[Linux-users] Grub options menu on CentOS

[Lonni J Friedman]

On 8/23/07, Bill Campbell <linux-sxs at celestial.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 22, 2007, Collins Richey wrote:
> >On 8/21/07, Bill Campbell <linux-sxs at celestial.com> wrote:
> >> I'm gradually learning my way around CentOS systems, but haven't figured
> >> out how to select different init states from grub.
> >>
> >> On the SuSE systems I've been using, one can type ``init 3'' at the grub
> >> prompt, but CentOS doeesn't provide that prompt.
> >>
> >> How does one configure grub to provide the options prompt where one can
> >> specify boot options?
> >>
> >
> >SuSE must have tinkered massively (not too surprising, it's SuSE after
> >all) with Grub. I've never seen such a feature. The standard method is
> >that describe by others: type 'e', navigate to the kernel line, type
> >'e', add your kernel/init options, and type 'b'.
>
> SuSE did whatever they did to make it easy for non-techie people
> to handle exceptional cases without having to deal with editing
> the /boot/grub/menu.lst file.  Some techies don't really like to
> have to edit a file that's (a) fairly arcane, (b) messing it up
> can render the machine unbootable, and (c) is often updated by
> less-than-smart scripts during on-line system updates.

menu.lst doesn't need to be edited at all if you want to boot to a
different runlevel.  I (and others), already explained how to do this
at the GRUB prompt.  I'm rather curious how you deal with serial
consoles and SUSE's GRUB, as they *always* got royally fscked up for
me (which was the original reason why I ripped out their GUI GRUB
crap).

>
> I just experienced a non-bootable CentOS 4.5 system here when an
> external USB hard drive was on.  The boot process apparently was
> looking for that instead of the internal IDE (/dev/hda) drive.

I don't understand how this could happen unless someone overwrote the
filesystem labels that Redhat uses by default.

>
> IHHO, this is an example of poor engineering on Red Hat/CentOS
> part as it would require an on-site visit to reboot a machine
> after a power failure if it had accessible removable media that
> wasn't on the machine during installation.

I don't see how SUSE's engineering of GRUB would have avoided this
problem.  If you're suddenly getting a different boot device due to a
USB drive in the system, fstab is going to trip over it anyway.  Then
again, Redhat's use of filesystem labels should have avoided this,
whereas SUSE would not.

>
> BTW:  I haven't seen anybody give Novell/SuSE any credit for
> their role in destroying the SCO suit.  If there's any justice in
> the U.S. legal system (highly doubtful), this might even get back
> to Microsoft and their support of SCO in this suit.

At best, it negates the devil's deal that Novell made with M$.  IBM's
lawyers would have destroyed SCO eventually regardless.