Boot loader.

[Weaver]

Hello,

Been looking through the FAQ and documentation but can find no mention of bootloaders, other than the fact that Lilo is offered as an option.
This would infer Grub.
Legacy or 2?

Has anybody else had problems getting BSDs to run multiboot with Linux distros?
I've tried to install PC-BSD, which wouldn't recognise an external drive, so I installed it on the primary.
I then couldn't get Debian, that did recognise the external drive, where I installed it, to load the bootloader, grub2 onto the first partition of the BSD primary.
It's a bit difficult to configure Grub if it won't even install.

Are there any recognition problems of this sort with Vector?
TIA for any time and trouble.

Weaver.

[M0E-lnx]

I dont use BSD, but the vector GUI installer offer both grub and lilo. (grub2 that is)

[roarde]

If it's grub2, then isn't it supposed to install only to the MBR and not a partition's bootsector? Right now I have only VL and DOS, but kept an old FreeBSD boot chooser for the MBR because I like its simplicity. Since it's only a chooser, not a loader, the loader for linux had to go in a bootsector; that was my reason for going with lilo.

Also, I have to wonder over the possibility of confusion between "partition" and "slice" as defined by your BSD.

[M0E-lnx]

The grub2 developers recommend against installing grub2 on the boot sector (/ partition). This is why our installer does not do it.

[grumpy.biatch]

Hello,

Been looking through the FAQ and documentation but can find no mention of bootloaders, other than the fact that Lilo is offered as an option.
This would infer Grub.
Legacy or 2?

Has anybody else had problems getting BSDs to run multiboot with Linux distros?
I've tried to install PC-BSD, which wouldn't recognise an external drive, so I installed it on the primary.
I then couldn't get Debian, that did recognise the external drive, where I installed it, to load the bootloader, grub2 onto the first partition of the BSD primary.
It's a bit difficult to configure Grub if it won't even install.

Are there any recognition problems of this sort with Vector?
TIA for any time and trouble.

Weaver.

I multiboot 25 OS including FreeBSD, PCBSD & Solaris. Vector offers Legacy or GRUB and you can opt for not installing its bootloader. I use SUSE GRUB for chainload or otherwise.

Find my menu.lst here and do necessary changes to your list -

http://pastebin.ca/1980254

During BSD install you need to opt out of installing bootloader. Secondly, BSD or Solaris need primary partitions for install.

If you wish to boot BSD with GRUB2 then you need to configure /etc/grub.d/40_custom file and add entries, run update-grub (you wont see your entries during grub update but they will appear in grub menu when you start the box). I boot BSD with GRUB 2 on other machine. Let me know if this helps, if not I will get you the entries.

Best,

David

[grumpy.biatch]

If it's grub2, then isn't it supposed to install only to the MBR and not a partition's bootsector? Right now I have only VL and DOS, but kept an old FreeBSD boot chooser for the MBR because I like its simplicity. Since it's only a chooser, not a loader, the loader for linux had to go in a bootsector; that was my reason for going with lilo.

Also, I have to wonder over the possibility of confusion between "partition" and "slice" as defined by your BSD.

You can install GRUB2 to its '/'. If you use Linux (other than mandrake or its derivatives, you will need to modify boot entry for these) and windows you will find GRUB 2 useful. It is butt ugly in my opinion.

[grumpy.biatch]

The grub2 developers recommend against installing grub2 on the boot sector (/ partition). This is why our installer does not do it.

You dont need to install GRUB or Lilo during Vector install if you have GRUB Legacy or GRUB PC installed from other Linux. I have 4 GRUB 2 distros installed on my machine. I installed it to MBR for two and '/' install for two. It didnt return any error. In current buntu* versions, you may get a warning, its bad to install GRUB on '/', just ignore it and go ahead.

[Weaver]

I multiboot 25 OS including FreeBSD, PCBSD & Solaris. Vector offers Legacy or GRUB and you can opt for not installing its bootloader. I use SUSE GRUB for chainload or otherwise.

Find my menu.lst here and do necessary changes to your list -

http://pastebin.ca/1980254

During BSD install you need to opt out of installing bootloader. Secondly, BSD or Solaris need primary partitions for install.

If you wish to boot BSD with GRUB2 then you need to configure /etc/grub.d/40_custom file and add entries, run update-grub (you wont see your entries during grub update but they will appear in grub menu when you start the box). I boot BSD with GRUB 2 on other machine. Let me know if this helps, if not I will get you the entries.

Best,

David

Great!
Thanks for that.

Weaver.