I'm not sure this is right group.. sorry

here is my setup:
40GB IDE HDD primary master split into these partitions:
1)winXP
2)Debian
3)Linux swap

GRUB is installed and dualboot Debian/winxp works fine

I have added unformatted 120Gb disk as secondary master in order to
install Solaris10 on it (the old one is full)

I'm worried it could corrupt existing MBR with GRUB, so I'd like to
make backup of grub config. (already backuped MBR)
If I understood correctly grub needs /boot/grub/menu.lst, but is that
all?
what happens if Debian partition gets corrupted, how can WinXP be
booted?

On 15 Mar 2007 06:57:25 -0700, orange <orange47@gmail.com> wrote in
alt.os.linux.debian:

> I'm not sure this is right group.. sorry

It may not be the right group if you want a more definitive reply than
I'm about to offer, but it's the best group on Usenet for Debian
questions.

> here is my setup:
> 40GB IDE HDD primary master split into these partitions:
> 1)winXP
> 2)Debian
> 3)Linux swap
>
> GRUB is installed and dualboot Debian/winxp works fine
>
> I have added unformatted 120Gb disk as secondary master in order to
> install Solaris10 on it (the old one is full)

I've installed Solaris 10 alongside Debian and possibly also Windows,
but it was a few months ago. I remember that I had no problems at all,
but I can't remember relevant details such as which bootloader I chose
to use. Sorry.

> I'm worried it could corrupt existing MBR with GRUB,

It could overwrite it, but only if you confirm that you want it to.

> so I'd like to
> make backup of grub config. (already backuped MBR)
> If I understood correctly grub needs /boot/grub/menu.lst, but is that
> all?

Grub probably needs other files as well, but there's no reason why
Solaris should interfere with your /boot any more than it would
interfere with your /etc or your /home.

> what happens if Debian partition gets corrupted, how can WinXP be
> booted?

By restoring Debian, including grub. But Solaris is unlikely to fsck
your MBR up the way Windows likes to.

There are two likely possibilities:

1. You install Solaris and reboot to a grub menu that lacks Solaris.
You'll then have to boot into Debian and configure /boot/grub/menu.lst
to include Solaris. You'll need "chainloader +1" and something like
"root (hd1,0a)".

2. You install Solaris and reboot to a UNIX bootloader. If that's not
what you want, you'll need a recent Debian installation CD in order to
use the "rescue" option and restore your grub.

An unlikely possibility is that the Solaris installation will corrupt
your Debian and Windows partitions. You should certainly back up
everything important, not just your grub configuration.

Have fun with Solaris.

--
PJR :-)

"Peter J Ross" <pjr@example.invalid> wrote in message
news:slrnevje6a.lb8.pjr@pjr.gotdns.org...
> On 15 Mar 2007 06:57:25 -0700, orange <orange47@gmail.com> wrote in
> alt.os.linux.debian:
>
> > I'm not sure this is right group.. sorry
>
> It may not be the right group if you want a more definitive reply than
> I'm about to offer, but it's the best group on Usenet for Debian
> questions.
>
> > here is my setup:
> > 40GB IDE HDD primary master split into these partitions:
> > 1)winXP
> > 2)Debian
> > 3)Linux swap
> >
> > GRUB is installed and dualboot Debian/winxp works fine
> >
> > I have added unformatted 120Gb disk as secondary master in order to
> > install Solaris10 on it (the old one is full)
>
> I've installed Solaris 10 alongside Debian and possibly also Windows,
> but it was a few months ago. I remember that I had no problems at all,
> but I can't remember relevant details such as which bootloader I chose
> to use. Sorry.
>
> > I'm worried it could corrupt existing MBR with GRUB,
>
> It could overwrite it, but only if you confirm that you want it to.
>
> > so I'd like to
> > make backup of grub config. (already backuped MBR)
> > If I understood correctly grub needs /boot/grub/menu.lst, but is that
> > all?
>
> Grub probably needs other files as well, but there's no reason why
> Solaris should interfere with your /boot any more than it would
> interfere with your /etc or your /home.
>
> > what happens if Debian partition gets corrupted, how can WinXP be
> > booted?
>
> By restoring Debian, including grub. But Solaris is unlikely to fsck
> your MBR up the way Windows likes to.
>
> There are two likely possibilities:
>
> 1. You install Solaris and reboot to a grub menu that lacks Solaris.
> You'll then have to boot into Debian and configure /boot/grub/menu.lst
> to include Solaris. You'll need "chainloader +1" and something like
> "root (hd1,0a)".
>
> 2. You install Solaris and reboot to a UNIX bootloader. If that's not
> what you want, you'll need a recent Debian installation CD in order to
> use the "rescue" option and restore your grub.
>
> An unlikely possibility is that the Solaris installation will corrupt
> your Debian and Windows partitions. You should certainly back up
> everything important, not just your grub configuration.
>
> Have fun with Solaris.

You could use a program like Ghost to backup your partitions so if
anything does screw them up, you can back to where you started.

later.....

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:25:14 +0000, ***** charles wrote:

> "Peter J Ross" <pjr@example.invalid> wrote in message
> news:slrnevje6a.lb8.pjr@pjr.gotdns.org...
>> On 15 Mar 2007 06:57:25 -0700, orange <orange47@gmail.com> wrote in
>> alt.os.linux.debian:
>>
>> > I'm not sure this is right group.. sorry
>>
>> It may not be the right group if you want a more definitive reply than
>> I'm about to offer, but it's the best group on Usenet for Debian
>> questions.
>>
>> > here is my setup:
>> > 40GB IDE HDD primary master split into these partitions:
>> > 1)winXP
>> > 2)Debian
>> > 3)Linux swap
>> >
>> > GRUB is installed and dualboot Debian/winxp works fine
>> >
>> > I have added unformatted 120Gb disk as secondary master in order to
>> > install Solaris10 on it (the old one is full)
>>
>> I've installed Solaris 10 alongside Debian and possibly also Windows,
>> but it was a few months ago. I remember that I had no problems at all,
>> but I can't remember relevant details such as which bootloader I chose
>> to use. Sorry.
>>
>> > I'm worried it could corrupt existing MBR with GRUB,
>>
>> It could overwrite it, but only if you confirm that you want it to.
>>
>> > so I'd like to
>> > make backup of grub config. (already backuped MBR)
>> > If I understood correctly grub needs /boot/grub/menu.lst, but is that
>> > all?
>>
>> Grub probably needs other files as well, but there's no reason why
>> Solaris should interfere with your /boot any more than it would
>> interfere with your /etc or your /home.
>>
>> > what happens if Debian partition gets corrupted, how can WinXP be
>> > booted?
>>
>> By restoring Debian, including grub. But Solaris is unlikely to fsck
>> your MBR up the way Windows likes to.
>>
>> There are two likely possibilities:
>>
>> 1. You install Solaris and reboot to a grub menu that lacks Solaris.
>> You'll then have to boot into Debian and configure /boot/grub/menu.lst
>> to include Solaris. You'll need "chainloader +1" and something like
>> "root (hd1,0a)".
>>
>> 2. You install Solaris and reboot to a UNIX bootloader. If that's not
>> what you want, you'll need a recent Debian installation CD in order to
>> use the "rescue" option and restore your grub.
>>
>> An unlikely possibility is that the Solaris installation will corrupt
>> your Debian and Windows partitions. You should certainly back up
>> everything important, not just your grub configuration.
>>
>> Have fun with Solaris.
>
> You could use a program like Ghost to backup your partitions so if
> anything does screw them up, you can back to where you started.
>
> later.....

Backups are always good before you start major tinkering. I used partimage
to backup and restore partitions to an external USB when I replace the
40gb disk in my laptop with a 120.

ok, everything went fine after having small problem with DVD refusing
to boot.
Solaris wrote new MBR to new hard drive (120Gb) and didn't touch old
MBR. So I now choose in BIOS which Grub should be booted. New Grub has
Windows option (haven't tried it yet) but no Debian; old one lacks
Solaris.
So, I'd like to edit the old Grub to include Solaris like you said.

One thing I don't understand; after I edit menu.lst from Debian, how
do I save changes to MBR?

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:38:23 -0700, orange wrote:

> ok, everything went fine after having small problem with DVD refusing
> to boot.
> Solaris wrote new MBR to new hard drive (120Gb) and didn't touch old
> MBR. So I now choose in BIOS which Grub should be booted. New Grub has
> Windows option (haven't tried it yet) but no Debian; old one lacks
> Solaris.
> So, I'd like to edit the old Grub to include Solaris like you said.
>
> One thing I don't understand; after I edit menu.lst from Debian, how
> do I save changes to MBR?

It's quite a simple operation. Boot Debian or boot a Live CD. Assuming you
know for a fact that your Debian install is on, say, hda3 then you would
do the following as root from a terminal:

1) grub
2) grub> root(hd0,2) grub numbers everything from zero, so hda is hd0
and partition hda3 is (hd0,2)
3) grub> setup (hd0)
4) grub> quit

then reboot. If you're not sure where the grub setup is, you can do:

grub> find /boot/grub/stage1

to find it.

On Wed, 21 Mar 2007 07:38:23 -0700, orange wrote:

> ok, everything went fine after having small problem with DVD refusing
> to boot.
> Solaris wrote new MBR to new hard drive (120Gb) and didn't touch old
> MBR. So I now choose in BIOS which Grub should be booted. New Grub has
> Windows option (haven't tried it yet) but no Debian; old one lacks
> Solaris.
> So, I'd like to edit the old Grub to include Solaris like you said.
>
> One thing I don't understand; after I edit menu.lst from Debian, how
> do I save changes to MBR?


Once it's installed in the MBR, you do not need to resave each time you
edit /boot/grub/menu.lst - simply edit menu.lst and reboot.

On 21 Mar 2007 07:38:23 -0700, orange <orange47@gmail.com> wrote in
alt.os.linux.debian:

> ok, everything went fine after having small problem with DVD refusing
> to boot.
> Solaris wrote new MBR to new hard drive (120Gb) and didn't touch old
> MBR. So I now choose in BIOS which Grub should be booted. New Grub has
> Windows option (haven't tried it yet) but no Debian; old one lacks
> Solaris.
> So, I'd like to edit the old Grub to include Solaris like you said.

Try adding something like this to /boot/grub/menu.lst:

title Solaris 10
root (hd1,0a)
chainloader +1

Make sure that you add it above or below the section that's
overwritten automatically by debconf.

> One thing I don't understand; after I edit menu.lst from Debian, how
> do I save changes to MBR?

You don't. The list isn't stored there.

--
PJR :-)