[Techtalk] Setting default in Grub

[Miriam English]

Hi David,

I would just change the line that chooses the default to
default 2
to indicate the number of the list item (2 in your case, as the first is 
the zeroth item) that you want booted by default.

I don't have the other values in my grub, so I can't help you there. 
Maybe someone else here will know more about those. But just changing 
the default value should solve your problem.

Cheers,

	- Miriam

David Sumbler wrote:
> On my hand-held PC that has been giving me a certain amount of trouble
> (as previously reported), I have two kernels installed -
> 2.6.28-11-generic and 2.6.28-19-generic.  The first of these works fine,
> but not the second, because of the peculiar way the computer has been
> set up with modules in strange places etc.
> 
> Eventually I should like to see if I can sort out the module problems
> with the newer kernel (and/or any later ones that come along), but for
> now I just try to remember to boot 2.6.8.11.  The trouble is, I keep
> forgetting to select it from the Grub menu, and then have to reboot.
> 
> So for the time being I want to make this the default kernel.
> 
> At the moment the relevant parts of my /boot/grub/menu/lst read:
> 
> ## default num
> default		0
> 
> <snip>
> 
> ## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
> ## can be true or false
> # updatedefaultentry=false
> 
> ## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
> ## can be true or false
> # savedefault=false
> 
> ## ## End Default Options ##
> 
> title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-19-generic
> uuid		49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63
> kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-19-generic
> root=UUID=49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63 ro quiet 
> initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-19-generic
> quiet
> 
> title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-19-generic (recovery mode)
> uuid		49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63
> kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-19-generic
> root=UUID=49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63 ro  single
> initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-19-generic
> 
> title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
> uuid		49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63
> kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic
> root=UUID=49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63 ro quiet 
> initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
> quiet
> 
> title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
> uuid		49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63
> kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic
> root=UUID=49b44e1c-fa4b-44cd-bc12-42f656b32f63 ro  single
> initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
> 
> 
> As I understand it, all I need to do is to change the line 'default 0'
> to 'default saved', to add the line 'savedefault' below the third kernel
> entry, and to run the command 'grub-set-default default'.
> 
> However, despite having read the Grub Manual, I don't feel confident
> that I have got this exactly right.  And as I don't have any other way
> of booting the machine, I need to get it right first time.
> 
> Can somebody please confirm that the above 3 steps are all I need to do,
> or, if I have got it wrong, tell me what I should do?
> 
> Incidentally, what does the line 'quiet' do?  It doesn't seem to be
> documented.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
>