Grub2Testing

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There is a desire always to ship the latest and greatest of any product; boot loaders included. However upgrading a bootloader is at best frightening and risky. The primary bootloader for x86 platforms is currently grub. That however has not been updated since about 1996 and is getting long in the tooth. It also does not support newer bios forms like EFI and it never will.

There is a replacement for grub, which has been claiming to be the replacement for it for some year (about 6 at least), grub2. Switching to this would bring support for newer systems, internationalisation, ''updates'' and ''bug fixes'' etc.

So its clear we would like to switch the default bootloader to grub2. It makes sense, its the way forward, why do we not just do it. Well does grub2 support every single machine out there.  All those odd broken machines that grub supports? We do not know. Thats where this page comes in.
There is a desire always to ship the latest and greatest of any product; boot loaders included. However upgrading a bootloader is at best frightening and risky. The primary bootloader for x86 platforms is currently grub. That however has not been updated since about 1996 and is getting long in the tooth. It also does not support newer BIOS forms like EFI and it never will.

There is a replacement for grub, which has been claiming to be the replacement for it for some years (about 6 at least), grub2. Switching to this would bring support for newer systems, internationalisation, ''updates'' and ''bug fixes'' etc.

So it's clear we would like to switch the default bootloader to grub2. It makes sense, it's the way forward, why do we not just do it? Well, does grub2 support every single machine out there? All those odd broken machines that grub supports? We do not know. That's where this page comes in.
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grub2 can be installed in parallel with, and as a chainloaded sub-bootloader of, your existing grub installation. This allows you to boot actually with grub and then select grub2 from the menu. The you can confirm grub2 works correctly before electing to switch to it formally. If you are running Jaunty Jackalope or later, grub2 can be installed in parallel with, and as a chainloaded sub-bootloader of, your existing grub installation. This allows you to boot actually with grub and then select grub2 from the menu. Then you can confirm grub2 works correctly before electing to switch to it formally.
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== Before you Test ==

Though it is unlikely you will have any issues we would always recommend taking precautions before attempting a bootloader update. It is recommended that you have an up to date backup of your system before attempting this (you have backups right?). It is also recommended that you have a bootable CD or a bootable USB disk available should you be unable to boot following the installation.
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TDA     {{{
sudo apt-get install grub2
}}}

At the first prompt, select OK. Next, at the "Chainload from menu.lst" prompt answer "Yes". And at the "Linux command line:" prompt just press the Enter key.

This will install grub2 and modify the existing grub boot loader menu allow one to chain load grub2 to allow one to test to see if grub2 works on your machine. At this stage, the original grub is still the main boot loader and keeps the original boot menu items.

Note: In Jaunty (but not Karmic), there is currently a bug in the grub2 installer ([[https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/376879|LP#376879]]) where it modifies the existing grub configuration incorrectly. At the "Chainload into Grub 2" menu item, press 'e' to edit the configuration. Press 'e' a second time to edit the top boot line and change:

    {{{
root xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
}}}

to:

    {{{
uuid xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
}}}

and press the Enter key after editing this line. Then press 'b' to chainload and boot grub2.

Note: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx is your partition UUID number.

If one can boot from grub2 successfully, one can then install grub2 onto the system as the main boot loader using the command:

    {{{
sudo upgrade-from-grub-legacy
}}}

== Alternative Test ==

If you do not want to install grub2 on your machine but you do want to see if it works with your BIOS, an alternative test is as follows:

 * Download the bzip2 compressed image bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2 from http://people.ubuntu.com/~cking/grub2-boot-tests/bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2

 * Uncompress it:

    {{{
bunzip2 bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2
}}}

 * Insert a 4GB or larger USB pen drive into your machine

 * Copy the image to the drive (assuming it appears as block device /dev/sdb, do the following):

    {{{
sudo dd if=bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img of=/dev/sdb
}}}
'''WARNING: Make sure you are writing to the correct block device before proceeding!'''

 * Boot your machine with this image. If it boots OK, add your hardware to the list below. Note: This image boots from an ext3 partition.
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(Please add your machine in the correct alphabetical order)
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|| '''Machine''' || Chainloaded || Native ||
|| Thinkpad T30 || PASS || PASS ||
|| '''Machine''' || Chainloaded || Native || Root Filesystem || Dual Boot || Root on LVM and/or MD (which?) ||
|| Acer Aspire 4530-5627 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Karmic + Windows 7 (pre RC) ||
|| Acer Aspire 5051 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + Windows XP || No ||
|| Acer Aspire 5735 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Jaunty + Windows 7RC || ||
|| Acer Aspire 5920 || PASS || Screen drawing UNUSABLY slow (NV8600M GT). 2secs for scrolling cmdline. GRUB_TERMINAL=console fixes it. || ext4 || Ubuntu Jaunty, Windows Vista ||
|| Acer Aspire 5930G || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes, Jaunty, Windows Vista || ||
|| Acer Aspire One || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Asus EEE-PC 900A || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Jaunty + Recovery ||
|| Asus EEE-PC 1000H || PASS || PASS || ext3 || jaunty + recovery ||
|| Asus EEE-PC 1000H || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Asus EEE 1000HE || PASS || PASS || ext3 || jaunty + winXP + Win recovery ||
|| Asus !F3Jc || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + Windows XP || No ||
|| Asus P5GD2-Basic || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Jaunty, XP || No ||
|| Asus P5Q-E (AHCI) Intel Q955 || PASS || UNTESTED || jfs || Jaunty, Win7 RC || No ||
|| Asus P5Q Deluxe || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Jaunty + Karmic + Win7 RC ||
|| Asus P6T Deluxe V2 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| BenQ Joybook 5000 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes, Jaunty + WinXP || No ||
|| Compal FL90 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Jaunty + WinXP ||
|| Compaq DC7100 SFF || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Jaunty + Debian ||
|| Compaq Presario C700 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Karmic + Windows 7 RC ||
|| Compaq Presario CQ50 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || vista ||
|| Compaq Presario CQ60 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || vista ||
|| Compaq Presario SR1000|| PASS || PASS || ext4 || No||
|| Compaq Presario SR2129|| PASS || FAIL<<FootNote(LP #385021)>> || ext3 || Vista + Recovery + Jaunty + Karmic || No ||
|| Compaq Presario V5120|| PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + WinXP ||
|| Dell Dimension 3100C || UNTESTED || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 510M || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + Windows 7 RC (labeled Vista) || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 530 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 530s with extra hard disk (BIOS boots from /dev/sdb)|| PASS || FAIL<<FootNote(after booting an Ubuntu CD, selecting "Boot from first hard drive", then going to rescue mode and running "grub-install /dev/sdb" this works again)>> || ext4 || Karmic + Vista || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 535 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1420 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1420 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1501 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || jaunty + karmic + vista ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1525 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1545 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 1720 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext4 || kub-jaun + stud-jaun || No LVM ||
|| Dell Inspiron 6400 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Vista ||
|| Dell Inspiron 6400 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Dell Inspiron 640m || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || ||
|| Dell Inspiron 8600 || PASS || UNTESTED || ext3 || No || Yes LVM ||
|| Dell Inspiron 9300 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Grub1 from Puppy Linux in MBR, Grub2 in partition boot record, Grub2 also boots WinXP (untested) || Yes LVM ||
|| Dell Inspiron e1405|| PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + Win 7 || NO ||
|| Dell Mini 9 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Mini 10 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Mini 10v || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Latitude C640 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| Dell Latitude D610 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic + WindowsXP || No ||
|| Dell Latitude D820 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Dell Latitude E6400 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Latitude E6500 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Dell M1330 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell XPS M1330 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Dell Optiplex 740 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes, XP ||
|| Dell Optiplex 760 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Precision 390n || PASS || UNTESTED || ext3 || No || Yes, LVM ||
|| Dell Precision 530 MT ([[https://launchpad.net/+hwdb/+submission/2e9cc7dd7f6a0801450c7123dd3cde23|hwdb]])|| PASS || PASS<<FootNote(Inadvertantly, the original groot was a chainloaded partition, but the upgrade script didn't honor that)>> || ext3 || Yes, win2k, hardy (jaunty partition is chainloaded from hardy's grub) || No ||
|| Dell Precision M90 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes (Jaunty/Karmic) || No ||
|| Dell Precision T3400 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| Dell Studio 1535 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Studio 1536 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Jaunty + WinXP || No ||
|| Dell Studio 1537 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Studio 1537 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Jaunty, Windows Vista ||
|| Dell Studio 14xx || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Studio XPS 1340 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Studio XPS 16xx || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Dell Vostro 1500 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Dell XPS M1330 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Vista || No ||
|| Dell XPS M1530 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Fujitsu-Siemens Pi1505 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Karmic, XP ||
|| Fujitsu-Siemens Pi2515 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Fujitsu-Siemens Pa3553 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes. Jaunty and Windows Vista ||
|| Fujitsu-Siemens Esprimo V5505 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || Encrypted LVM ||
|| Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi 2428 || PASS || PASS || reiserfs (ext2 for /boot) || Windows XP || No ||
|| Gigabyte Nforce4 SLI GA-K8N Pro-SLI || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Windows XP ||
|| Gigabyte AMD 790GX MA790GP-DS4H || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| HP 530 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes. Jaunty and Windows 7 RC || No ||
|| HP Compaq Evo N800v || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| HP Compaq 8510p || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes. Jaunty and Windows XP ||
|| HP Compaq nc6320 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| HP Laptop 8730w||PASS||PASS||ext3||Yes. Jaunty and Windows XP||
|| HP DV4T || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| HP DV5 1153EO || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| HP DV6000t CTO || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Windows 7 Beta, 8.04 Hardy on other partition || No ||
|| HP TX1000 GA647UA || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty, Vista || No ||
|| IBM Thinkcentre A50 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Intel Core 2 DP35DP self-build (Intel BIOS) || PASS || FAILED || ext4 || Yes - 9.04 & Windows XP || No ||
|| Intel Core 2 Quad self-build (based on a ASUS P5K) [kalon33] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, with Win7 RC, Jaunty and Karmic alpha ||
|| Intel D945GNT || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Intel Quad Core self-build (AMI BIOS) [lana] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Intel Quad Core self-build (AMI BIOS) [chloe] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Intel DQ35JO || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || root on LVM on md RAID1 ||
|| Intel BOXDQ45CB || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Jaunty, Win7 || No ||
|| Lenovo 3000 N200 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Lenovo 3000 V100 || Untested || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Lenovo Ideapad S10 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Lenovo T60 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes, Jaunty + WinXP Pro ||
|| Lenovo T61 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Lenovo T61 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Lenovo T61 || PASS || UNTESTED || ext4 || No || encrypted LVM ||
|| Lenovo T61 || PASS || UNTESTED || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty, Windows Xp ||
|| Lenovo T61p || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| Lenovo T400 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| Lenovo T400 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Karmic, Windows XP || No ||
|| Lenovo T500 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty, Windows XP || No ||
|| Lenovo W500 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || ||
|| Lenovo X200 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Lenovo X200s || UNTESTED || PASS || ext4 || Karmic, Jaunty, Squeeze || root (and /boot) on LVM ||
|| LG S1 Express Dual || PASS || PASS || ReiserFS 3 || Yes, Karmic, Windows XP ||
|| MSI EX600 laptop Intel core2duo on PM965 chipset || PASS || PASS || ext4 || no, karmic || no ||
|| MSI P35 Platinum || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Karmic.a1 + Jaunty ||
|| MSI Wind U100 || PASS || UNTESTED || ext3 || Yes, Intrepid, Jaunty || root on LVM ||
|| MSI Wind nettop PC 100 ([[https://launchpad.net/+hwdb/+submission/2b2ec95fba67c02cc55087b47b229c98|hwdb]]) || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Yes, jaunty + 2nd jaunty || root on LVM ||
|| Novatech Nomad (rebranded Uniwill M30EI0) || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || root on LVM ||
|| PackardBell EasyNote MX52b || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty, Vista SE || ? ||
|| Parallels Desktop 4.0.3844 for Mac || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || ? ||
|| Sapphire PE-AM2RS690HD motherboard c/w AMD 3800+ || PASS || PASS<<FootNote(Inadvertantly, the original groot was a chainloaded partition, but the upgrade script didn't honor that)>> || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Self-built, [[http://heh.fi/hw/luotain.20090528.lshw|lshw]], [[http://heh.fi/hw/luotain.20090528.dmesg.jaunty|dmesg]] || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| Self-built [Hew], [[http://paste.ubuntu.com/189955/|lshw]], [[http://paste.ubuntu.com/189956/|dmesg]] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Self-built, MSI K8Neo4 [[http://pastebin.com/f4427a1ee|lshw]] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Windows XP , Ubuntu Jaunty || No ||
|| Self-built-I7 920-Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P || PASS || PASS || ext4 and ext3 ||YES/NO - 5 linux installs-wrong ID attached to some installs ||
|| Self-built, [[http://lodder.osn.be/hw/lshw20090609.txt|lshw]], [[http://lodder.osn.be/hw/dmesg20090609.txt|dmesg]] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty and Windows Vista || No ||
|| Self-built, [[http://paste.ubuntu.com/191850/|lshw]] || PASS || PASS || ext3 || NO || NO ||
|| Self-built ASUS M2N-E || PASS || PASS || ext4 || vista ||
|| Shuttle SG33 ([[https://launchpad.net/+hwdb/+submission/ac8c28b7f2a8959ccf5c376401bf2452|hwdb entry]])|| PASS || PASS || ext3 || yes, hardy and intrepid || No ||
|| Sony Vaio VGN-FE31H || PASS || PASS || ext3 and ext4 || Yes : jaunty(ext3) + karmic(ext4) || -- ||
|| Sony Vaio VGN-T140P || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No: Karmic only || -- ||
|| Thinkpad T23 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || No ||
|| Thinkpad T23, [[http://heh.fi/hw/virhe.20090528.lshw|lshw]], [[http://heh.fi/hw/virhe.20090528.dmesg.karmic|dmesg]] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Thinkpad T30 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad T42P || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad X301 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad R51 || PASS || PASS || ext3 (Karmic) || No ||
|| Thinkpad R61 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext4 (Karmic) || No ||
|| Thinkpad R61 || PASS || PASS || ext4 (Karmic) || No ||
|| Thinkpad T60 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad X31 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad X60 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Thinkpad X61 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Factory Vista repair/rescue, WinXP ||
|| Thinkpad X61T || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| Thinkpad X61s || PASS || UNTESTED || ext4 || Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04 || No ||
|| Thinkpad X300 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Thinkpad Z61m || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || LVM ||
|| Toshiba U400 || PASS || PASS || ext3 (ext2 for /boot) || Windows Vista || No ||
|| Toshiba A215-S4697 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Toshiba L40-14G || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Jaunty and Vista ||
|| Toshiba nb100-12a|| PASS || PASS || ext4|| karmic+xp ||No||
|| Toshiba p10-832|| PASS || PASS || ext4|| No ||No||
|| Toshiba Tecra A9 [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/ToshibaTecraA9|Tecra A9]] || PASS || PASS || reiserfs || Yes (Jaunty+Vista)) || No ||
|| Toshiba Tecra M7 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Windows 7 and Jaunty || No ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || ext2 || No ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || ext3 || Vista ||
|| VirtualBox || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No || Yes ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || jfs || No ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || reiserfs || No ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || xfs || No ||
|| VirtualBox || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No ||
|| VirtualBox 64 bit || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| VMWare ESX 3.5 || PASS || PASS || ext3 || No || root on LVM ||
|| VMWare Fusion 2.0.4 || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| VMWare Workstation 6.5 || UNTESTED || PASS || ext3 || No ||
|| XBook Eruptio DL70 (Compal) || PASS || PASS || ext4 || No || No ||
|| Xps1710 || PASS || UNTESTED || ext4 || No ||
|| Zepto Znote 6214W || PASS || PASS || ext4 || XP, Win 7 RC || No ||
|| Self-built, [[http://paste.ubuntu.com/192699/|lshw]] || PASS || PASS || ext4 || Yes, Jaunty & Windows 2000 <<FootNote(Only worked with Karmic's grub2 (becuase of lack of devicemap in jaunty), and I had to put in the 'devicemap' command, it wasn't done by os-prober)>> || NO ||

There is a desire always to ship the latest and greatest of any product; boot loaders included. However upgrading a bootloader is at best frightening and risky. The primary bootloader for x86 platforms is currently grub. That however has not been updated since about 1996 and is getting long in the tooth. It also does not support newer BIOS forms like EFI and it never will.

There is a replacement for grub, which has been claiming to be the replacement for it for some years (about 6 at least), grub2. Switching to this would bring support for newer systems, internationalisation, updates and bug fixes etc.

So it's clear we would like to switch the default bootloader to grub2. It makes sense, it's the way forward, why do we not just do it? Well, does grub2 support every single machine out there? All those odd broken machines that grub supports? We do not know. That's where this page comes in.

Testing grub2

If you are running Jaunty Jackalope or later, grub2 can be installed in parallel with, and as a chainloaded sub-bootloader of, your existing grub installation. This allows you to boot actually with grub and then select grub2 from the menu. Then you can confirm grub2 works correctly before electing to switch to it formally.

Even if you are only able to test in chainloaded mode that would give us some information as to the viability of grub2.

Before you Test

Though it is unlikely you will have any issues we would always recommend taking precautions before attempting a bootloader update. It is recommended that you have an up to date backup of your system before attempting this (you have backups right?). It is also recommended that you have a bootable CD or a bootable USB disk available should you be unable to boot following the installation.

How to Install grub2

  • sudo apt-get install grub2

At the first prompt, select OK. Next, at the "Chainload from menu.lst" prompt answer "Yes". And at the "Linux command line:" prompt just press the Enter key.

This will install grub2 and modify the existing grub boot loader menu allow one to chain load grub2 to allow one to test to see if grub2 works on your machine. At this stage, the original grub is still the main boot loader and keeps the original boot menu items.

Note: In Jaunty (but not Karmic), there is currently a bug in the grub2 installer (LP#376879) where it modifies the existing grub configuration incorrectly. At the "Chainload into Grub 2" menu item, press 'e' to edit the configuration. Press 'e' a second time to edit the top boot line and change:

  • root   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

to:

  • uuid   xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

and press the Enter key after editing this line. Then press 'b' to chainload and boot grub2.

Note: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx is your partition UUID number.

If one can boot from grub2 successfully, one can then install grub2 onto the system as the main boot loader using the command:

  • sudo upgrade-from-grub-legacy

Alternative Test

If you do not want to install grub2 on your machine but you do want to see if it works with your BIOS, an alternative test is as follows:

  • Download the bzip2 compressed image bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2 from http://people.ubuntu.com/~cking/grub2-boot-tests/bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2

  • Uncompress it:
    • bunzip2 bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img.bz2
  • Insert a 4GB or larger USB pen drive into your machine
  • Copy the image to the drive (assuming it appears as block device /dev/sdb, do the following):
    • sudo dd if=bootable-grub2-2.5GB.img of=/dev/sdb

WARNING: Make sure you are writing to the correct block device before proceeding!

  • Boot your machine with this image. If it boots OK, add your hardware to the list below. Note: This image boots from an ext3 partition.

Results

(Please add your machine in the correct alphabetical order)

NOTE: if you only test chainloaded, put UNTESTED in the native column.

Machine

Chainloaded

Native

Root Filesystem

Dual Boot

Root on LVM and/or MD (which?)

Acer Aspire 4530-5627

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Karmic + Windows 7 (pre RC)

Acer Aspire 5051

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + Windows XP

No

Acer Aspire 5735

PASS

PASS

ext3

Jaunty + Windows 7RC

Acer Aspire 5920

PASS

Screen drawing UNUSABLY slow (NV8600M GT). 2secs for scrolling cmdline. GRUB_TERMINAL=console fixes it.

ext4

Ubuntu Jaunty, Windows Vista

Acer Aspire 5930G

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes, Jaunty, Windows Vista

Acer Aspire One

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Asus EEE-PC 900A

PASS

PASS

ext4

Jaunty + Recovery

Asus EEE-PC 1000H

PASS

PASS

ext3

jaunty + recovery

Asus EEE-PC 1000H

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Asus EEE 1000HE

PASS

PASS

ext3

jaunty + winXP + Win recovery

Asus F3Jc

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + Windows XP

No

Asus P5GD2-Basic

PASS

PASS

ext3

Jaunty, XP

No

Asus P5Q-E (AHCI) Intel Q955

PASS

UNTESTED

jfs

Jaunty, Win7 RC

No

Asus P5Q Deluxe

PASS

PASS

ext4

Jaunty + Karmic + Win7 RC

Asus P6T Deluxe V2

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

BenQ Joybook 5000

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes, Jaunty + WinXP

No

Compal FL90

PASS

PASS

ext3

Jaunty + WinXP

Compaq DC7100 SFF

PASS

PASS

ext4

Jaunty + Debian

Compaq Presario C700

PASS

PASS

ext3

Karmic + Windows 7 RC

Compaq Presario CQ50

PASS

PASS

ext4

vista

Compaq Presario CQ60

PASS

PASS

ext3

vista

Compaq Presario SR1000

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Compaq Presario SR2129

PASS

FAIL1

ext3

Vista + Recovery + Jaunty + Karmic

No

Compaq Presario V5120

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + WinXP

Dell Dimension 3100C

UNTESTED

PASS

ext4

No

Dell Inspiron 510M

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + Windows 7 RC (labeled Vista)

No

Dell Inspiron 530

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 530s with extra hard disk (BIOS boots from /dev/sdb)

PASS

FAIL2

ext4

Karmic + Vista

No

Dell Inspiron 535

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 1420

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 1420

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Dell Inspiron 1501

PASS

PASS

ext4

jaunty + karmic + vista

Dell Inspiron 1525

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 1545

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 1720

UNTESTED

PASS

ext4

kub-jaun + stud-jaun

No LVM

Dell Inspiron 6400

PASS

PASS

ext3

Vista

Dell Inspiron 6400

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Dell Inspiron 640m

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Inspiron 8600

PASS

UNTESTED

ext3

No

Yes LVM

Dell Inspiron 9300

PASS

PASS

ext3

Grub1 from Puppy Linux in MBR, Grub2 in partition boot record, Grub2 also boots WinXP (untested)

Yes LVM

Dell Inspiron e1405

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + Win 7

NO

Dell Mini 9

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Mini 10

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Mini 10v

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Latitude C640

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

Dell Latitude D610

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic + WindowsXP

No

Dell Latitude D820

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Dell Latitude E6400

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Latitude E6500

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Dell M1330

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Dell XPS M1330

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Dell Optiplex 740

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes, XP

Dell Optiplex 760

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Precision 390n

PASS

UNTESTED

ext3

No

Yes, LVM

Dell Precision 530 MT (hwdb)

PASS

PASS3

ext3

Yes, win2k, hardy (jaunty partition is chainloaded from hardy's grub)

No

Dell Precision M90

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes (Jaunty/Karmic)

No

Dell Precision T3400

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

Dell Studio 1535

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Studio 1536

PASS

PASS

ext4

Jaunty + WinXP

No

Dell Studio 1537

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Studio 1537

PASS

PASS

ext4

Jaunty, Windows Vista

Dell Studio 14xx

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Studio XPS 1340

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Studio XPS 16xx

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Dell Vostro 1500

UNTESTED

PASS

ext4

No

Dell XPS M1330

PASS

PASS

ext4

Vista

No

Dell XPS M1530

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Fujitsu-Siemens Pi1505

PASS

PASS

ext4

Karmic, XP

Fujitsu-Siemens Pi2515

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Fujitsu-Siemens Pa3553

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes. Jaunty and Windows Vista

Fujitsu-Siemens Esprimo V5505

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Encrypted LVM

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi 2428

PASS

PASS

reiserfs (ext2 for /boot)

Windows XP

No

Gigabyte Nforce4 SLI GA-K8N Pro-SLI

PASS

PASS

ext4

Windows XP

Gigabyte AMD 790GX MA790GP-DS4H

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

HP 530

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes. Jaunty and Windows 7 RC

No

HP Compaq Evo N800v

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

HP Compaq 8510p

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes. Jaunty and Windows XP

HP Compaq nc6320

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

HP Laptop 8730w

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes. Jaunty and Windows XP

HP DV4T

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

HP DV5 1153EO

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

HP DV6000t CTO

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Windows 7 Beta, 8.04 Hardy on other partition

No

HP TX1000 GA647UA

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Jaunty, Vista

No

IBM Thinkcentre A50

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Intel Core 2 DP35DP self-build (Intel BIOS)

PASS

FAILED

ext4

Yes - 9.04 & Windows XP

No

Intel Core 2 Quad self-build (based on a ASUS P5K) [kalon33]

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, with Win7 RC, Jaunty and Karmic alpha

Intel D945GNT

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Intel Quad Core self-build (AMI BIOS) [lana]

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Intel Quad Core self-build (AMI BIOS) [chloe]

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Intel DQ35JO

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

root on LVM on md RAID1

Intel BOXDQ45CB

PASS

PASS

ext3

Jaunty, Win7

No

Lenovo 3000 N200

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Lenovo 3000 V100

Untested

PASS

ext3

No

Lenovo Ideapad S10

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Lenovo T60

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes, Jaunty + WinXP Pro

Lenovo T61

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Lenovo T61

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Lenovo T61

PASS

UNTESTED

ext4

No

encrypted LVM

Lenovo T61

PASS

UNTESTED

ext4

Yes, Jaunty, Windows Xp

Lenovo T61p

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Lenovo T400

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

Lenovo T400

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Karmic, Windows XP

No

Lenovo T500

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Jaunty, Windows XP

No

Lenovo W500

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

Lenovo X200

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Lenovo X200s

UNTESTED

PASS

ext4

Karmic, Jaunty, Squeeze

root (and /boot) on LVM

LG S1 Express Dual

PASS

PASS

ReiserFS 3

Yes, Karmic, Windows XP

MSI EX600 laptop Intel core2duo on PM965 chipset

PASS

PASS

ext4

no, karmic

no

MSI P35 Platinum

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Karmic.a1 + Jaunty

MSI Wind U100

PASS

UNTESTED

ext3

Yes, Intrepid, Jaunty

root on LVM

MSI Wind nettop PC 100 (hwdb)

PASS

PASS

ext3

Yes, jaunty + 2nd jaunty

root on LVM

Novatech Nomad (rebranded Uniwill M30EI0)

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

root on LVM

PackardBell EasyNote MX52b

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Jaunty, Vista SE

?

Parallels Desktop 4.0.3844 for Mac

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

?

Sapphire PE-AM2RS690HD motherboard c/w AMD 3800+

PASS

PASS3

ext4

No

No

Self-built, lshw, dmesg

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

Self-built [Hew], lshw, dmesg

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Self-built, MSI K8Neo4 lshw

PASS

PASS

ext4

Windows XP , Ubuntu Jaunty

No

Self-built-I7 920-Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P

PASS

PASS

ext4 and ext3

YES/NO - 5 linux installs-wrong ID attached to some installs

Self-built, lshw, dmesg

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Jaunty and Windows Vista

No

Self-built, lshw

PASS

PASS

ext3

NO

NO

Self-built ASUS M2N-E

PASS

PASS

ext4

vista

Shuttle SG33 (hwdb entry)

PASS

PASS

ext3

yes, hardy and intrepid

No

Sony Vaio VGN-FE31H

PASS

PASS

ext3 and ext4

Yes : jaunty(ext3) + karmic(ext4)

--

Sony Vaio VGN-T140P

PASS

PASS

ext4

No: Karmic only

--

Thinkpad T23

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

No

Thinkpad T23, lshw, dmesg

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Thinkpad T30

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad T42P

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad X301

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad R51

PASS

PASS

ext3 (Karmic)

No

Thinkpad R61

UNTESTED

PASS

ext4 (Karmic)

No

Thinkpad R61

PASS

PASS

ext4 (Karmic)

No

Thinkpad T60

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad X31

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad X60

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Thinkpad X61

PASS

PASS

ext3

Factory Vista repair/rescue, WinXP

Thinkpad X61T

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Thinkpad X61s

PASS

UNTESTED

ext4

Ubuntu 8.10 and 9.04

No

Thinkpad X300

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Thinkpad Z61m

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

LVM

Toshiba U400

PASS

PASS

ext3 (ext2 for /boot)

Windows Vista

No

Toshiba A215-S4697

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Toshiba L40-14G

PASS

PASS

ext3

Jaunty and Vista

Toshiba nb100-12a

PASS

PASS

ext4

karmic+xp

No

Toshiba p10-832

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Toshiba Tecra A9 Tecra A9

PASS

PASS

reiserfs

Yes (Jaunty+Vista))

No

Toshiba Tecra M7

PASS

PASS

ext4

Windows 7 and Jaunty

No

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

ext2

No

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

ext3

Vista

VirtualBox

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

Yes

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

jfs

No

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

reiserfs

No

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

xfs

No

VirtualBox

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

VirtualBox 64 bit

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

VMWare ESX 3.5

PASS

PASS

ext3

No

root on LVM

VMWare Fusion 2.0.4

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

VMWare Workstation 6.5

UNTESTED

PASS

ext3

No

XBook Eruptio DL70 (Compal)

PASS

PASS

ext4

No

No

Xps1710

PASS

UNTESTED

ext4

No

Zepto Znote 6214W

PASS

PASS

ext4

XP, Win 7 RC

No

Self-built, lshw

PASS

PASS

ext4

Yes, Jaunty & Windows 2000 4

NO

  1. LP #385021 (1)

  2. after booting an Ubuntu CD, selecting "Boot from first hard drive", then going to rescue mode and running "grub-install /dev/sdb" this works again (2)

  3. Inadvertantly, the original groot was a chainloaded partition, but the upgrade script didn't honor that (3 4)

  4. Only worked with Karmic's grub2 (becuase of lack of devicemap in jaunty), and I had to put in the 'devicemap' command, it wasn't done by os-prober (5)

KernelTeam/Grub2Testing (last edited 2010-07-21 12:55:26 by 193)