A grub menu booting 100+ systems of Dos, Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris


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    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.
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Part 1 of 3
    --------------------------------------------------------------

    (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
    Last edited by saikee; 07-21-2007 at 06:13 PM.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

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