GrUB Question

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:06 am

So I run a lot of different OSes out of the same box, and I'm tired of dealing with the headaches of Windows rewriting the MBR on whatevertheHell partition its stored on, and I don't want to use such a heavy-handed approach like swapping hard drives, so I figure using a dedicated bootloader should take care of things.

I'd like to use an IDE header flash drive, they're reasonably priced at, like, thirty bucks for a 256mb drive, forty for 512, but I've got relatively little experience with *nix and its accoutrements.

To wit, is 256MB way, way to much space, and I should be seriously pleased with that amount of space, or is there a reason to get a bigger drive?

Also, any tips or pointers using GrUB are much appreciated.

I'll primarily be switching between Vista, XPx32, and Ubuntu.

Finally, I'm looking to use some networked disk imaging software, probably Arcronis True Image 10. Is this asking for even more headaches?

In the end, should I bother with elegance at all, or just go with a swapping drive bay?

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:22 am

I was planning on the exact same setup a few weeks ago, so I know how much of a headache this is.

my plan was going to me a plain simple, let the BIOS handle it. install linux on it's own disk when no other disks are there and do the same with the other two OSs.

However I gave up on that when Vista said my bluetooth dongle wasn't compatible.

instead of using an IDE header flash drive why not just use a USB one? Though I'm not sure how you'd go about that.

Max Slowik · Post by **Max Slowik** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:05 am

It's feasible, but I don't think I'm BOfH enough to do it:

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/art ... page=0%2C0

It's worth the $20 extra for sanity's sake. This, like all other things, may only be proven by rolling up sleeves and digging in.

DanW · Post by **DanW** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:14 am

Max Slowik wrote:It's feasible, but I don't think I'm BOfH enough to do it:

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/art ... page=0%2C0

It's worth the $20 extra for sanity's sake. This, like all other things, may only be proven by rolling up sleeves and digging in.

true, just as long as you don't get so angry you tap someone in a watertight room and turn the hose pipe on in the process...

floffe · Post by **floffe** » Sun May 13, 2007 2:55 pm

256MB should be plenty to boot from, as long as you have the actual OSes on regular drives. For example, my linux boot partition has 11 different kernels on it (pretty minimalistic ones, though), and uses 35 out of 64MB. Having a precompiled kernel like Ubuntus with lots of modules might bring that up a bit though, bit it shouldn't be much over 10MB for a kernel + modules.

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Sun May 13, 2007 7:58 pm

This definitely sounds like a good idea, and I'm surprised it's not more commonplace. I'm assuming that the easiest way to do it is to install a small linux distro onto the IDE flash drive? If so, does any one know of a good distro suitable for this purpose?

peteamer · Post by **peteamer** » Mon May 14, 2007 9:06 am

Hi all, if it's of any use to anyone... I had a dual-boot system running two HD's with an OS on each (XP on SATA & OpenSuSE on PATA).
I used the BIOS 'Boot Menu' option during the boot process to choose which drive to boot. (F10 ? key) Saved going into the BIOS fully.

I haven't rebuilt XP after a MOBO failure so just let the comp boot into OpenSuSE so can't say if this board has the 'Boot Option' option during boot or not...

Previous board was an Asrock.

Most advice appears to be install Windows first. When you install most forms of Linux if not all, they will install a boot loader enabling you to choice which OS/Drive to boot from.
There's usually a choice of loaders... I think...

For a small Linux ~50MB you could try Damn Small Linux.

Next weeks thoughts will be on Bacon & Egg Pie.....

Pete