SSD migration boot option problem

[Nils Kassube]

Am Montag, 25. Februar 2013, 20:52:15 schrieb lazer100:
> On 25-Feb-13 21:59:18 Nils Kassube wrote:
> >Am Montag, 25. Februar 2013, 11:52:57 schrieb lazer100:
> >> I just wonder if they could put all the boot partitions, with
> >> the ones they dont want active commented out with #
> >
> >What do you mean with "they"? The automagic kernel list is generated
> >by update-grub which is run by installation scripts e.g. for
> >installing new kernel packages. Your problem seems to be that the
> >update-grub script only finds a single Windows partition.
> 
> what I meant was the people who wrote the scripts that generate
> /boot/grub/menu.lst

Ah, OK - I suppose they just include every OS found. But as that old 
grub version with menu.lst is obsolete, I wouldn't expect any future 
changes to that script.

> >> titleUbuntu 8.10, kernel 2.6.27-7-generic
> >
> >I hope you are aware that this is an ancient Ubuntu version for which
> >the support has ended nearly 3 years ago ...
> 
> yes, but I prefer it to later versions, and it has everything that I
> need!
> 
> later versions are becoming more like Windows,

:)

Actually I think, Ubuntu tries to become more like MacOS than Windows. 
Perhaps you should have a look at the other Ubuntu flavours: Kubuntu, 
Lubuntu, Xubuntu.

> By the way can I attach files on this list, or do they have to be
> included in the text?

Yes, it would work but there is a size limit of about 30k.

> what happens now, is that the new boot option appears, but when
> I boot from it, I get the following error:
> 
> Error 12: Invalid device requested
> press any key to continue...
> 
> which then returns back to the boot options.
>
> I think the problem is that I have installed Windows XP to
> a logical partition, and grub probably only recognizes
> OS's in the 3 or 4 top level partitions.

Hmm, maybe (the old) grub can't boot Windows from a logical partition? 
That would at least explain why it wasn't included automatically. But 
I'm no expert for grub, so maybe someone else has an idea?

However grub knows how to boot Linux from any logical partition, not 
only from a primary partition. In the past I had a machine with only 
logical partitions for several Linux versions and it worked with the old 
grub version.

> But Windows XP installation accepted a logical volume for the
> installation, and it booted fine from this.

Sure, but that was not via grub but the original Windows boot loader. 
Like I wrote above, maybe that grub version can't boot Windows from a 
logical partition.

> the reason I installed XP from a logical partition, is
> that would allow me to have 3 Ubuntus and several XP's installed
> from one drive. Ubuntu I think can only be installed
> from a top level partition.
> 
> as there are a maximum of 4 top level partitions, and
> a swap partition is necessary for Linux, if you
> only use top level partitions you can only have at most
> 3 OS's.

Well, first you can install Linux into logical partitions (see above). 
Second, a swap partition is not vital, if you have a lot of RAM. The 
installer may complain but if you tell it not to create a swap 
partition, the it will happily continue without one.

> I probably have to reinstall everything from scratch
> with the OS's all to top level partitions, right now
> I have lost the solid state logical drive XP installation

You could repair Windows from the install disk (rewrite the MBR), but 
then you would lose Linux - so yes, it looks like some work ahead. I 
would suggest to install Windows in a primary partition and Linux in 
logical partitions.


Nils