bunch of problems related to grub

[vish786]

1.) i often install different distro's (sometimes upgrade the same distro to latest release)so grub is also installed in MBR... will the MBR be damaged since grub is installed many no. of times ??

2.) i already have few linux distro's installed booting with mandriva's grub... and now i'm formating my ubuntu 6.06 and installing ubuntu 7.04... but i dont want ubuntu(or any other linux OS) to install its own grub, how do i do that ?

3.) which is better, install grub in MBR or in some directory ?

4.) while installing any linux distro... how do i install the grub in /root directory instead of MBR... coz during installation of any linux OS i dont find any such option of installing grub in /root or any other directory ??

5) if i install the grub in some directory then what will MBR contain?...
6) ... and how does it boot from directory coz its MBR which directs the OS to start?

7.)how do i install grub in directory(and which directory is better for installing grub).... and i have 2 sata hdds... first one has windows and in second all linux distro's are installed and my linux partition begins from sdb7 partition.

this one is not related to grub.
8.) whenever i need to delete some directories... i usually use console (as root) for deleting some restricted files, how to do that in graphical mode as root user after logging in as common user in graphical mode(becoz root user cannot be used to enter in graphical mode at loggin screen of distro's)

hope u guys help me out

 

[Pathik]

1. No its safe
3. MBR
2. Do no install any bootloader during the installation..
8. login as root in console... then start GUI by entering startx or init 5

 

[vish786]

2. Do no install any bootloader during the installation..

u did not understand re... distro will automatically install the grub. how do i avoid that.

8. login as root in console... then start GUI by entering startx or init 5

but how to enter into console first and then GUI.... coz usually i directly get GUI login screen....

u mean to say i should change grub values to " 1 " in kernel line ??

 

[anantkhaitan]

Check : MBR and GRUB

And for your grub problem with different distros :
1> Take a bakup of your /boot/grub/menu.lst

sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst <backup media>/menu.lst.bak

2> Then after you have installed a new distro append its grub configuration to your menu.lst.bak

3> Replace the original menu.lst

sudo cp <backup media>/menu.lst.bak /boot/grub/menu.lst

@ Problem no. 8

$ sudo nautilus

 

[vish786]

@anantkhaitan

thanks for that nautilus command

i know how to append entries of diff distros in menu.lst, that is not the problem here.

i'm asking how to avoid distro reinstalling or overwriting grub while installing new distro in my second question.

 

[praka123]

for problem no.8:

How to browse files/folders as root user in Nautilus

• To install File Browser (Root)

gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/Nautilus-root.desktop

• • Insert the following lines into the new file

[Desktop Entry]
Name=File Browser (Root)
Comment=Browse the filesystem with the file manager
Exec=gksudo "nautilus --browser %U"
Icon=file-manager
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Application;System;

• • Save the edited file
  • Read #How to refresh GNOME panel

• To browse files/folders as root user in Nautilus
  • Applications -> System Tools -> File Browser (Root)

[edit]
How to install a "View in Terminal" Menu for Nautilus

*ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_browse_files.2Ffolders_as_root_user_in_Nautilus