[opensuse] linux in multiboot
Hello, Currently I'm running OpenSuse 11.1 32bit on an 2GHz AMD Athlon64 with 3 GiB RAM. I have 3 SATA disks: 112 GiB + 112 GiB + 186 GiB. sda1, sdb1 and sdc1 are 1 GiB and form md0 (RAID1) where /boot lives. The rest of the disk space lives in LVM. I have: /dev/system/root = / = 50 GiB /dev/system/home = /home = 100 GiB /dev/system/swap = swap = 6 GiB That leaves me with 251 GiB unpartitioned in LVM. I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list). I think I won't have a lot of troble seting this up, but there is one thing that worries me a bit: the /boot partition with the kernels and the grub config. 1 GiB is room enough for a lot of different kernels, but I'm worried that different Linux distributions have different ways of "automagically" configuring grub. What are the pitfalls that I should watch out for? Kind regards, Amedee -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Hi, I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first screen at : "loading basic drivers ..." This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD ! opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem. opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too ! I tried all the choices for the kernel. I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ? Thanks in advance for your help. Michel. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Catimimi schreef:
Hi, I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first screen at : "loading basic drivers ..." This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !
opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem. opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too ! I tried all the choices for the kernel.
I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ? Thanks in advance for your help. Michel.
Hi, Please don't hijack my topic. Thank you. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/01/24 19:49 (GMT+0100) Catimimi composed:
I try to install opensuse 11.1 ans the installation freezes on the first screen at : "loading basic drivers ..." This happens either with the 32 bits DVD or the 64 bits DVD !
opensuse 11.0 32 bits and 64 bits installed with no problem. opensuse 11.1 liveCD runs too ! I tried all the choices for the kernel.
I need help, is there as earlier a "manual installation" where I can choose my modules : ata_piix and ahci ?
Maybe something on http://en.opensuse.org/Linuxrc will get you going. What chipset is on your motherboard? What HD controller(s)? -- "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Saturday 24 January 2009 12:33:00 pm Amedee Van Gasse wrote:
... I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).
This is what I would do. Main boot partition: grub and openSUSE boot files, basic text mode installation for the rescue actions. Other systems use their own /boot and you tell them not to install bootloader. After that, edit main grub menu.lst in md0 manually and add new installation. The advantage is that symlinks vmlinuz and initrd are not changed to last installed kernel and initrd. Disadvantage is that you would not see any bugs in bootloader installation, except those that ignore "do not install boot loader". -- Regards, Rajko -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/01/24 19:33 (GMT+0100) Amedee Van Gasse composed:
Currently I'm running OpenSuse 11.1 ...
I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).
I think I won't have a lot of troble seting this up, but there is one thing that worries me a bit: the /boot partition with the kernels and the grub config. 1 GiB is room enough for a lot of different kernels, but I'm worried that different Linux distributions have different ways of "automagically" configuring grub.
What are the pitfalls that I should watch out for?
I get around automagic disruption by starting with a DFSee CD, then a Knoppix CD, before any OS CD or DVD. With DFSee & Knoppix, I completely partition, and install Knoppix's Grub on the first primary. Only then do I install an OS. On my most recent installs, that was 11.0. I mount the real boot partition (hd0,0) on /disks/boot, leaving OS /boot as a part of each configured /, and manually configure menu.lst on (hd0,0) to either chainload to the installed OS's Grub, or directly load its kernel and initrd from its installed location, or copy from its installed location to (hd0,0) to boot them. You can see from https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463033 that had I not first installed Grub how and where I did that I probably wouldn't be booting anything at all. http://fm.no-ip.com/tmp/Linux/big31L03.txt shows the partitioning I did to support shared swap, home and others, and separate / partitions for 11.0, 11.1 and Factory. More on multiboot: http://fm.no-ip.com/partitioningindex.html -- "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
It would appear that on Jan 24, Amedee Van Gasse did say:
Hello,
Currently I'm running OpenSuse 11.1 32bit on an 2GHz AMD Athlon64 with 3 GiB RAM. I have 3 SATA disks: 112 GiB + 112 GiB + 186 GiB. sda1, sdb1 and sdc1 are 1 GiB and form md0 (RAID1) where /boot lives. The rest of the disk space lives in LVM. I have: /dev/system/root = / = 50 GiB /dev/system/home = /home = 100 GiB /dev/system/swap = swap = 6 GiB That leaves me with 251 GiB unpartitioned in LVM.
I would like to try 64bit Linux in a multiboot configuration, while still keeping my 32bit installation. I would make another LVM partition and share /boot, /home and swap. I could also run various other Linux distributions (Debian, Ubuntu and Gentoo are on my list).
I think I won't have a lot of troble seting this up, but there is one thing that worries me a bit: the /boot partition with the kernels and the grub config. 1 GiB is room enough for a lot of different kernels, but I'm worried that different Linux distributions have different ways of "automagically" configuring grub.
What are the pitfalls that I should watch out for?
Hi. Multiboot linux is what I do... Currently I've got Sabayon 3.5, Kubuntu 8.10, & OpenSuSE 11.0 on this old athalon. About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in $HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the application still in the other distro's installation. As to the /boot I'd have to suggest choosing one distro to manage the bootloader. You should be able to manually copy the vmlinuz and initrd files from the other distro's /boot to the one you let install to the mbr. Then manually add appropriate boot instructions to it's menu.lst, grub.conf, or lilo.conf so that it can boot the other distros. I don't know squat about LVM or raid. I simply use fdisk or cfdisk to partition my hard drives. I created a /boot partition that none of the distro's automatically update by copying one of the /boot directories to a separate partition (hd0,1) aka /dev/sda2 editing the root lines in it's grub.conf to point at (hd0,1), and then temporarily mounting it on /boot long enough to reinstall grub to the mbr... After that any time I install a linux I always poke around the advanced bootloader settings in the installer menu until I find a way to either install the bootstrap to floppy /dev/fd0 or to the distro's / partition. That way when a distribution update changes the kernel, it will update the files in it's /boot making it easy to copy the necessary changes to the files in my boot partition. Another advantage of a distro installing it's boot loader to it's / partition is that then I can add a choice to my boot's grub that chainloads the bootloader in that distro's /partition which will usually continue to work without manual intervention even after the said distro automatically changes it's boot configuration. Hope this helps. -- | --- ___ | <0> <-> Joe (theWordy) Philbrook | ^ J(tWdy)P | ~\___/~ <<jtwdyp@ttlc.net>> -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Joe(theWordy)Philbrook schreef:
About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in $HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the application still in the other distro's installation.
Thanks! So I should make sure that the apps are all the same version in all distros, or another solution is to make a separate data partition.
As to the /boot I'd have to suggest choosing one distro to manage the bootloader. You should be able to manually copy the vmlinuz and initrd files from the other distro's /boot to the one you let install to the mbr. Then manually add appropriate boot instructions to it's menu.lst, grub.conf, or lilo.conf so that it can boot the other distros.
OK, good idea. I think I'll use a special "bootloader" distribution. Felix Miata mentioned DFSee & Knoppix. I know Knoppix as a livecd/rescue cd distro. I don't know DFSee but I'll check it out.
I don't know squat about LVM or raid. I simply use fdisk or cfdisk to partition my hard drives. I created a /boot partition that none of the distro's automatically update by copying one of the /boot directories to a separate partition (hd0,1) aka /dev/sda2 editing the root lines in it's grub.conf to point at (hd0,1), and then temporarily mounting it on /boot long enough to reinstall grub to the mbr... After that any time I install a linux I always poke around the advanced bootloader settings in the installer menu until I find a way to either install the bootstrap to floppy /dev/fd0 or to the distro's / partition. That way when a distribution update changes the kernel, it will update the files in it's /boot making it easy to copy the necessary changes to the files in my boot partition. Another advantage of a distro installing it's boot loader to it's / partition is that then I can add a choice to my boot's grub that chainloads the bootloader in that distro's /partition which will usually continue to work without manual intervention even after the said distro automatically changes it's boot configuration.
Grub doesn't know squat about LVM and raid either, except raid1 (mirroring). That's why I can't put /boot in LVM. I think it won't be possible for me to chainload a bootloader on an LVM partition. I like your idea about having more than one /boot. I also like the idea about fooling the automagic bootstrap thingies with a floppy bootloader. I will try a few things and report back to the list. -- Amedee -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
It would appear that on Jan 25, Amedee Van Gasse did say:
Joe(theWordy)Philbrook schreef:
About pitfalls, I'd recommend being real careful about sharing /home between different distributions. As different distros, and sometimes different releases of the same distro, often feature different releases of various applications. Many of which needs to find it's rc files in $HOME. This matters when an upgraded application from one uses an rc file that is no longer compatible with the older version of the application still in the other distro's installation.
Thanks! So I should make sure that the apps are all the same version in all distros, or another solution is to make a separate data partition.
If this shared data is all for *_ONE_* user account. Then by using the same username and more importantly the same user id for all of the distros, you can mount a private data partition below $HOME say maybe something like $HOME/mySTUFF. Then you could for instance move existing document folders to it. Such as moving ~/Documents to ~/mySTUFF/Documents. Then cd to your home directory and make a symlink... (in each of the distributions sharing this data partition. moving any aditional files to it as needed so that you can rmdir ~/Documents to make room for the symlink of the same name...)IE: $ cd $ ln -s ~/mySTUFF/Documents Documents Then any application that expects to find your files in ~/Documents can find the same datafiles (complete with the latest changes) No mater which distro you used last time... Of course your mileage may vary... Good luck! -- | --- ___ | <0> <-> Joe (theWordy) Philbrook | ^ J(tWdy)P | ~\___/~ <<jtwdyp@ttlc.net>> -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (5)
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Amedee Van Gasse -
Catimimi -
Felix Miata -
Joe(theWordy)Philbrook -
Rajko M.