Grub 2 in Jaunty/Karmic can break double boot configuration

[NoOp]

On 10/04/2009 03:39 PM, Lucio M Nicolosi wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 4, 2009 at 2:09 AM, NoOp <glgxg at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>> So, I shall gladly attempt to perform a 'karmic destroy' update on my
>> jaunty test system tomorrow. That has to be easier than figuring out
>> "simple" samba problems :-)
> 
> It is not easy to perform a Karmic destroy...
> 
> I guess I partially found what happened.
> 
> Tried to install Karmic at sda1 (ext4-primary) but there was another
> Ubuntu instance at sda9 (ext3-secondary). Since ext4 and grub legacy
> don't get well together, in fact they hate each other, and install
> aborted before rebooting, leaving out grub2, Karmic ext4 became
> "invisible" to grub legacy till I managed to install grub2 on Jaunty,
> after what they all lived happily forever, etc.
> 
> So I guess the safest way to place Karmic together with a previous
> release is first, update to grub2 and them install Karmic. And of
> course, if you are not as dumb as me, read thoroughly
> http://grub.enbug.org/Manual *before*.
> 
> But still didn't figure how I managed to break two Karmic installs in a row.

I have the alternate karmic beta CD (I nearly always use the 'alternate'
rather than liveCD), but realized today that most will try to do the
upgrade with the liveCD instead. So I'm downloading the liveCD to test.

Also realize that most (all) won't bother to read the docs & upgrade
jaunty to grub2 first, so I'll go that route (w/o grub2) first & try to
document the process/issues from simply following the first option
listed on:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/karmic/beta
<quote>
Upgrading from Ubuntu 9.04

To upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 on a desktop system, press Alt+F2 and type
in "update-manager -d" (without the quotes) into the command box. Update
Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release '9.10' is
available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.
</quote>

The test system has 2 drives, one with jaunty on hd0,0 and the other
with hardy on hd1,0.

Then I'll try with: 1) liveCD, and 2) alternate cd. Note: I've another
set of dual drives prep'ed the same as the first - I just pull out the
drive cage on the test machine & hook up the others in their place.

That first test will probably take the rest of the day as I only have a
1.5Mb (download) dsl line & in the past using download upgrade methods
typically take several hours - more if the servers are loaded.

It will be interesting to see how:
<quote>
GRUB 2 by default

GRUB 2 is the default boot loader for new installations with Ubuntu 9.10
Beta, replacing the previous GRUB "Legacy" boot loader. Existing systems
will not be upgraded to GRUB 2 at this time, as automatically
reinstalling the boot loader is an inherently risky operation.

If you wish to upgrade your system to GRUB 2, then see the GRUB 2
testing page for instructions. See also the upstream draft manual.

Some features are still missing relative to GRUB Legacy. Notable among
these are lock/password support, an equivalent of grub-reboot, and Xen
handling.
</quote>
works out without installing GRUB 2 first on the jaunty drive.

I'll post back when finished.