I'm afraid to reboot. menu.lst problem. (Dapper)

Fri May 5 23:38:59 UTC 2006

Or at least I think it is a problem.....

Several days ago a Kernel upgrade came out (linux-image-2.6.15-22-686).

I upgraded.

I then found that there wasn't any corresponding
linux-restricted-modules file yet.

Since so I went back to using the previous kernel which I had not
uninstalled.

After that, every time I booted/rebooted my computer I'd wind up with
the newer
kernel unless I quickly hit the escape key and selected the older one..

That was getting annoying so I'd planned on editing my menu.lst file to
add more time to the timeout.

But after a day or so I noticed that if I didn't catch it and the newer
kernel would boot, I'd not be able to get past the usplash screen.

Strangely it would behave normally but instead of taking me to the display
manager it would restart but appear blank (just the logo would be there).

My computer would then freeze and I'd have to reboot.

Upon rebooting I'd be sure to catch it in time and go back to the older
kernel.

Finally I got tired of that so I just now uninstalled the older kernel so
there would only be one for grub to choose from and I'd not have that
problem anymore.

Now for some strange reason I felt compelled to take a look at my
menu.lst file right after uninstalling the newer kernel (I normally
never bother looking at it after installing a kernel) and was a bit
alarmed at what I saw.

If I'm reading this correctly, the next time I boot, GRUB will attempt
to boot not the kernel I have installed and not the one I just
uninstalled, but the default kernel that was installed when I first
installed Ubuntu to begin with (that would be -2.6.15-20-386)!  I got
rid of that ages ago.

I'd edit menu.lst to correct it, but I'm not 100% sure this is a problem
(only 99%).

On the other hand the files it lists are nowhere to be found in /boot
(which makes perfect sense).

Maybe I'm just misreading menu.lst?

I'm really afraid of screwing this up further (assuming it is now). I've
never known what to do previously when I'd start my computer and
couldn't get past GRUB (I'm talking well before Ubuntu).  I'd end up
reinstalling my complete distro from scratch (which seems a bit drastic)
but I know nothing about how to "rescue" in those cases.

Anyhow, here is the contents of my.menu.lst file.

Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from
0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default
entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not change this entry to 'saved'
or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the
default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive
editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
##      kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,4)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery mode) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-20-386
root		(hd0,4)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.15-20-386 root=/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root ro quiet splash
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.15-20-386
savedefault
boot

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.15-20-386 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,4)
kernel		/vmlinuz-2.6.15-20-386 root=/dev/mapper/Ubuntu-root ro single
initrd		/initrd.img-2.6.15-20-386
boot

title		Ubuntu, memtest86+
root		(hd0,4)
kernel		/memtest86+.bin
boot

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

-- 
	Scott
www.angrykeyboarder.com
©2006 angrykeyboarder™ & Elmer Fudd. All Wights Wesewved