[kwlug-disc] how the ^#*&^)(& do i convince debian to install grub, not LILO?

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Fri, 11 Sep 2009, Eric Gerlach wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 09:42:17AM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > On Thu, 10 Sep 2009, Paul Gallaway wrote:
> >
> > > >  is this really what a debian install looks for (ext2 vs ext3 for
> > > > /boot partition) in deciding whether or not to allow you to use grub?
> > >
> > > I use ext3 for my '/' (root) partition and have grub installed (and
> > > grub2 in one case). I don't have a separate /boot partition so
> > > perhaps that makes a difference?
> >
> >   from force of habit, i've always created a separate, primary
> > partition for my /boot directory, as i like to use LVM for everything
> > else.  i did that for a manual install of lenny and chose ext3 for
> > /boot (which i thought was perfectly reasonable), but when it came
> > time for the bootloader, i was presented with only LILO as a choice.
> >
> >   i started the install from scratch and selected the installer to
> > do its own pre-defined LVM-based install, and noticed that it also
> > created a primary partition for /boot, but only ext2.  so i tried
> > a manual install again but choosing ext2 for just that partition,
> > and i got grub.
> >
> >   i'm concluding that that's what fixed it, because i'm sure i
> > kept all the other variables the same.  but if someone wants to
> > test that, feel free to correct my thinking.  i just find it odd
> > that a current debian install doesn't support a choice of ext3 for
> > that.
>
> Are you using software RAID?  I know I've had issues with GRUB and RAID
> in the past, and the Debian installer has played it safe and refused to
> install with GRUB.

  no RAID, just LVM.

rday
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Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

        Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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