Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Installing Gentoo: Grub, alternate GNU/Linux system on another partition

[Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>]

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On Monday 05 Dec 2011 21:58:44 Grant Edwards wrote:
> On 2011-12-05, Michael Mol <mikemol@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> You can only have one primary bootloader, either grub from Gentoo or
> >> grub2 from Mint, it cannot be both. But it looks like that's what you
> >> do have. Seeing as you intend to drop Mint eventually, you must
> >> uninstall grub2 and all it's files from Mint.
> > 
> > Not *exactly* true.
> 
> It is for the usual definition of "primary bootloader" as the one that
> is loaded and run by the BIOS.
> 
> > Grub can chainload any bootloader that's visible to BIOS. At minimum,
> > that means you could have grub on /dev/sda
> 
> (primary bootloader)
> 
> > chainload grub on /dev/sdb
> 
> (secondary bootloader).
> 
> > I'm uncertain if it means you could chainload a bootloader stored in
> > the first 512 bytes of /dev/sda8, but I suspect so.
> 
> You're right, you can.  Though to get grub2 to install on a partition
> like /dev/sda8 instead of in the MBR you have to use the --force
> option or you'll get some incomprehensable error message when you try
> to do the 'setup' command.

Last time I installed Ubuntu on a machine that had a different primary 
OS/bootloader I chose for it to be installed on the Ubuntu partition and there 
was not problem with it.  It was GRUB2

Then I chainloaded it from the primary bootloader.

The OS can do the same, but this means that he can either:

a) Install Gentoo's GRUB to the MBR and chainload from Gentoo's grub.conf 
Mint's /dev/sda8 boot loader (assuming that he has installed the Mint 
bootloader to /dev/sda8 instead of the MBR);  or

b) Install Gentoo's GRUB in Gentoo's partition, or some other partition (e.g. 
a boot partition specific to Gentoo) and chainload this from Mint's GRUB2.

-- 
Regards,
Mick

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