Problem with bootloader

[xion803]

Hi,
I installed winxp->freebsd->opensuse. During my freebsd installation, I installed freebsd's bootloader, and then when I installed opensuse, I installed its grub. After I installed all of them, I configured my opensuse's grub to have the boot menu showing all 3 OS. The problem is that after I choose freebsd to boot, when I restart my computer, my freebsd's bootloader covers my opensuse's grub. I tried to remove the freebsd's bootloader, it didn't work. Can somebody give me some guideline to solve the problem? Thanks!

[saikee]

Don't understand your problem here.

Have you got FreeBSB working with Xp to start with?

All three OSes must have their boot loaders installed before each can be booted. If you know how to remove FreeBSD boot loader then you must have the skill to put it bcak.

In any case if your FreeBSD can boot OpenSuse even the Linux was installed later why not use the FreeBSD to boot all the 3 systems?

[JohnT]

I concurr with Saikee....try to us BSD's bootloader.

[xion803]

Sorry I didn't make my question clear enough...

I installed winxp->freebsd->opensuse. During my freebsd installation, I installed freebsd's bootloader, and then when I installed opensuse, I installed its grub. After I installed all of them, I configured my opensuse's grub to have the boot menu showing all 3 OS. The problem is that after I choose freebsd to boot, then shut down, then restart my computer, Only freebsd is booted, the boot menu doesn't shows me options to boot winxp and opensuse. So I want to keep the opensuse or freebsd's boot menu shows up everytime I boot. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Thanks for both Saikee and JohnT's replied.

[gamblor01]

The problem is that after I choose freebsd to boot, then shut down, then restart my computer, Only freebsd is booted, the boot menu doesn't shows me options to boot winxp and opensuse. So I want to keep the opensuse or freebsd's boot menu shows up everytime I boot.

Wow...this is bizarre. If I understand correctly, freebsd is overwriting the bootloader every time it loads up. So no matter how many times he configures the menu.lst on his opensuse partition, it will never stay intact -- actually it will work fine using either XP or opensuse, but as soon as he chooses to boot into freebsd, it overwrites the MBR/(hd0) and puts its own bootloader there.

I don't have any experience with freebsd but if that's the case I would google around for an option to prevent it from overwriting the bootloader, or just use freebsd to boot the three operating systems. Unfortunately, as I have no experience with freebsd I am unable to offer any suggestions on how to accomplish that.

[xion803]

Gamblor01, that's exactly what happened to my triple-boot laptop now. I googled online, but didn't find any useful info. I will try to google more. But if there is any suggestions anyone can offer, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[saikee]

I don't think so.

It may be the case of either

(1) Failing to put Grub in the MBR

(2) Having put Grub correctly in the MBR but configured it with a very short "timeout" so that the default system is booted before one can see the menu, say timeout is zero.

Just boot up the OpenSuse disc which can be run as a Live CD and amend its Grub. Post /boot/grub/menu.lst here if you are not sure what to do.

[xion803]

Hi, saikee: I check my boot time, 15sec, which should be long enough. I don't know much about MBR, is there any useful sources you can recommand so I can learn for my Linux/BSD configuration. Also, the following is my menu.lst from opensuse. Thanks in advance for your generous help.

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Mon May 25 00:47:10 UTC 2009
default 0
timeout 30
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200BEVT-60ZCT1_WD-WXEY08PT2700-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200BEVT-60ZCT1_WD-WXEY08PT2700-part5 splash=silent showopts vga=0x314
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.1 - 2.6.27.7-9
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.27.7-9-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200BEVT-60ZCT1_WD-WXEY08PT2700-part6 showopts ide=nodma apm=off noresume edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x314
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.27.7-9-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
rootnoverify (fd0)
chainloader +1

## FreeBSD 7.2
title FreeBSD 7.2-RELEASE
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

[saikee]

Your menu.lst tells us that you have Xp in 1st partition known to Grub as (hd0,0).

Freebsd is in the 2nd partition or (Hd0,1)

It appears you have used up sda5 as a swap and your OpenSuse is in the 6th partition or (hd0,5).

As you could not see a list of the above choices and the timeout is 30 seconds (not 15 sec as asserted by you) that would support the scenario of Grub not being placed in the MBR. Since you boot FreeBSD then the FreeBSD's boot loader is now occupying the MBR.

To get Grub controlling the MBR you boot up OpenSuse CD (or any Live CD that has Grub), click terminal, obstain root privilege by "Sudo su", invoke a Grub shell and ask Grub to setup itself in the MBR. The commands in the OpenSuse terminal should be

sudo su
grub
root (hd0,6)
setup (hd0)
quit
reboot

If Grub reports no error then you should see Grub after a reboot.

Both FReeBSD and Xp have to be booted by "chainloader +1" and its partition must be active so you make need to add "makeactive" (marked red below) in the Xp choice as follow in your menu.lst

title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

[xion803]

Saikee, I edited the menu.lst file, and then I did the steps to install my grub in MBR. However, then I did the step, "setup (hd0)," I got an error msg saying:

Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists...no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists...no

Error 15: File not found

[saikee]

This could be due to the version of Grub you have is different to the Live CD. It should be alright if you use the same CD that installed the OpenSuse.

You can try the Bash shell as follow, after booting up any Live CD and in a root console

mkdir /mnt/sda6
mount /dev/sda6 /mnt/sda6
chroot /mnt/sda6
grub-install /dev/sda
exit
reboot

In a Bash shell you will be using the kernel of the boot up Linux to work "inside" OpenSuse. The Grub-install is to put Grub in device sda which is equivalent to the MBR. You need to "exit" from the OpenSuse and return to the booted up Linux before you can reboot.