linux poison RSS
linux poison Email

/etc/grub.conf explained

The following example shows the structure of a GRUB menu file. The example installation has a Linux boot partition under /dev/sda5, a root partition under /dev/sda7, and a Windows installation under /dev/sda1.

    gfxmenu (hd0,4)/boot/message
    color white/blue black/light-gray
    default 0
    timeout 8

    title linux
    root (hd0,4)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda7 vga=791 resume=/dev/sda9
    initrd /boot/initrd

    title windows
    rootnoverify (hd0,4)
    chainloader(hd0,0)+1

The first block defines the configuration of the splash screen:

gfxmenu (hd0,4)/boot/message
The background image message is located in the top directory of the /dev/sda5 partition.

color white/blue black/light-gray

Color scheme: white (foreground), blue (background), black (selection), and light gray (background of the selection). The color scheme has no effect on the splash screen, only on the customizable GRUB menu that you can access by exiting the splash screen with Esc.

default 0
The first menu entry title linux is the one to boot by default.

timeout 8
After eight seconds without any user input, GRUB automatically boots the default entry. To deactivate automatic boot, delete the timeout line. If you set timeout 0, GRUB boots the default entry immediately.

The second and last block lists the various bootable operating systems. The sections for the individual operating systems are introduced by title.

The first entry (title linux) is responsible for booting Linux. The kernel (vmlinuz) is located in the first logical partition (the boot partition) of the first hard disk. Kernel parameters, such as the root partition and VGA mode, are appended here. The root partition is specified according to the Linux naming convention (/dev/sda7/), because this information is read by the kernel and has nothing to do with GRUB. The initrd is also located in the first logical partition of the first hard disk.

The second entry is responsible for loading Windows. Windows is booted from the first partition of the first hard disk (hd0,0). The command chainloader +1 causes GRUB to read and execute the first sector of the specified partition.

The menu file can be changed whenever necessary. GRUB then uses the modified settings during the next boot.


2 comments:

Joshua Bianco said...

how would you make it so windows vista is the default operating system that it loads right now fedora 9 is and i would like to change that. thanks

Anonymous said...

@josh
you just have to change the "default" value in /etc/grub.conf

for example:

title xp
title linux
title vista

here "default 2" would load vista

just in case you didnt figure it out since 0ctober 2008. :D

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails