On 2012-12-31 17:59 (GMT-0500) Anton Aylward composed:
I also put Mageia on a scratch machine and pushed it around in was that I wouldn't dream of for a production machine .... you know the kind of abuse .... :-) And then I decided to put openSuse 12.2 on the scratch machine. In went the DVD, reboot and when it do the the screen where I said "probing ..." it then offered "Install or upgrade". WTF I picked upgrade and Lo And Behold the installer was smart enough to upgrade my Mageia to openSuse !
Well almost. When it got to the bootloader it tried to install LILO.
Nonono, I'd been using grub. I went back and it did not offer me a choice of the bootloader. It then muffed Lilo and and I had a system that wouldn't boot.
You can, I found, "upgrade" all over again, but it still doesn't want to use grub.
Close .... so close ....
Closer than you think. Upgrading means not formatting, which means not wiping existing bootloader. All you needed to do was install no bootloader while upgrading, then boot openSUSE with the old bootloader, then install your choice of openSUSE bootloader. Don't forget, Grub Legacy doesn't need a menu to get you booted, just as Grub2 shouldn't need a grub.cfg to get you booted. To boot with wrong kernel & initrd in the stanzas you only need edit an existing stanza, or drop to Grub prompt and do manually what the menu would do if set up properly. openSUSE makes this easy to, by making symlinks to the kernel and initrd called vmlinuz and initrd, easy to remember, and easy to type at a Grub prompt. Of course if you're configured to multiboot, you can boot and/or repair via HD. Even on a brand new or freshly wiped HD you don't need to install a bootloader while installing. What can be done from any live Linux boot where the bootloader you want is on the live media. With wiped or new HDs, I do if first using a Knoppix CD. Sounds like that's an option for you right now. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org