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Linux and Multi-Boot


fevoldj2

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Is there a possibility of using cd shell to pass on a command to GRUB that would boot, for example, Kubuntu? I don't want a separate GRUB menu popping up, but I just want the command to be passed through GRUB so it will boot Kubuntu from my main menu. I don't know how to go about 1) booting the live CD from GRUB, and 2) passing a command through GRUB. I'm going to try a few things. A few people would like this, so let's use this thread to come up with all ideas of booting Linux from a multi-boot disk. Thanks :)

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I think I figured it out. I'll post my findings on this soon. Sorry for the double post. I should have posted it in the first one.

I tried using isolinux for this, but I cannot load into Linux. I am using the following:

LABEL live

menu label ^Start or install Kubuntu

kernel /kubuntu/casper/vmlinuz

append file=/cdrom/kubuntu/preseed/kubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/kubuntu/casper/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram rw quiet splash --

This is in isolinux.cfg in the boot/isolinux/ folder. I got this information from isolinux in the kubuntu isolinux folder, and modified it to reflect the new file locations. Is there something wrong with this approach?

Edited by fevoldj2
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Well, i understood what u have in mind..

First : For Adding a menu in boot.ini to boot ubuntu/kubuntu linux, here is the steps

1) Here is the contents of boot.ini

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

C:\GRLDR="Ubuntu Linux 6.06"

2) Put the GRLDR from the GRUB in the root

3) Create a file with the name : menu.lst and fill it with the following contents

color black/cyan yellow/cyan

timeout 0

default 0

title Ubuntu 6.06

kernel (hd0,10)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-23-386 root=/dev/sda11 -ro quiet splash

initrd (hd0,10)/boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-23-386

Here make the necessary changes for kernel (hd0,10) for the correct partition number and also root=/dev/sda11

4) Reboot, u will get a menu "Ubuntu Linux 6.06" anext to Windows XP Professional, choose it, then see it

will boot into linux

5) Finished!!

will be posting how to add Norton Ghost, BartPE Live CD RAM Version...

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No, this is for a multiboot installation DVD, so that I can have windows and linux on one installation disk, choosing which I want installed through a menu.

It seems like diskemu Kubuntu.iso could also do the trick here. I'm going to test another version of Kubuntu, though, just to be sure this isn't a problem with this version. I get the same problem.

Edited by fevoldj2
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I understand what you are saying. I'm not trying to be rude, because I do appreciate your help. What you described is not what I am trying to accomplish.

ya i got it, u wanna have a single boot menu, so that u can choose either to install windows xp or kubuntu linux, ok will be posting a easy method for it... soon

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Well, the only solution I could find was to put everything from the CD into the root directory of my AIO DVD. Then I had to use bcdw boot /isolinux/isolinux.bin in order to start Linux. The problem with this, though, is that I can only have one distro on the CD through this method.

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I'd be very interested in adding ubuntu to my disc if I could find a way to edit the setup to look in a folder instead of the root of the disc. Similar to editing txtsetup.sif for NT OS's.

I have a very modular disc and I hate having various folders for each component across the disc, one at the root is enough.

Knoppix was easy enough because of this reason and I managed to get that working using BCDW on the boot sector (I use CDShell by-the-way).

If you find an answer please post it here as I know there are people in this forum (besides me) that would be interested as well.

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It's already in it's own folder, KNOPPIX!

Just add the contents of the "boot" folder to your own and add a line in CDShell to BCDW your boot sector.

if $lastKey == key[f2]; then bcdw boot /KNOPPIX/KNPXBOOT.DAT

as you can see my boot sector is KNPXBOOT.DAT in the KNOPPIX folder.

I know this doesn't help much though if you end up with two isolinux folders in that location.

I'm presently looking into how isolinux actually works, something I've taken for granted up until now.

Apparently one way to have more than one Linux distro on one disc is to rewrite the isolinux.cfg file and have one isolinux folder on your disc to boot all of them.

I'm looking for a tutorial at the mo.

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Apparently one way to have more than one Linux distro on one disc is to rewrite the isolinux.cfg file and have one isolinux folder on your disc to boot all of them.

I'm looking for a tutorial at the mo.

More than one Linux distro using ISOLINUX is cake.

#

LABEL bartpe

KERNEL /BOOTSECT.BIN

APPEND -

#

LABEL chntpw

KERNEL memdisk

APPEND initrd=/FLPYS/chntpw.bin

LABEL slax

KERNEL /boot/slax/vmlinuz

APPEND vga=769 max_loop=255 initrd=/boot/slax/initrd.gz from=/slax init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=4444 root=/dev/ram0 rw nopcmcia

#

LABEL slaxltop

KERNEL /boot/slax/vmlinuz

APPEND vga=769 max_loop=255 initrd=/boot/slax/initrd.gz from=/slax init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=4444 root=/dev/ram0 rw

#

LABEL server

KERNEL /boot/server/vmlinuz

APPEND vga=769 max_loop=255 initrd=/boot/server/initrd.gz from=/server init=linuxrc load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_size=4444 root=/dev/ram0 rw nopcmcia

#

LABEL mepis

KERNEL /boot/mepis/vmlinuz init=/etc/init apm=power-off vga=791 quiet

APPEND initrd=/boot/mepis/initrd.gz

Typically, ISOLINUX is found in /boot/isolinux. Put the kernel+ramdisk files for each distro in a sub-dir

under /boot, as in /boot/mepis for SimplyMEPIS, /boot/slax for Slax KillBill Ed, and /boot/server for

Slax Server Ed. The statements shown above work that way.

The files in the root of each distro go into the root of the ISO, exc for Slax Server+KillBill Eds, bec each of those distros have a cmd-line param (from=/) which permit their support files to be placed in their own sub-dirs. Distros based on Knoppix (Knoppix, DSL, et al) are problematic bec they each rely on a /KNOPPIX sub-dir which can't be relocated, otherwise ISOLINUX makes a multi-distro CD/DVD easy. BTW, I would point out that I also integrated BartPE and the CHNTPW P/2K password cracker gizmo into the same ISOLINUX menu with a nice splash screen.

HTH....

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Thanks for your reply.

Do you have any ideas of how to get all the source files from ubuntu in one folder (instead of disc root) and successfully boot it (for live and install)?

Edited by kof94
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