Understanding GRUB

Grub naming methods:
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1) All hard disks are designated by hd or sd.

2) All partitions are designated with numbers stating with 0 and 1.

3) Extended partitions are counted from 4 whether or not the primary partitions are present.

4) The first number is related to disk and second number is related to partition in that disk.

Examples:
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(hd0)
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It means first hard disk, usually is /dev/sda or /dev/hda.
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(hd1)
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 It means second hard disk, usually it is /dev/sdb or /dev/hdb
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(hd0,0)
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It means first hard disk, first partition. That is /dev/sda1 or /dev/hda1
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(hd0,1)
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It means first hard disk, second partition. That is /dev/sda2 or /dev/hda2
===

(hd1,1)
===
Second hard disk, second partition. That is /dev/sdb2 or /dev/sdb2
===


If you open and view /etc/grub/grub.conf you can view the following details:

Note: the below case is where there is no separate partition for /boot.
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1 default=0
2 timeout=10
3 splashimage=(hd0,5)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

4 title CentOS 5.6 i686
5   root (hd0,5)
6   kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-238.19.1.el5.centos.plusPAE ro root=/dev/sda6 rhgb noquiet
7   initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18-238.19.1.el5.centos.plusPAE.img

8 title Linux Mint 11
9   root (hd0,9)
10  kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-26-generic-pae ro root=/dev/sda10
11  initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-26-generic-pae

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All these entries has got some meaning. I will explain here what are those.

1)  Default=0:  By default boot the first partition listed below:
2)  timeout=10 : wait for 10 seconds before the user input.
3)  splashimage : Show splash image while waiting for user input.
4) Name of the first possible boot partition.
5) Location of grub as per grub naming convention( actual partition /dev/sda6).
6)  The 6th line consist of 5 parts as follows:

/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-238.19.1.el5.centos.plusPAE ==> The location of kernel.

---

ro

---

Mount the partition as read only and run fsck if necessary.

---

root=/dev/sda6 

---

Location of root partition.  The can be also UUID(universally unique identifier)

rhgb

---- 

Use graphical boot

----

noquiet

----

Be more verbose

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7) Location of intird or initramfs.


SEPARATE PARTITION FOR /boot
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Now, if we have a separate partition for /boot then the changes in /etc/grub/grub.conf, will be as follows:

1) The line beginning with root should indicate the partition for /boot and not partition of /.

2) The line starting with kernel must assume that the kernel (vmlinuz) is in /, not in /boot. However, the command root in that line must indicate the partition for /, not the partition for /boot

3) The line starting with initrd must assume that the initial ramdisk (initrd or initramfs) is in /, not in /boot.

Example:
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The /boot partition is /dev/sda1, or hd(0,0). The / partition is /dev/sda2, or hd(0,1). The file /boot/grub/grub.conf must indicate the following:
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title CentOS 5.6 i686
  root (hd0,0)
  kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-238.19.1.el5.centos.plusPAE ro root=/dev/sda2
  initrd /initrd-2.6.18-238.19.1.el5.centos.plusPAE.img