How to set up dual boot when installing F17-Beta with F16

[jsandys]

I finally got the F17-Beta-DVD installed to the point where it asked for the reboot, but after reboot my only choices with grub were F16 kernels. How do I fix this?

My setup is a single disk:
sda1 ext3 1gb /boot (set as /boot during installation with no formatting)
sda2 ext4 LVM vg_odd /home /root swap (where I installed F17 Beta)
sda3 ext4 LVM vg_even /home /root swap (where F16 is installed)
sda4 set4 /data (where I keep media, documents and personal projects for both)

What is the correct answer for "Install boot loader on /dev/sda?" to get a dual boot of F16 and F17-Beta?

Why can't Anaconda see that I have F16 (or other linux with grub2) is installed and F17-Beta is being added, and suggest an answer? Or at least, how about a help file displayed with this question? It is impossible to pull up the installation guide (which doesn't answer this question) while Anaconda is running.

I hope I can fix this soon, I want to show off F17-Beta at LinuxFest NorthWest this weekend.
-- Jeff

[sonoran]

Have you looked in sda1 to see if the F17 kernel and initramfs are there?
Maybe running "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg" from F16 would pick them up.

Note - I've never dual-booted the way you are - with a single /boot partition - so I'm not familiar with the potential issues. I did once use a "leftover" /boot-mbr setup from a distro I had erased, but even then I gave each of my remaining installs its own /boot.

In order for your setup to work you have to assume that grubby and grub2-mkconfig are smart enough to keep /boot in proper order with respect to kernels and initramfs images ... I'm not real sure about that.

[chrismurphy]

Originally Posted by jsandys

What is the correct answer for "Install boot loader on /dev/sda?" to get a dual boot of F16 and F17-Beta?

I would let the beta installer replace GRUB 1.99 from Fedora 16, with GRUB 2.00 ~beta2 or 3 or wherever it's at now, because its grub2-mkconfig is vastly better. (Although I admit I have not tried it with two Fedoras, only Fedora + Mac OS + Windows).

And the reason I'd do this is because two Fedora should co-habitat, and GRUB 2 should be agreeable. If not, it needs to get sorted out with a bug report, and since you're beta testing... you've sorta volunteered.

Why can't Anaconda see that I have F16 (or other linux with grub2) is installed and F17-Beta is being added, and suggest an answer?

Anaconda doesn't look. It runs grub2-mkconfig which is going to write out a new grub.cfg but only in the F17 beta vg-lv. So if you didn't replace the F16 GRUB with F17's GRUB, the old one is still looking for the F16 grub.cfg which will not have been updated to see F17.

Or at least, how about a help file displayed with this question?

Oh sweet Jesus on a stick. I'm a Mac user and even I would never expect this. You're beta testing. Your help file is this forum.

It is impossible to pull up the installation guide (which doesn't answer this question) while Anaconda is running.

Umm, docs are still being written...

I hope I can fix this soon, I want to show off F17-Beta at LinuxFest NorthWest this weekend.

I know for sure single install with VBox and KVM work.

---------- Post added at 07:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:47 PM ----------

Originally Posted by jsandys

What is the correct answer for "Install boot loader on /dev/sda?" to get a dual boot of F16 and F17-Beta?

Sorry. Leave it checked as default which should be /dev/sda.

If this isn't replacing old with new, I think that's a bug.

[sonoran]

Originally Posted by jsandys

My setup is a single disk:
sda1 ext3 1gb /boot (set as /boot during installation with no formatting)

Unless I read this wrong, jsandys wants to use the same /boot partition for both F16 & F17. I've never seen that attempted.

[chrismurphy]

Originally Posted by sonoran

Unless I read this wrong, jsandys wants to use the same /boot partition for both F16 & F17. I've never seen that attempted.

Umm, I think anaconda requires /boot to be formatted (fresh) at install time. And I don't recall ext3 even being an option. So, if he actually went through with this, his F16 kernels are blown away.

[jsandys]

While logged into F16 and after checking that the F17 kernel and initramfs were in sda1, as root (sudo) I ran:

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

The hard part was picking out which of the multitude F17 listings in grub to use. The last one on the list labeled Beefy Miracle took me through the reboot dialog.

---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:50 PM ----------

Originally Posted by sonoran

Unless I read this wrong, jsandys wants to use the same /boot partition for both F16 & F17. I've never seen that attempted.

How would you use different /boot partitions? Doesn't grub live in the /boot partition? Which grub would run on boot up?

This computer has had this partition scheme since F14-F15 pair. For some reason I couldn't get 17 installed as I had F15 and F16. I like helping out on testing, but the main purpose of the computer is music with PlanetCCRMA which lags behind on releases. And I haven't figured out virtual boxes yet (something I must do obviously)

Thanks for your help Sonoran.
-- Jeff

[chrismurphy]

Originally Posted by jsandys

How would you use different /boot partitions? Doesn't grub live in the /boot partition? Which grub would run on boot up?

No the boot.img lives in the first 440 bytes of LBA 0. Then jumps to core.img which lives in the MBR gap (or in the BIOS Boot partition on GPT disks). That core.img looks for a particular grub.cfg in a particular /boot.

You could have either one or different /boot partitions. But I don't see how you get anaconda to point to an in-use /boot without it formatting that partition.

[sonoran]

Originally Posted by chrismurphy

But I don't see how you get anaconda to point to an in-use /boot without it formatting that partition.

That is indeed astonishing, but, at the same time, kind of elegant. As long as there is no confusion when either installation updates...

Originally Posted by jsandys

How would you use different /boot partitions?

I've always given each installation its own /boot, either a partition or a directory under /. One grub will be installed to the mbr and will boot first, and its menu will have entries for the other systems. I used the "configfile" command in the menu entries so that I didn't have to manually update the "main" menu to point to updated kernels. With grub2 the "chainloader" command works the same way.

But if what you have works, I'd stick with it. Might even try it myself.