another bootloader then Grub2 [Solved]

[roelof]

Hello,

I want to try this distro but I saw that Grub2 is the bootloader.
But because I want to dualboot Win7 and Sabayon with the help of Easybcd Grub2 must not be installed in the MBR.
But as far as I know Grub2 cannot be installed on a partition.

So can I use another bootloader like Grub1 or even Lilo ?
And how can I achieve this if it's possible.

Roelof

[linuxfluesterer]

Hallo...
Maybe this could help you:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=133569

-Linuxfluesterer (I love KDE ...)

[Fitzcarraldo]

The best way to dual boot Linux and Windows

[roelof]

I have read the piece and thats the way I normal work.
But in the piece you really saying that Grub2 can be installed in a partition or can I use Grub on installation of the bootloader

Roelof

[roelof]

Hello,

I did all the steps from your tutorial.
So I choose to add the Grub at the boot partition.
After that I booted back to Win7 and start up EasyBCD.
There I choose to add linux with comment Sabayon and Grub2.
I did not get a choice where grub2 was installed.

But now if I start up Sabayon I only see a Grub prompt and nothing starts.

Any tips how I can Sabayon working.

Roelof

[linuxfluesterer]

Hallo...
First, you can start a Sabayon live cd or stick and then with that live system you can install a new Grub2.
For this, you should really know, on which partition is your hdd Sabayon and then mount it!

On this Grub2 Howto
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub-2.html

I found the following chapter:
'Reinstall GRUB

GRUB 2 can be installed even while you are booted in the OS. You do not need a live environment for that. Just execute the grub-install command against the device or the partition you desire.

grub-install <target>

<target> can be /dev/hda, /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc4, and so forth.

It is important that you pay attention to the output produced by the command. If you have external disks connected at the time you run the command, it will add these disks to the list of mapped devices. There should be no big harm in that, but if some entries are incorrect, remove them.'

So, you might install Grub2 onto a partition.
Maybe this Howto can help you more to realize, what you want to do.

-Linuxfluesterer (I love KDE ...)

[Fitzcarraldo]

roelof, as stated in my aforementioned blog post you must not specify the drive (e.g. /dev/sda/) as the target because GRUB 2 would then be installed in the MBR of the drive. You need to specify the boot partition to be the target. For example, if the boot partition is /dev/sda3 then you would specify /dev/sda3 as the target.

As stated in my aforementioned blog post and in the EasyBCD FAQ, EasyBCD only works on machines that have the traditional PC BIOS. It does not work on newer machines that use the UEFI instead of PC BIOS. So the first question you need to ask yourself is whether your machine has a PC BIOS or has the UEFI.

Also, and correct me if I'm wrong, you appear to think that EasyBCD installs GRUB 2. EasyBCD does not install GRUB 2 (or GRUB Legacy, if one were using that instead of GRUB 2). All EasyBCD does is edit the Windows BCD file on the C: drive (the partition on which Windows is installed) to make the Windows BCD file point to the executable file /boot/grub2/i386-pc/core.img so that, if you select Linux from the Windows Boot Manager's menu, /boot/grub2/i386-pc/core.img is launched. It is the latter that then displays the GRUB 2 menu. N.B. SL uses /boot/grub/ rather than /boot/grub2/, but I have mentioned /boot/grub2/ as that is used on several other distributions (e.g. Gentoo, openSUSE and Fedora).

[roelof]

Sorry for the confusion but I know that SL installs Grub.
But are we now talking about Grub2 or Grub legacy.
I have told to the installer to install grub into /dev/sda3.
But I choose Grub2. I think now I have to choose Grub instead.

Roelof

[Fitzcarraldo]

As mentioned in my blog post, if you select GRUB 2 when using EasyBCD then EasyBCD edits the BCD file in Windows and makes it point to /boot/grub2/i386-pc/core.img (or (I hope!) /boot/grub/i386-pc/core.img in the case of SL). However, again as mentioned in my blog post (see the note at the end of it), if you specify GRUB Legacy to EasyBCD then EasyBCD will edit the BCD file to point to the boot sector on the boot partition (/dev/sda3 in my case). The GRUB 2 code in the boot sector of the boot partition then launches /boot/grub2/i386-pc/core.img. So, in reality, you can choose either GRUB Legacy or GRUB 2 in EasyBCD even if you are using GRUB 2. However, this (choosing GRUB Legacy in EasyBCD even when you have installed GRUB 2) is only possible if Linux is installed on the same drive as Windows. If Linux is installed on a different drive then you must specify GRUB 2 to EasyBCD. In my case I opted to specify GRUB Legacy to EasyBCD so that Windows Boot Menu launches the GRUB 2 code in the boot sector of the boot partition. But, as I have Linux installed on the same drive as Windows, I also experimented specifying GRUB 2 instead and could still select Linux from the Windows Boot Manager menu and successfully launch the GRUB 2 menu.

To answer your question about whether you need to install GRUB Legacy or GRUB 2, you install GRUB 2.