Multiple Frugal DSL Versions in Grub
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Multiple Frugal DSL Versions in Grub
started by: mikshaw
Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 09 2006,06:46
Where would someone find info on how to put multiple KNOPPIX and kernels on the same partition, to be chosen from Grub without needing to rename files each time you want to switch versions? This would be very useful when testing RCs and remasters while keeping the stable version readily available when you reboot.
Posted by pr0f3550r on Mar. 09 2006,13:35
| Quote (mikshaw @ Mar. 09 2006,01:46) |
| Where would someone find info on how to put multiple KNOPPIX and kernels on the same partition |
I'd start from the Knoppix forum (?)
| Quote |
| This would be very useful when testing RCs and remasters while keeping the stable version readily available when you reboot. |
Can you rephrase that in English :-> ?
Posted by doobit on Mar. 09 2006,14:25
Mikshaw,Why the same partition? With logical partitions you can make as many as you want and have different grub entries point to them. DSL finds the /home /opt/ and /optional partitions the same way with each version, so those could remain the same, if that's what you want.
Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 09 2006,16:20
pr0f3550r: This is unrelated to Knoppix. I'm refering to the file named KNOPPIX, which is the compressed filesystem in DSL. EDIT: It probably isn't unreated to Knoppix, now that I think of it, but my point still stands that I'm working with DSL here, not Knoppix. As DSL progresses, it becomes less and less like Knoppix, and therefore less likely that support should be expected from Knoppix users and developers.Rephrase: It would be useful for me to have multiple frugal installs as an option, so I can quickly swap in a release candidate or remastered version without having to disable my current stable version of DSL.
doobit: Using multiple logical partitions would be illogical (stupid pun intended), because I have no idea how many versions of DSL I will eventually want available at one time, and also because I know it's possible to do this using one partition (I just don't know the specifics). The /home and /opt are not a problem...it's all about choosing the appropriate kernel and KNOPPIX file arbitrarily from Grub.
I received a message this morning about a solution that should work (thank you, Chris =o)). I'll post it here when I know first-hand if it does exactly what I think it does.
Posted by mikshaw on Mar. 09 2006,19:38
Okies....clivesay gave me the info I needed. The key is the boot option knoppix_name=filename, and optionally knoppix_dir=directory if your KNOPPIX file is in a different directory.In my DSL partition (hda4) I have:
KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX (DSL 2.1)
KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX-rc (DSL 2.3RC1)
boot/isolinux (DSL 2.1, kernel 2.4.31)
boot/isolinux-rc (DSL 2.3RC1, kernel 2.4.26)
In Grub's menu.lst I added a new entry for RC1, with (hd0,3)/boot/isolinux-rc/linux24 and knoppix_name=KNOPPIX-rc in the kernel line, and (hd0,3)/boot/isolinux-rc/minirt24.gz as the initrd. If I was using the same kernel for both DSL versions, I assume the extra isolinux directory would be unnecessary.
Posted by hs7sv on Mar. 10 2006,04:55
Cool! ... 
Posted by adraker on Mar. 10 2006,07:14
Yes indeed, thanks for sharing mikshaw and clivesay!