Kernel update via yum on triple-boot machine

[Itay Furman]

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005, Gene Heskett wrote:

> Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:25:15 -0500
> From: Gene Heskett <gene.heskett at verizon.net>
> To: Itay Furman <itayf at u.washington.edu>,
>     For users of Fedora Core releases <fedora-list at redhat.com>
> Subject: Re: Kernel update via yum on triple-boot machine
> 
> On Sunday 20 March 2005 09:45, Itay Furman wrote:

[snip]

>> I suspect it is related to the fact that this is a triple-boot
>> machine with the following set up:
>>
>> /dev/hda1 Dell utilities
>> /dev/hda2 Windows
>> /dev/hda3 boot (gentoo; **grub is installed here**)
>> ...
>> /dev/hda9 boot (FC2)
>>
>> If so I could manually edit grub.conf under /dev/hda3 to point to
>> the new kernel.
>
> yes, you can have many verses in youur grub.conf.  Unforch, the
> manpage isn't very clear on some details, and the context sensitive
> use of the 'root' keyword can be very confusing to gnubies.  On a
> line by itself the root (hd0,0) means thats the '/boot' partition for
> the intended install, where the first '0' means the first drive,
> usually hda, and the second '0' means the partition number, which
> could mean hda1.
>
> But when used as the argument appended to the kernel line, it then
> becomes the pointer to the '/' filesystem of this particular boot
> configuration verse of your grub.conf.  I believe, but am not sure,
> that you will have to consolidate to one, and one only, /boot
> partitions, putting all the various versions of vmlinuz, and the grub
> subdirs into this single partition, which is then mounted as /boot
> for everything but the windows install.
>

Thanks for clearing this up.

> Personally, I'd blow away the windows install and put the grub
> bootloader in the mbr of hda.  Grub, I'm told, can boot windows just
> fine.  But if you blow it way you don't have to worry about the next
> windows viri/worm of the week.  But then maybe I'm a bit odd, I've
> never had a windows install here, ever.  Its a nice snug feeling &
> windows has yet to have the killer app that I couldn't either fudge
> up a workalike in os9 or amigados or linux, or do without with no
> pangs of regret.  I'm not heavy on game playing so that probably
> helps.
>

I'd blow it away too, but this machine serves others too. 
To be fair, the windows O$ saved me once or twice when I was
in a hurry.

> In your case, the intended update has no knowledge of the location
> where you installed your initial grub.  Just add the stuff to your
> grub.conf and it *should* be ok.
>

Thanks for the info and the advice.

 	Itay

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