intro and grub question

[Daniel Pittman]

"Tim M" <timothybythesea at hotmail.com> writes:

> Hi, I am trying to install Kubuntu on my backup computer. My main
> computer uses dual boots Ubuntu and XP (for my scanner). The backup
> computer uses Ubuntu and I had wanted to dual boot between Ubuntu an
> Kubuntu but I am having a problem with the boot loader or maybe the
> BIOS. When the boot loader starts I don't have access to the keyboard! 
> So it boots into where system is default. For some reason I cannot get
> into the BIOS on that HP 850 mhz motherboard. No matter what key I hit
> it simply will not go into setup. So, can anyone tell me how to edit
> grub so I can switch default OS's? I tried once before and ended up
> with a REAL MESS.  

Sure.  The *best* place to start would be the GRUB documentation, of
course, so that you understand what you are doing.

However, to work out what you want you need to identify the number of
the OS you want as default -- starting with 0 as the first line in the
menu and continuing up from there.

Also, be aware that if your Ubuntu kernels list before the other OS then
the number *will* change over time -- as more Ubuntu kernels are
installed -- so you may need to update this.


Then, edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and change the number in the 'default 0'
line to whatever menu entry you want selected by default.


If you want to make a *one shot* change you can use the
'grub-set-default' command -- at the command line, as root -- to
override it for the next boot only.[1]

Regards,
        Daniel

Footnotes: 
[1]  Apparently.  I have not tested this, but it /should/ work.

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