, Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris
Important! Please read post #21 of this thread first
----Edited 19 Jan 2006---reference to "Just booting tips" added---------
----Edited 30 Dec2006 ----A "How to" is now avaibale --------------------
I apologise for this long thread. To simplify it I have cut it into separate posts
Part 1 - main menu of 100+ systems
Part 2 - special menu for BSD and Solaris systems
Part 3 - Q & A
So that you don't have to bother with the bits of no interest to you.
Edited addition : After this thread I have since put together a collection of booting tips in here
If you have an issue with Windows and desire Grub not to take over the MBR then this thread may be relevant
Linux and its boot loaders are relentlessly under continuous improvement. The purpose of the thread is to document in 2005 how easy for a newcomer like myself to mulit-boot different operating systems in a PC because up to 1.5 years ago I knew nothing about booting or Linux after being served exclusively by the MS systems. It is hope that the thread may be of use to the newcomers who are unsure if the inherently powerful Linux can also be easy to learn and boot.
edited note --The above para. has been colored red after the thread has been incorrectly reported/interpreted in the Internet. My intention is to demonstrate that Linux is easy to learn, powerful to use and simple to boot. This may be my personal view but at least I offer proof.
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Part 1 of 3
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(A) One Grub menu that boots 100+ systems
The 100+ systems comprise of
3 Dos
3 Windows
5 BSDs (in Part 2 Menu)
2 Solaris (in Part 2 Menu)
97 Linux including 2 versions of NetBSD
I have kept all the boot loaders of the above systems. Grub is used to boot all of them because it is the only one capable of handing a large number of systmes. I had no access to a commercial boot loader and relied solely on the standard facilities within Linux.
Initially I hope to have one menu for all the above systems but ran into technical problems with the BSD and Solaris system because their conflicts with the extended partition in a disk. I had to separate the BSD and Solaris into their own hard disks and the menu is described in Part 2.
Here is the Grub menu that boots 100+ systems
Code:
# Grub menu booting 103 systems out of 144 partitions
color white/blue black/light-gray
default 0
timeout 1000
# Disk hda has 60 partitions fully populated 56 are bootable systems
title DOS 6.22 @ hda1
unhide (hd0,0)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
# hda2 is the extended partition and has no storage space itself
title Empty @ hda3 #initially used by a BSD system moved to another disk
root (hd0,2)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hda4#initially used by a BSD system moved to another disk
root (hd0,3)
chainloader +1
# hda5 is a swap partition common to all Linux in the box
title Puppy 1.0.6 @ hda6
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
title Arch 0.71 @ hda7
root (hd0,6)
chainloader +1
title Mandrake 9.2 @ hda8
root (hd0,7)
chainloader +1
title Suse 9.1 pro @ hda9
root (hd0,8)
chainloader +1
title eLive 0.3 @ hda10
root (hd0,9)
chainloader +1
title Red Hat 9 @ hda11
root (hd0,10)
chainloader +1
title Lycoris 4 @ hda12
root (hd0,11)
chainloader +1
title Libranet 2.8.1 @ hda13
root (hd0,12)
chainloader +1
title Mandrake 10 @hda14
root (hd0,13)
chainloader +1
title Debian Woody @ hda15
root (hd0,14)
chainloader +1
title Yoper 2.0.0 @ hda16
root (hd0,15)
chainloader +1
title Knoppix 3.6 @ hda17
root (hd0,16)
chainloader +1
title Bufflo 1.5 @ hda18
root (hd0,17)
chainloader +1
title Kanotix 2004.9 @ hda19
root (hd0,18)
chainloader +1
title Kalango 3.2 @ hda20
root (hd0,19)
chainloader +1
title Blax 30001 @ hda21
root (hd0,20)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 4 @ hda22
root (hd0,21)
chainloader +1
title Debian Sarge (booted directly because high partitions not supported) in hda23
root (hd0,22)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda23 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
title Red Flag 4.1 @ hda24
root (hd0,23)
chainloader +1
title Linare prof Edition 2 @ hda25
root (hd0,24)
chainloader +1
title Tiny Sofa 2.0 @ hda26
root (hd0,25)
chainloader +1
title Slackware 10.0 @ hda27
root (hd0,26)
chainloader +1
title Xandros 201 @ hda28
root (hd0,27)
chainloader +1
title Vine 3.2 @ hda29
root (hd0,28)
chainloader +1
title Specifix 0.15 @ hda30
root (hd0,29)
chainloader +1
title Ubunto 5.04 @ hda31
root (hd0,30)
chainloader +1
title PCLinuxOS 9.1 @ hda32
root (hd0,31)
chainloader +1
# Here is the approximate 137Gb barrier in the hard disk hda
title Asian Linux @ hda33
root (hd0,32)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 6.04 Dapper (by direct boot) @ hda34
root (hd0,33)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-8-386 root=/dev/hda34 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-8-386
title Wolvix 1.0.4 @ hda35
root (hd0,34)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz rw root=/dev/hda35
title Mepis 3.4.2 rc1 (by direct booting) @ hda36
root (hd0,35)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-1-586tsc root=/dev/hda36 nomce quiet splash=verbose vga=791
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-1-586tsc
title TurboLinux V7 @ hda37 (boot with Slackware 10 kernel in hda27 +rw)
root (hd0,36)
kernel (hd0,26)/boot/vmlinuz rw root=/dev/hda37
title Slampp 1.1 @ hda38
root (hd0,37)
chainloader +1
title Slax 5.0.4 @ hda39
root (hd0,38)
chainloader +1
title PCLinuxOS 0.92 @ hda40
root (hd0,39)
chainloader +1
title Sam 1.1 @ hda41
root (hd0,40)
chainloader +1
title Vector 5.1 @ hda42
root (hd0,41)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10.0 @ hda43
root (hd0,42)
chainloader +1
title Kororaa 2005 Beta 2 @ hda44
root (hd0,43)
chainloader +1
title smgl 0.45 @ hda45
root (hd0,44)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda45 ro
title Lunar 1.6 @ hda46
root (hd0,45)
kernel /boot/2.6.14.1-normal ro root=/dev/hda46 devfs=no mount
title Foresight 0.93 @ hda47
root (hd0,46)
chainloader +1
title Skolelinux Pro 6 in hda48
root (hd0,47)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-386 root=/dev/hda48 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.8-2-386
title Kubuntu dapper in hda49
root (hd0,48)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-9-386 root=/dev/hda49 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-9-386
title Klax 3.5 @ hda50
root (hd0,49)
chainloader +1
title K12LTSP 4.10 (need rw switch on) @ hda51
root (hd0,50)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.7-1.494.2.2 rw root=/dev/hda51
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.7-1.494.2.2.img
title Progeny 2.0 booted by Slackware's kernel @ hda52
root (hd0,51)
kernel (hd0,26)/boot/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hda52
title grml 0.5 @ hda53
root (hd0,52)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 2 @ hda54 (must be booted directly with rw switch)
root (hd0,53)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358 rw root=/dev/hda54
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img
title Whax 3.0 @ hda55
root (hd0,54)
chainloader +1
title Troppix 1.2 @ hda56
root (hd0,55)
chainloader +1
title TopologLinux 6.0 @ hda57
root (hd0,56)
chainloader +1
title Haansoft 2006 ws @ hda58
root (hd0,57)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 3 @ hda59
root (hd0,58)
chainloader +1
title Scientific Linux (with rw) @ hda60
root (hd0,59)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-5.0.5.EL rw root=/dev/hda60 rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-5.0.5.EL.img
# Disk hdc has 54 partitions with 30 systems
title Dos 7.10 @ hdc1
hide (hd0,0)
unhide (hd1,0)
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
root (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
title Win98 @ hdc2
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd1,0)
unhide (hd1,1)
root (hd1,1)
makeactive
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc3
root (hd1,2)
chainloader +1
# Extended partition is hdc4
title B2D Pure KDE 2005 @ hdc5
root (hd1,4)
chainloader +1
title CollegeLinux 2.5 @ hdc6
root (hd1,5)
chainloader +1
title Berry 0.65 @ hdc7
root (hd1,6)
chainloader +1
title Morhpix KDE 0.4 @ hdc8
root (hd1,7)
chainloader +1
title Feather 0.6 @ hdc9
root (hd1,8)
chainloader +1
title Buffalo 1.7.3.9 @ hdc10
root (hd1,9)
chainloader +1
title CentOS 4.1 @ hdc11
root (hd1,10)
chainloader +1
title Vector 4.3 @ hdc12
root (hd1,11)
chainloader +1
title Tao Linux 4.0 @ hdc13
root (hd1,12)
chainloader +1
title Frugaalware 0.1 @ hdc14
root (hd1,13)
chainloader +1
title Agnula Demudi 1.2 @ hdc15
root (hd1,14)
chainloader +1
title Damn Small Linux @ hdc16
root (hd1,15)
chainloader +1
title Monoppix 1.1.8 booted by Slackware 10.2 kernel from (hd1,34) @ hdc17
root (hd1,16)
kernel (hd1,34)/boot/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hdc17
title Symphony A4 @ hdc18
root (hd1,17)
chainloader +1
title Pocket Linux 1.2 @ hdc19
root (hd1,18)
chainloader +1
title UltimaLinux 4.0 @ hdc20
root (hd1,19)
chainloader +1
title VLOS 1.2 @ hdc21
root (hd1,20)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-vidalinux_r3 ro root=/dev/ram0 init=/linuxrc real_root=/dev/hdc21 video=vesafb:1024x768-32@85 splash=silent,theme:vlos-1.2 quiet CONSOLE=/dev/tty1
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.12-vidalinux_r3.img
title Tiny Sofa (Ceara) @ hdc22
root (hd1,21)
chainloader +1
title 64 Studio 0.6 @ hdc23
root (hd1,22)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.13-1-multimedia-amd64-generic root=/dev/hdc23 ro vga=791 splash=silent
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.13-1-multimedia-amd64-generic
title Empty @ hdc24
root (hd1,23)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc25
root (hd1,24)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc26
root (hd1,25)
chainloader +1
# here is the approximate boundary of the 137Gb barrier of hdc
title Empty @ hdc27
root (hd1,26)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc28
root (hd1,27)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc29
root (hd1,28)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc30
root (hd1,29)
chainloader +1
title rPath 0.99.2 @ hdc31
root (hd1,30)
chainloader +1
title STX 1.0 rc2 @ hdc32
root (hd1,31)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 5 @ hdc33
root (hd1,32)
chainloader +1
title StartCom 4.0.4 Raam @ hdc34
root (hd1,33)
chainloader +1
title Slackware 10.2 @ hdc35
root (hd1,34)
chainloader +1
title Foresight Foresight 0.9 @ hdc36
root (hd1,35)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12.5-fdl.2.x86.i686.cmov ro root=/dev/hdc36 splash=silent vga=791 quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.12.5-fdl.2.x86.i686.cmov.img
title Xandros 3.0 @ hdc37
root (hd1,36)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 5.10 Breezy Badger @ hdc38
root (hd1,37)
chainloader +1
title Kate 2.2 (booted by Suse 10 Kernel in hdc43) @ hdc39
root (hd1,38)
kernel (hd0,42)/boot/vmlinuz ro root=/dev/hdc39
initrd (hd0,42)/boot/initrd
# Partitions hdc40 to hdc54 are partitions each 200Mb for Grub working as submenus.
title Grub menu for MS systems only (Dos & Windows) @ hdc40
root (hd1,26)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for recent additions @ hdc41
root (hd1,40)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for only small distros @ hdc42
root (hd1,41)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for only large distros @ hdc43
root (hd1,42)
chainloader +1
title Grub reserved menu (Empty) @ hdc44
root (hd1,43)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for IDE disk hda only @ hdc45
root (hd1,44)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for IDE disk hdc only @ hdc46
root (hd1,45)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for Sata disk sda only @ hdc47
root (hd1,46)
chainloader +1
title Grub menu for Sata disk sdb only @ hdc48
root (hd1,47)
chainloader +1
title Complete menu for all 100+ systems @ hdc49
root (hd1,48)
chainloader +1
title Master Menu to boot submenus @ hdc50
root (hd1,49)
chainloader +1
title Grub reserved menu (Empty) @ hdc51
root (hd1,50)
chainloader +1
title Grub reserved menu (Empty) @ hdc52
root (hd1,51)
chainloader +1
title Grub reserved menu (Empty) @ hdc53
root (hd1,52)
chainloader +1
title Grub reserved menu (Empty) @ hdc54
root (hd1,53)
chainloader +1
# Third disk sda is a Sata with 15 partitions, 9 are bootable
title XP pro @ sdb1
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd1,0)
hide (hd1,1)
unhide (hd2,0)
map (hd2) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd2)
root (hd2,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sda2
root (hd2,1)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sda3
root (hd2,2)
chainloader +1
# Extended partition here is the sdb4
title Empty @ sda5
root (hd2,4)
chainloader +1
title Ututu x2 2005.1 @ sda6
root (hd2,5)
chainloader +1
title Helix 1.7 @ sda7
root (hd2,6)
chainloader +1
title MagicLinux 2.0 rc2 @ sda8
root (hd2,7)
chainloader +1
title Zenwalk 1.2 @ sda9
root (hd2,8)
chainloader +1
title MedianLinux 4 rc5 @ sda10
root (hd2,9)
chainloader +1
title NetBSD i386 3.0 rc6 @ sda11
root (hd2,10)
chainloader +1
title Arabian 0.6 rc1 @ sda12
root (hd2,11)
chainloader +1
title Mepis 3.3.2 @ sda13
root (hd2,12)
chainloader +1
# Persinal data partion @ sda14
title Empty @ sda15
root (hd2,14)
chainloader +1
# Fourth disk sdb is a Sata with 15 partitions, 8 are bootable
title Win2k @ sdb1
hide (hd0,0) # hiding DOS 6.22 partition in hda1
hide (hd1,0) # hiding DOS 7.10 partition in hdc1
hide (hd1,1) # hiding Win98 partition in hdc2
hide (hd2,0) # hiding Win XP partition in sda1
unhide (hd3,0) # unhide Win2k partition for execution
root (hd3,0)
makeactive
map (hd3) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd3)
chainloader +1
title FreeDOS @ sdb2
hide (hd0,0) # hiding DOS 6.22 partition in hda1
hide (hd1,0) # hiding DOS 7.10 partition in hdc1
hide (hd1,1) # hiding Win98 partition in hdc2
hide (hd2,0) # hiding Win XP partition in sda1
hide (hd3,0) # hiding Win2k partition in sdb1
unhide (hd3,1)
root (hd3,1)
makeactive
map (hd3) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd3)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb3
root (hd3,4)
chainloader +1
# Partition sdb4 is an extended partition
title NetBSD 3.0 AMD64 @ sdb5
root (hd3,4)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb6
root (hd3,5)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb7
root (hd3,6)
chainloader +1
title Frugalware 0.4 @ sdb8
root (hd3,7)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb9
root (hd3,8)
chainloader +1
title Quantian 0.7.9.1 @ sdb10
root (hd3,9)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10.1 x86 64 @ sdb11
root (hd3,10)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb12
root (hd3,11)
chainloader +1
title Knoppix 4.0.2 @ sdb13
root (hd3,12)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva Release 2006 @ sdb14
root (hd3,13)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ sdb15
root (hd3,14)
chainloader +1
Use the BeOS that loads from Linux
You're correct, BeOS does not support SATA (yet). Since you already have Linux installed, rather than trying to run it inside a windows file, grab the Linux installer version from BeBits:http://www.bebits.com/app/2680 and install it. It installs into a file inside of Linux, but once you are running BeOS you can select to install it into its own BFS partition. Then you can get a real feel for what it can do.
There's instructions there telling how to install it. To see if your hardware is supported check the BeOS hardware matrix at:
http://www.bedrivers.com/hardware/
-scottmc