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薛一琦 ,
Welcome to JustLinux.
I hope you would excuse me not replying your question in Chinese. Possibly because 3 out of the 145 systems were "sourced" from China I notice the current thread has been translated into Chinese in one of the web site.
Yes the installations did take time but since Linux can be moved from partition to partition and hard disk to hard disk so a system once installed takes no more time.
At the later stage I started to install the iso file directly from the hard disk and the fast time I clocked is 6 minutes for installing Sidux. A modern Linux generally takes less than 15 minutes to install.
I do hellp others on booting problems. The large number generally covers whatever systems a member would have so it is reassuring to him/her that at least "one" solution is readily available.
The threads does have some unusual features, like having a Grub manual before installing the systems, there is no operating system controlling the Grub in the MBR (so every system can alter it), that every system is booted identically regardless of operation type, etc.
At a personal level finding a way to write a "howto" install and boot 145 systems and able to keep it even simpler than installing 2 or 3 systems is not easy. Also as a Linux users, and a beliver in the principle in open source, trying out distros from 39 countries is an experience, especially dealing with a foreign installer. I survived only by the common knowledge I have in Linux and after installation to alter the language and keyboard back to English and UK. Thus the time I spent has been worthwile to me, especially for the appreciation of Linux as an international operating system. It is one of the rare things in life the people in different countries and in different religions can work together and have something in common and in agreement.
Last edited by saikee; 09-19-2007 at 05:21 AM.
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In view of the number of readers interested in the Grub menu of booting 145 systems I now post my current nested system of 5 Grub menus (spread into Post #32, #33 & #34 due to a maximum of 2000 characters permitted in each post). The original one long menu.lst in Post #1 has been superseded since.
- menu.lst is the master menu that boots up 4 submenus for "Frequently used", "Dos/Windows only", "Linux only" and "Solaris/BSD only".
- menuFreq.lst contains Linux I frequently use
- menuWin.lst contains booting entries of 2 Dos and 5 Windows (Dos 7.10 temporarily dropped)
- menulin.lst contains all the Linux
- menuBSD.lst contains one Solaris and 2 BSD systems
A Grub menu is just a text file that every PC user can create for himself/herself. It should be apparent that more menus can be introduced if desired, like breaking the booting chices into Red Hat famiy, Debian family, Slackware family etc.
Since the publication of the current thread 9 months ago I have since move Vista from hdc3 to hdc1 when upgrading the disk to 500Gb. Thus the displaced Dos 7.10 cannot be installed into the vacanted hdc3 because hdc1 is now 28Gb and Dos 7.10 in a fat16 partition is unable to address beyond 2Gb in a hard disk.
In order to add BSD and Solaris I have added another Pata hard disk hdd which also has 63 partitions. The 4th being the extended partition and so hdd1, hdd2 and hdd3 have been used for installing Solaris 10, PCBSD and FreeBSD. This 5th disk is partially filled with another 23 Linux systems. Thus the total number of bootable systems in the box is about 165.
I have mentioned a few times that BSD and Solaris when co-existing with Linux in extended partition can cause conflicts. Yoiu can see in Post #34 the hard disk hdd, between partition hdd2 and hdd2, an error message has been reported for this type of corruption problem which currently does not stop the operation of the systems. A few veteran Solaris users have indicated the corruption in the partition table does not necessarily harm either the Solaris or the Linux systems. However a hard disk such such error/conflict can become incresingly difficult to handle with time.
Every time I boot a BSD or a Solaris system I hide the entire extended partition to avoid conflicts. The arrangement is detailed in my nested Grub menus. When I boot the Linux I hide the BSD and Solaris partitions and unhide the extended partition.
Since kernel 2.6.20 and newer cease to support Pata disk names I find it increasingly difficult to add new Linux to this PC because the installer cannot cope with a hard disk with more than 15 partitions.
Anyway for those interested here are my Grub menu systems.
(1) Master menu.lst
Code:
color black/green yellow/cyan
title This is the Master menu controlling all systems
boot
title Frequently used
unhide (hd0,3)
unhide (hd1,3)
unhide (hd2,3)
#unhide (hd3,3)
#unhide (hd4,3)
unhide (hd2,0) #Solaris unhide=hide
hide (hd2,1)
hide (hd2,2)
root (hd0,2) #(hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menufreq.lst
title Dos/Windows-only sub-menu
root (hd0,2) #(hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menuwin.lst
title Linux-only sub-menu
unhide (hd0,3)
unhide (hd1,3)
unhide (hd2,3)
#unhide (hd3,3)
#unhide (hd4,3)
unhide (hd2,0) #Solaris unhide=hide
hide (hd2,1)
hide (hd2,2)
root (hd0,2) #(hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menulin.lst
title BSD-only sub-menu
hide (hd0,3)
hide (hd1,3)
hide (hd2,3)
#hide (hd3,3)
#hide (hd4,3)
configfile /boot/grub/menubsd.lst
title floppy on (fd0)
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader (fd0)+1
title Super MS-DOS 7.10 Boot Disk (requires Dos 7.10 floppy in the drive)
root (fd0)
chainloader /boot/msdos.bs
title Boot from CD Drive (requires Dos 7.10 floppy in the drive)
root (fd0)
chainloader /boot/cdboot.bs
title Power down computer
halt
The main ussage of this master menu are
- To break up the booting choices in to groups
- To hide the Solaris and BSD partitions while running Linux and vice versa (to avoid partition table corruption)
(2) Frequently used Linux menuFreq.lst
Code:
color red/brown black/light-gray
title This is the frequently use Linux booting menu
boot
title Return to Master menu
root (hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst
title Puppy 1.0.6 @ hda6
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
title PCLinuxos 0.92 @ hda40
root (hd0,39)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10 @ hda43
root (hd0,42)
chainloader +1
title Foresight 0.93 @ hda47
root (hd0,46)
chainloader +1
title Klax 3.5 @ hda50
root (hd0,49)
chainloader +1
title Whax 3.0 @ hda55
root (hd0,54)
chainloader +1
title Troppix 1.2 @ hda56
root (hd0,55)
chainloader +1
title Slax 5.1.8 @ hda62
root (hd0,61)
chainloader +1
title Sam 2006-1 @ hdc26
root (hd1,25)
chainloader +1
title Kanotix 64 2005-4 @ hdc29
root (hd1,28)
chainloader +1
title Gentoo 2006.1 @ hdc40
root (hd1,39)
chainloader +1
title Underground 2.2 @ hdc42
root (hd1,41)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 7.04 @ hdc46
root (hd1,45)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva 2007 @ hdc48
root (hd1,47)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 6.06 @ hdc54
root (hd1,53)
chainloader +1
title Wolvix 1.0.5 @ hdc59
root (hd1,58)
chainloader +1
title Musix 0.39 @ sda3
root (hd3,2)
chainloader +1
title Slackware 11 @ sdb12
root (hd4,11)
chainloader +1
title Knoppix 4.0.2 @ sdb13
root (hd4,12)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva 2006 0.4 @ sdb14
root (hd4,13)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 6 @ sdb15
root (hd4,14)
chainloader +1
(3) Dos/Windows only menuWin.lst
Code:
color yellow/black yellow/light-gray
title You are now booting from hda3 data-only partition
boot
title Return to Master menu
root (hd0,2) #(hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst
title DOS 6.22 (FAT16) @ hda1
root (hd0,0)
unhide (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
title Win 3.11 @ hda2
root (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,0)
unhide (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
title Vista @ hdc1
root (hd1,0)
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,2)
unhide (hd1,0)
makeactive
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
title Win98 @ hdc2
root (hd1,1)
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,2)
hide (hd1,0)
unhide (hd1,1)
makeactive
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
chainloader +1
#title Vista @ hdc3 (Has a problem with hdd inserted)
# hdc3 currently not used
title XP Pro @ sda1
root (hd3,0)
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,2)
hide (hd1,0)
hide (hd1,1)
hide (hd1,2)
unhide (hd3,0)
makeactive
map (hd3) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd3)
chainloader +1
title Win 2k @ sdb1
root (hd4,0)
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,2)
hide (hd1,0)
hide (hd1,1)
hide (hd1,2)
hide (hd2,0)
hide (hd2,13) # need to hide data partition
unhide (hd4,0)
hide (hd4,1)
makeactive
map (hd4) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd4)
chainloader +1
title FreeDos @ sdb2
root (hd4,1)
hide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,2)
hide (hd1,0)
hide (hd1,1)
hide (hd1,2)
hide (hd2,0)
hide (hd3,0)
unhide (hd4,1)
makeactive
map (hd4) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd4)
chainloader +1
To be continued with the next post
Last edited by saikee; 09-21-2007 at 08:46 PM.
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Continue from previous post
(4) Linux only menulin.lst
Code:
color purple/black red/light-gray
title This is Linux only booting menu
boot
title Return to Master menu
root (hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst
#hda3 is the data-only partition hosting Grub to boot all other systems
#hda4 is the extended partition
#hda5 is the common swap partition for all Linux
title Puppy 1.0.6 @ hda6
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1
title Videolinux 2.0 @ hda7
root (hd0,6)
chainloader +1
title Mandrake 9.2 @ hda8
root (hd0,7)
chainloader +1
title Turbo Linux V7 @ 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 3.0 @ 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 Buffalo 1.5 @ hda18
root (hd0,17)
chainloader +1
title Kanotix 9.2004 @ hda19
root (hd0,18)
chainloader +1
title Kalango 3.2 @ hda20
root (hd0,19)
chainloader +1
title Blag 30001 @ hda21
root (hd0,20)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 4 @ hda22
root (hd0,21)
chainloader +1
title Debian Sarge @ hda23
root (hd0,22)
chainloader +1
title Red Flag 4.1 @ hda24
root (hd0,23)
chainloader +1
title Linare Ed 2 @ hda25
root (hd0,24)
chainloader +1
title Tiny Sofa 2.0 @ hda26
root (hd0,25)
chainloader +1
title Slackware 10 @ 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 0.91 @ hda32
root (hd0,31)
chainloader +1
title Asian Linux 2.0 @ hda33
root (hd0,32)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 6.04 Dapper @ hda34
root (hd0,33)
chainloader +1
title Wolvix 1.0.4 @ hda35
root (hd0,34)
chainloader +1
title Mepis 3.4.2 RC2 @ hda36
root (hd0,35)
chainloader +1
title DreamLinux 1.0 @ hda37
root (hd0,36)
chainloader +1
title Slampp 1.1 @ hda38
root (hd0,37)
chainloader +1
title Slax 5.0.6 @ hda39
root (hd0,38)
chainloader +1
title PCLinuxos 0.92 @ hda40
root (hd0,39)
chainloader +1
title Netsecl 2.0 @ hda41
root (hd0,40)
chainloader +1
title Vector 5.1 @ hda42
root (hd0,41)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10 @ hda43
root (hd0,42)
chainloader +1
title Kororaa 2005 Beta 2 @ hda44
root (hd0,43)
chainloader +1
title smgl 0.95 @ hda45
root (hd0,44)
chainloader +1
title Lunar 1.6 rc3 @ hda46
root (hd0,45)
chainloader +1
title Foresight 0.93 @ hda47
root (hd0,46)
chainloader +1
title SkoleLinux Sarge @ hda48
root (hd0,47)
chainloader +1
title Nepalinux 1.0 @ hda49
root (hd0,48)
chainloader +1
title Klax 3.5 @ hda50
root (hd0,49)
chainloader +1
title SciLinux 2005 @ hda51
root (hd0,50)
chainloader +1
title Progeny 2.0 @ hda52
root (hd0,51)
chainloader +1
title grml 0.6 @ hda53
root (hd0,52)
chainloader +1
title Karamad 1.4.2 @ hda54
root (hd0,53)
chainloader +1
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 ScientificLinux 4.0 @ hda60
root (hd0,59)
chainloader +1
title Slynux 2.0 @ hda61
root (hd0,60)
chainloader +1
title Slax 5.1.8 @ hda62
root (hd0,61)
chainloader +1
title Elive 2 @ hda63
root (hd0,62)
chainloader +1
#Starting point of another hard disk----------------------------
#hdc4 is the extended partition
title B2D Pure KDE 2005 @ hdc5
root (hd1,4)
chainloader +1
title CollegeLInux @ hdc6
root (hd1,5)
chainloader +1
title Berry 0.76 @ hdc7
root (hd1,6)
chainloader +1
title Morphix 0.4 @ hdc8
root (hd1,7)
chainloader +1
title Feather 0.74 @ hdc9
root (hd1,8)
chainloader +1
title Buffalo 1.7.3.9 @ hdc10
root (hd1,9)
chainloader +1
title Cento 4.1 @ hdc11
root (hd1,10)
chainloader +1
title Vector 4.3 @ hdc12
root (hd1,11)
chainloader +1
title Tao Linux 4 @ hdc13
root (hd1,12)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 2 @ hdc14
root (hd1,13)
chainloader +1
title Agnula Demudi 1.2 @ hdc15
root (hd1,14)
chainloader +1
title Damn Small Linux 2.1 @ hdc16
root (hd1,15)
chainloader +1
title Monoppix 1.1.8 @ hdc17
root (hd1,16)
chainloader +1
title Sympony A4 beta @ 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)
chainloader +1
title Tinny Sofa Ceara @ hdc22
root (hd1,21)
chainloader +1
title 64 Studio 0.6 @ hdc23
root (hd1,22)
chainloader +1
title KateOS 2.2 @ hdc24
root (hd1,23)
chainloader +1
title Rubix 1.0 @ hdc25
root (hd1,24)
chainloader +1
title Sam 2006-1 @ hdc26
root (hd1,25)
chainloader +1
title Parsix 0.85 @ hdc27
root (hd1,26)
chainloader +1
title Foxdesktop 1.0 @ hdc28
root (hd1,27)
chainloader +1
title Kanotix 64 2005-4 @ hdc29
root (hd1,28)
chainloader +1
title Pardus 1.0 @ 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 Stux 0.9.2 @ 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 0.9 @ hdc36
root (hd1,35)
chainloader +1
title Xandros 3.0 @ hdc37
root (hd1,36)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 5.10 @ hdc38
root (hd1,37)
chainloader +1
title Kubuntu Dapper @ hdc39
root (hd1,38)
chainloader +1
title Gentoo 2006.1 @ hdc40
root (hd1,39)
chainloader +1
title LinuxTLE 8.0 @ hdc41
root (hd1,40)
chainloader +1
title Underground 2.2 @ hdc42
root (hd1,41)
chainloader +1
title DreamLinux 2.1 @ hdc43
root (hd1,42)
chainloader +1
title Linux Mint 2.1 @ hdc44
root (hd1,43)
chainloader +1
title Pioneer 1125 @ hdc45
root (hd1,44)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 7.04 @ hdc46
root (hd1,45)
chainloader +1
title Bayanihan 4 @ hdc47
root (hd1,46)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva 2007 @ hdc48
root (hd1,47)
chainloader +1
title Freespire 1.1.73 @ hdc49
root (hd1,48)
chainloader +1
title Caixa Majica 11 @ hdc50
root (hd1,49)
chainloader +1
title Ehad 2006 classic @ hdc51
root (hd1,50)
chainloader +1
title Vlos 1.3 @ hdc52
root (hd1,51)
chainloader +1
title Backtrack 2006-2 @ hdc53
root (hd1,52)
chainloader +1
title Ubuntu 6.06 @ hdc54
root (hd1,53)
chainloader +1
title Blag 30002 @ hdc55
root (hd1,54)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 5 @ hdc56
root (hd1,55)
chainloader +1
title Suse 9.1 Professional @ hdc57
root (hd1,56)
chainloader +1
title Vine 4.0 @ hdc58
root (hd1,57)
chainloader +1
title Wolvix 1.0.5 @ hdc59
root (hd1,58)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc60
root (hd1,59)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc61
root (hd1,60)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdc62
root (hd1,61)
chainloader +1
title Mepis 6.0.4 @ hdc63
root (hd1,62)
chainloader +1
#Starting point of another hard disk----------------------------
title Wolvix 1.0.5 @ hdd5
root (hd2,4)
chainloader +1
title System Rescue CD 2.1.6 @ hdd6
root (hd2,5)
chainloader +1
title Knoppix 5.1.1.1 @ hdd7
root (hd2,6)
chainloader +1
title DSL 3.2 RC3 @ hdd8
root (hd2,7)
chainloader +1
title Grafpup 2000 @ hdd9
root (hd2,8)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd10
root (hd2,9)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd11
root (hd2,10)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd12
root (hd2,11)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd13
root (hd2,12)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd14
root (hd2,13)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd15
root (hd2,14)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd16
root (hd2,15)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd17
root (hd2,16)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd18
root (hd2,17)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd19
root (hd2,18)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd20
root (hd2,19)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd21
root (hd2,20)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd22
root (hd2,21)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd23
root (hd2,22)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd24
root (hd2,23)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd25
root (hd2,24)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd26
root (hd2,25)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd27
root (hd2,26)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd28
root (hd2,27)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd29
root (hd2,28)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd30
root (hd2,29)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd31
root (hd2,30)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd32
root (hd2,31)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd33
root (hd2,32)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd34
root (hd2,33)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd35
root (hd2,34)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd36
root (hd2,35)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd37
root (hd2,36)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd38
root (hd2,37)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd39
root (hd2,38)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd40
root (hd2,39)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd41
root (hd2,40)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd42
root (hd2,41)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd43
root (hd2,42)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd44
root (hd2,43)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd45
root (hd2,44)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd46
root (hd2,45)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd47
root (hd2,46)
chainloader +1
title Empty @ hdd48
root (hd2,47)
chainloader +1
title Mutagenix 2.6.18.6.2 @ hdd49
root (hd2,48)
chainloader +1
title Sidux 6.0 Live CD @ hdd50
root (hd2,49)
chainloader +1
title PCLinuxOS 2007 Test 2 @ hdd51
root (hd2,50)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10.3 Alpha 1 @ hdd52
root (hd2,51)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva 2007 @ hdd53
root (hd2,52)
chainloader +1
title Symphony 2006-12 @ hdd54
root (hd2,53)
chainloader +1
title SLax 6.0.0 @ hdd55 (as a Live CD)
root (hd2,54)
chainloader +1
title Parted Magic 1.3 @ hdd56 (Live CD need choose hdd to boot)
root (hd2,55)
chainloader +1
title lg3d 3.0 @ hdd57
root (hd2,56)
chainloader +1
title SaxenOS 1.1 @ hdd58
root (hd2,57)
chainloader +1
title Sidux 2007-01 @ hdd59
root (hd2,58)
chainloader +1
title Mepies 6.0.4 @ hdd60
root (hd2,59)
chainloader +1
title Backtrack 2.0 @ hdd61
root (hd2,60)
chainloader +1
title Sam 2007 -T1 @ hdd62
root (hd2,61)
chainloader +1
# hdd63 is a data only partition
# Start of 4th disk (hd3)
title Xenoppix 3.0.3 @ sda2
root (hd3,1)
chainloader +1
title Musix 0.39 @ sda3
root (hd3,2)
chainloader +1
#sda4 is the extended partition
title GeoLivre 5 @ sda5
root (hd3,4)
chainloader +1
title Ututu x2 2005.1 @ sda6
root (hd3,5)
chainloader +1
title Helix 1.7 @ sda7
root (hd3,6)
chainloader +1
title MagicLinux 2 rc2 @ sda8
root (hd3,7)
chainloader +1
title Zenwalk 1.2 @ sda9
root (hd3,8)
chainloader +1
title MedianLinux 4.0 @ sda10
root (hd3,9)
chainloader +1
title NetBSD i386 3.0 @ sda11
root (hd3,10)
chainloader +1
title Arabian 0.6 rc1 @ sda12
root (hd3,11)
chainloader +1
title Mepis 3.3.2 @ sda13
root (hd3,12)
chainloader +1
#sda14 is Fat32 partition holding personal data
title Slamd64 11 @ sda15
root (hd3,14)
chainloader +1
title System Rescue CD 2.1.6 @ sdb3
root (hd4,2)
chainloader +1
#sdb4 is the extended partition
title Xfld 2.0 @ sdb5
root (hd4,4)
chainloader +1
title Kanotix 2006-1 @ sdb6
root (hd4,5)
chainloader +1
title Paipix 5.00 2006-3 @ sdb7
root (hd4,6)
chainloader +1
title Frugalware 0.4 @ sdb8
root (hd4,7)
chainloader +1
title Sabayon x86_64 3.0 @ sdb9
root (hd4,8)
chainloader +1
title Quantian 0.7.9.1 @ sdb10
root (hd4,9)
chainloader +1
title Suse 10.1 x86 64 @ sdb11
root (hd4,10)
chainloader +1
title Slackware 11 @ sdb12
root (hd4,11)
chainloader +1
title Knoppix 4.0.2 @ sdb13
root (hd4,12)
chainloader +1
title Mandriva 2006 0.4 @ sdb14
root (hd4,13)
chainloader +1
title Fedora Core 6 @ sdb15
root (hd4,14)
chainloader +1
The above menus show that partitions hdd10 to hdd48 have been arranged to be booted even though they are currently empty. As soon an operating system is installed in any one of them and has a boot loader installed in the root partition then the occupied partition will be bootable immediately.
(4) Solaris/BSD only menuBSD.lst
Code:
color purple/green purpose/light-gray
title This is the menu controlling 1 Solaris and 2 BSD systems
boot
title Return to Master menu
root (hd0,2) #(hd0,2)
configfile /boot/grub/menu.lst
title Solaris 10 @ hdd1
hide (hd2,0) # unhide Solaris = hiding it
hide (hd2,1)
hide (hd2,2)
hide (hd2,3)
root (hd2,0)
chainloader +1
title PCBSD 1.3 @ hdd2 (Need sdb disk removed to work)
unhide (hd2,0) # unhide Solaris = hiding it
unhide (hd2,1)
hide (hd2,2)
hide (hd2,3)
root (hd2,1)
chainloader +1
title FreeBSD 6.2 @ hdd3
unhide (hd2,0) # unhide Solaris = hiding it
hide (hd2,1)
unhide (hd2,2)
hide (hd2,3)
root (hd2,2)
chainloader +1
There are only 10 different Grub commands, listed below, in the above 5-menu system.
color - for altering the color of screen and text
title - to display a line describe the system
hide - to hide a partition
unhide - to unhide a partition
root - to tell the root partition of the system to be booted
configfile - tell tell Grub which menu to be loaded
chainloader - to ask Grub to boot the system "indirectly"
halt - to switch off the PC
map - To change the boot disk order on-the-fly
makeactive - to switch on the bootable flag (needed by MS systems)
Every PC user learns these 10 commands can boot the above 145 systems. That is why I call it a simple scheme.
To be continued with the next post
Last edited by saikee; 09-20-2007 at 01:49 PM.
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Continue from the previous post
The partition scheme of the 3 Pata and 2 Sata disks are as follow
Code:
linux:/home/saikee # /sbin/fdisk -l
Warning: omitting partitions after #60.
They will be deleted if you save this partition table.
Disk /dev/hda: 300.0 GB, 300090728448 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36483 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 122 979933+ 6 FAT16
/dev/hda2 123 244 979965 6 FAT16
/dev/hda3 245 366 979965 6 FAT16
/dev/hda4 367 36483 290109802+ 5 Extended
/dev/hda5 367 609 1951866 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda6 610 1217 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda7 1218 1825 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda8 1826 2433 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda9 2434 3041 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda10 3042 3649 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda11 3650 4257 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda12 4258 4865 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda13 4866 5473 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda14 5474 6081 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda15 6082 6689 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda16 6690 7297 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda17 7298 7905 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda18 7906 8513 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda19 8514 9121 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda20 9122 9729 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda21 9730 10337 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda22 10338 10945 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda23 10946 11553 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda24 11554 12161 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda25 12162 12769 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda26 12770 13377 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda27 13378 13985 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda28 13986 14593 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda29 14594 15201 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda30 15202 15809 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda31 15810 16417 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda32 16418 17025 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda33 17026 17633 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda34 17634 18241 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda35 18242 18849 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda36 18850 19457 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda37 19458 20065 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda38 20066 20673 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda39 20674 21281 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda40 21282 21889 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda41 21890 22497 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda42 22498 23105 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda43 23106 23713 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda44 23714 24321 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda45 24322 24929 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda46 24930 25537 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda47 25538 26145 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda48 26146 26753 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda49 26754 27361 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda50 27362 27969 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda51 27970 28577 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda52 28578 29185 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda53 29186 29793 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda54 29794 30401 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda55 30402 31009 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda56 31010 31617 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda57 31618 32833 9767488+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda58 32834 34049 9767488+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda59 34050 34657 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda60 34658 35265 4883728+ 83 Linux
Warning: omitting partitions after #60.
They will be deleted if you save this partition table.
Disk /dev/hdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdc1 * 1 3315 26623123+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdc2 3315 6354 24410767+ 93 Amoeba
/dev/hdc3 6354 9393 24410767+ 93 Amoeba
/dev/hdc4 9393 60801 412939342+ 5 Extended
/dev/hdc5 9393 10001 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc6 10001 10609 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc7 10609 11217 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc8 11217 11825 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc9 11825 12433 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc10 12433 13041 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc11 13041 13649 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc12 13649 14257 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc13 14257 14865 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc14 14865 15473 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc15 15473 16081 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc16 16081 16689 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc17 16689 17297 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc18 17297 17905 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc19 17905 18513 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc20 18513 19121 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc21 19121 19729 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc22 19729 20337 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc23 20337 20945 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc24 20945 21553 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc25 21553 22161 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc26 22161 22769 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc27 22769 23377 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc28 23377 23985 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc29 23985 24593 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc30 24593 25201 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc31 25201 25809 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc32 25809 26417 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc33 26417 27025 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc34 27025 27633 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc35 27633 28241 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc36 28241 28849 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc37 28849 29457 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc38 29457 30065 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc39 30065 30673 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc40 30673 31281 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc41 31281 31889 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc42 31889 32497 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc43 32497 33105 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc44 33105 33713 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc45 33713 34321 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc46 34321 34929 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc47 34929 35537 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc48 35537 36145 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc49 36145 36753 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc50 36753 37361 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc51 37361 37969 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc52 37969 38577 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc53 38577 39185 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc54 39185 39793 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc55 39793 40401 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc56 40401 41009 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc57 41009 41617 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc58 41617 42225 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc59 42225 42833 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc60 42833 43441 4883728+ 83 Linux
Warning: omitting partitions after #60.
They will be deleted if you save this partition table.
Disk /dev/hdd: 400.0 GB, 400088457216 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 48641 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdd1 1 3039 24410736 af Unknown
/dev/hdd2 3040 6078 24410704+ b5 Unknown
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hdd3 6078 9117 24410830+ b5 Unknown
/dev/hdd4 * 9118 48641 317476530 5 Extended
/dev/hdd5 9118 9725 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd6 9726 10333 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd7 10334 10941 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd8 10942 11549 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd9 11550 12157 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd10 12158 12765 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd11 12766 13373 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd12 13374 13981 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd13 13982 14589 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd14 14590 15197 4883728+ 93 Amoeba
/dev/hdd15 15198 15805 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd16 15806 16413 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd17 16414 17021 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd18 17022 17629 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd19 17630 18237 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd20 18238 18845 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd21 18846 19453 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd22 19454 20061 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd23 20062 20669 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd24 20670 21277 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd25 21278 21885 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd26 21886 22493 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd27 22494 23101 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd28 23102 23709 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd29 23710 24317 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd30 24318 24925 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd31 24926 25533 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd32 25534 26141 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd33 26142 26749 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd34 26750 27357 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd35 27358 27965 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd36 27966 28573 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd37 28574 29181 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd38 29182 29789 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd39 29790 30397 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd40 30398 31005 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd41 31006 31613 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd42 31614 32221 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd43 32222 32829 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd44 32830 33437 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd45 33438 34045 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd46 34046 34653 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd47 34654 35261 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd48 35262 35869 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd49 35870 36477 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd50 36478 37085 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd51 37086 37693 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd52 37694 38301 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd53 38302 38909 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd54 38910 39517 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd55 39518 40125 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd56 40126 40733 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd57 40734 41341 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd58 41342 41949 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd59 41950 42557 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdd60 42558 43165 4883728+ 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sda: 203.9 GB, 203928109056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24792 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 5099 40957686 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 5100 6315 9767520 93 Amoeba
/dev/sda3 6316 6923 4883760 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 6924 24792 143532742+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 6924 7531 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 7532 8139 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 8140 8747 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 8748 9355 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 9356 9963 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 9964 10571 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda11 10572 11179 4883728+ a9 NetBSD
/dev/sda12 11180 11787 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda13 * 11788 12395 4883728+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda14 12396 23916 92542401 1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda15 23917 24792 7036438+ 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 1216 9767488+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 1217 1338 979965 1b Hidden W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb3 1339 1460 979965 83 Linux
/dev/sdb4 1461 24792 187414290 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb5 1461 2676 9767488+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 2677 3892 9767488+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb7 3893 6324 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb8 6325 8756 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb9 8757 11188 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb10 11189 13620 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb11 13621 16052 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb12 16053 18484 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb13 18485 20916 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb14 20917 23348 19535008+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb15 23349 24792 11598898+ 83 Linux
For those who are new to the "unknown" partition ID or hiden partitions in the above partition table this thread. has some explanation.
Due to the new Linux cannot be installed into an environment where a hard disk has 63 partitions the work on this thread has come to a halt. I post the menu system showing it can be a viable method to control the booting process.
In actual booting I have a spreadsheet of the operating systems stored in each hard disk and also an overall index system in alphabetic order. Thus to select a system doesn't take much time at all.
Last edited by saikee; 09-20-2007 at 05:22 AM.
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I saw you on Digg a while back. Some smart-aleck asked why on earth anyone would want to put that many OS on one machine. In a world where people see how many pies or wieners they can eat in an hour, or how fast a $100,000 car can go a quarter-mile, or climb to the top of Mt. Everest, I really think no one need apologize for something relatively logical like a zillion distros on one machine.
Good job!
-
Installing operating systems is a hobby. Kinda cool, I think. ![Smilie](images/smilies/smile.gif)
I am surprised that newer disks hold fewer partitions, especially since they have so much more capacity. That seems like a step backwards.
Slackware ![Smilie](images/smilies/smile.gif)
-
Is this possible to do with lilo.
I just thought i would ask since I have a lot of older distros and lilo was more common during their time and I would like to have classic system
-
lostinbravenet,
Welcome to Justlinux!
Lilo uses a static boot screen so the label length is restricted and the maximum number of entries on can fill up one screen is 27 imgaes. Lilo actually warns you if you submit more than that.
The killer in Lilo is that it checks every system validity before accepting a change in the lilo.conf, otherwise it just uses the old copy. Thus if you alter any other system's boot loader Lilo may object to it because its complied lilo.conf differs slightly. Therefore the maintenance work using lilo to boot a large number of systems can become burdensome.
As we can do relays in booting so potentially one can pick 12 distros loaded with Lilo for booting the above 145 systems. I estimate using Lilo requires 3 to 5 times more work.
As an example to show the advantage of Grub over Lilo, in Post #33 I list out menulin.lst showing all the Linux being booted but the choices for partitions hdd10 to hdd48 are currently empty. However the booting instructions are already there.
As soon as I install an OS in say hdd10 by instructing the installer to place its boot loader in the root partition, which is in the boot sector of hhd10, then the booting choice for partition hdd10 will fire up the Linux, without amendment needed.
Every Linux that is booted by Lilo can also be booted by Grub and vice versa.
Another very important feature of Grub is it can boot any system "manually". This implies a user can test every Grub command individually before putting it into the script file menu.lst.
For Linux Grub can boot any distro even without a boot loader installed!
I use both boot loaders but I have to say Lilo needs a lot more work to do the same thing.
Last edited by saikee; 10-03-2007 at 06:10 PM.
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Thanks!
I just joined to say thanks for your excellent and detailed description of how to install multiple OS's on a single drive.
Been on Ubuntu about 6 months (first Linux distro) and I agree completely with your observation of how Linux seems to logically and transparently reveal its inner workings rather than obscure them (as the proprietary OS's do) and I am completely in awe of the many programmers from around the world who have made this project work.
I needed to be able to install a few other distro's just to use their special features and options (like UbuntuStudio with it's low latency kernel, PCLinuxOS, Fedora, etc...Virtual Box has it's limits, hence my research on installing GRUB independently which brought me to this thread.
Thank you.
Dell
-
Dell Anderson,
Welcome to Justlinux !
I am glad you you find the thread useful.
Linux amazes me because many things I tried were achieved just by "reasoning" them out if I think they are technically feasible.
This thread is one of the those examples. It would be impossible to convince me before I entered Linux that three lines of Grub commands can boot up any PC system.
If you need advice, opinion, suggestion, solution etc just make use of the forum. I learn my Linux here. This thread is the one of the many tips passed on by members and super mods..
-
problem with this method
Hi Saikee!
Great reading!!! But there is something that is driving me crazy!
Here is my situation. I installed Ubuntu and installed its GRUB in the MBR, and it auto detected my windows XP loader, and from there i can load my multiple XP installations. So everything works so far.
But i want to move GRUB to a data only partition like you suggest. So i created a new partition (FAT) (primary) , installed GRUB in /boot/grub and then to the MBR. That works, i get a grub prompt only. But this is where i have a problem, i cant get it to work to load my old linux installs, i have 2. Basically i took the config file from my original install and copied it over to my new GRUB menu.lst file. I dont understand why it wont work, should be exactly the same no???
What happens when i select windows, i get an error unrecognised file system!
And when i select linux, i get a similar error i believe.
I must be missing something........... Any ideas?
Thanx,
-
thesnork ,
Welcome to JustLinux !
It should work just fine if you copy the /boot/grub/menu.lst off the Ubuntu partition and put it in the data-only partition.
The instructions in the menu.lst are the same one if you boot up each system manually, except in the manual booting you omit the "title" statement and finish everything with a "boot" statement.
Lets us know if you have further problem and post the Ubuntu's menu.lst plus the terminal output of "sudo fdisk -l".
-
also.... When installing Linux Mint 3.1, to put the boot loader in the root partition, what is the syntax?
if i put / it doesnt work
if i put /boot it changes it to /dev//boot which doesnt work
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
-
OK... si i did some more reading... WOW booting LINUX is FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P
Ok....need explanation.... and then an install question...
i installed mint again, boot loader in MBR. I created a GRUB boot CD. Then i used the commands root (hd0,5)...... setup (hd0,5) to install the boot loader in the root partition. Now i can boot it easily...
Question - i thought that the boot loader was ALREADY in the root partition. I know that the folder /boot/grub already existed and has a menu.lst. Is that not the ROOT partition????????????????
2nd question. When i make a new linux install, how do i tell it to set up the boot loader in the root partition? The default is the MBR (hd0,0), how do i tell it to "PUT IT IN THE ROOT PARTITION" ?????? just use "/" or "root" ?????
Thanx..... SOOOO CONFUSED..... but enjoying it!!!!!!!!! Once i get booting down cold i can try and learn more about LINUX!!
-
thesnork,
If you want to enjoy Linux and its boot loaders there is few places better than Justlinux.
To answer your question you have to think like a Linux. Somebody installs you may want you to boot from the MBR. However if the MBR has already another boot loader then you must be able to reside inside the root partition. Afterall each Ext2/3 or Reiserfs partition reserves the first track as the "boot sector" just for the boot loader to use. So as a Linux you give the user at least two choices; (1) in the MBR or (2) in the root partition of the Linux.
There is nothing to stop a user after installation to make a bomb-proof scheme
(1) Has the boot loader in the MBR
(2) Duplicate the boot loader in the root partition (inside the boot sector)
(3) Duplicate the boot loader on a floppy.
May be the installer is lazy it always just allows only one choice from the above three.
The method to tell the installer to put the boot loader into the root partition and not in the MBR varies between distros. Red Hat family use Anaconda installer and it has a box for "Advance boot loader option" or something similar to click. If the box isn't check you get the default destination or MBR. Ubuntu family is similar and you need to look out for it but Mandrica, OpenSuse, Knoppix and most other Linux show you the choices in advance. Lilo-based distros like Slackware and Slax families have changed and seem to go directly into the MBR.
Since you have made a Grub CD you can always re-arrange the boot loader any way you want, without even waking up the Linux. For example if you want a Linux (with Grub) in the 7th partition of the 3rd disk to take over the MBR, just boot up the Grub CD and type
Code:
root (hd2,6)
setup (hd0)
If you have Grub in the Linux from 5th to 10th partitions you can put their Grub in to their root partitions in one single shot
Code:
root (hd0,4)
setup (hd0,4)
root (hd0,5)
setup (hd0,5)
root (hd0,6)
setup (hd0,6)
root (hd0,7)
setup (hd0,7)
root (hd0,8)
setup (hd0,8)
root (hd0,9)
setup (hd0,9)
To do it by Linux you have to boot one Linux up, chroot to the one you want to put boot loader into the root partition and issue "lilo -b /dev/sda?" for Lilo and "grub-install /dev/sda?" for Grub. Check out Section B of Just booting tips for details.
Open s deposit box in a bank and lock up the Grub bootable CD. It can boot any operating system that has ever been invented on a PC and possibly some new operating systems that have not yet been invented. Guard it with a shot gun if you have to but don't lose it.
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