Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[hub.lombard]

Hi Guix :)

A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.

For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 

Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?

The GRUB originally installed on debian was on /dev/sda1

I installed GuixSD on /dev/sda6 (my-root). As a result, the new GRUB is also on /dev/sda6. In 'config.scm', the bootloader points to /dev/sda

(bootloader (grub-configuration (target "/dev/sda")))
(file-systems (cons (file-system
                      (device "my-root")
                      (title 'label)
                      (mount-point "/")
                      (type "ext4"))
                    %base-file-systems))

Apart from this issue, I will focus on the importance of supergrub2disk in the case of an installation, especially for an end user like me.

The first time it was after the installation of GuixSD 0.14 on my other laptop, it had worked as well and GRUB had been easy to restore.

https://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/

Hoping it could be useful to other people ...

Thank you in advance for your advice

Hubert

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[Joshua Branson]

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hi Guix :)
>
> A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
> At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
> To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
> SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.
>
> For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 

Hello,

Guix actually supports dual booting.

    (menu-entry
       (label "The Other Distro")
       (linux "/boot/old/vmlinux-2.6.32")
       (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda2"))
       (initrd "/boot/old/initrd"))

You can read the relevant information in the guix manual.  The chapter
is titled:  6.2.12 Bootloader Configuration.

>
> Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?
>
> The GRUB originally installed on debian was on /dev/sda1
>
> I installed GuixSD on /dev/sda6 (my-root). As a result, the new GRUB is also on /dev/sda6. In 'config.scm', the bootloader points to /dev/sda
>
> (bootloader (grub-configuration (target "/dev/sda")))
> (file-systems (cons (file-system
>                       (device "my-root")
>                       (title 'label)
>                       (mount-point "/")
>                       (type "ext4"))
>                     %base-file-systems))
>
> Apart from this issue, I will focus on the importance of supergrub2disk in the case of an installation, especially for an end user like me.
>
> The first time it was after the installation of GuixSD 0.14 on my other laptop, it had worked as well and GRUB had been easy to restore.
>
> https://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/
>
> Hoping it could be useful to other people ...
>
> Thank you in advance for your advice
>
> Hubert
>

-- 
Joshua Branson
Sent from Emacs and Gnus

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[Maxim Cournoyer]

Hello Hubert!

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hi Guix :)
>
> A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
> At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
> To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
> SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.
>
> For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 
>
> Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?

In GuixSD, the way to handle dual (or more) boot is to define a list of
menu-entries for the bootloader configuration in your OS config. It's
documented here:
https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Bootloader-Configuration.html.

For an actual example, this post might give you some idea:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2017-04/msg00045.html.

Good luck!

Maxim

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[hub.lombard]

Thank you Joshua :)

I'll try to adapt and inser this part of code into 'config.scm' by adding it under the following form (menu-enties (list (menu-entry...)))


----- Mail original -----
De: "Joshua Branson" <jbranso@dismail.de>
À: help-guix@gnu.org
Envoyé: Samedi 19 Janvier 2019 17:14:46
Objet: Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hi Guix :)
>
> A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
> At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
> To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
> SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.
>
> For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 

Hello,

Guix actually supports dual booting.

    (menu-entry
       (label "The Other Distro")
       (linux "/boot/old/vmlinux-2.6.32")
       (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda2"))
       (initrd "/boot/old/initrd"))

You can read the relevant information in the guix manual.  The chapter
is titled:  6.2.12 Bootloader Configuration.

>
> Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?
>
> The GRUB originally installed on debian was on /dev/sda1
>
> I installed GuixSD on /dev/sda6 (my-root). As a result, the new GRUB is also on /dev/sda6. In 'config.scm', the bootloader points to /dev/sda
>
> (bootloader (grub-configuration (target "/dev/sda")))
> (file-systems (cons (file-system
>                       (device "my-root")
>                       (title 'label)
>                       (mount-point "/")
>                       (type "ext4"))
>                     %base-file-systems))
>
> Apart from this issue, I will focus on the importance of supergrub2disk in the case of an installation, especially for an end user like me.
>
> The first time it was after the installation of GuixSD 0.14 on my other laptop, it had worked as well and GRUB had been easy to restore.
>
> https://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/
>
> Hoping it could be useful to other people ...
>
> Thank you in advance for your advice
>
> Hubert
>

-- 
Joshua Branson
Sent from Emacs and Gnus

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[hub.lombard]

Hello Maxim :)

 Thank you for your answer, maybe I will make a test like :


;; Operating system configuration for a full
;; "desktop" environment with gnome and
;; gnome-shell

(use-modules (gnu) (gnu system nss))
(use-service-modules desktop networking ssh)
(use-package-modules certs gnome screen ssh)

(menu-entries                                         ;To obtain the relevant informations about
  (list                                               ;label, linux, linux-arguments and initrd
    (menu-entry                                       ;I had a look to the grub.cfg's Debian.
    (label "Debian GNU/Linux")                        ;What about the '/old' reposiory?
    (linux "/boot/old/vmlinuz-4.19.0-1-amd64")        ;Like the exemple given by Joshua and Maxim,
    (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda1"))             ;I think to put it in the same place.
    (initrd "/boot/old/initrd.img-4.19.0-1-amd64")))  ;Not tested yet

(operating-system
  (host-name "gnu")
  (timezone "Europe/Paris")
  (locale "en_US.utf8")

;; Assuming /dev/sda is the target hard disk, and "my-root" is
;; the label of the target root file system, and /dev/sda6 the
;; target partition for the GuixSD's installation.
(bootloader (grub-configuration (target "/dev/sda")))
(file-systems (cons (file-system
                      (device "my-root")
                      (title 'label)
                      (mount-point "/")
                      (type "ext4"))
                    %base-file-systems))


----- Mail original -----
De: "Maxim Cournoyer" <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com>
À: "hub lombard" <hub.lombard@free.fr>
Cc: "Help Guix" <help-guix@gnu.org>
Envoyé: Samedi 19 Janvier 2019 17:53:16
Objet: Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

Hello Hubert!

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hi Guix :)
>
> A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
> At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
> To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
> SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.
>
> For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 
>
> Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?

In GuixSD, the way to handle dual (or more) boot is to define a list of
menu-entries for the bootloader configuration in your OS config. It's
documented here:
https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Bootloader-Configuration.html.

For an actual example, this post might give you some idea:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2017-04/msg00045.html.

Good luck!

Maxim

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[hub.lombard]

Hello Guix people :) 

Thanks again Josuha and Maxim for your answers \o

I realize that my last post shows a certain lack of knowledge of the subject from me but I have the impression of having progressed a little.

I have tried to inser menu-entry into (or after?) (bootloader but I have obtained several errors...  
"unbound variable", "invalid field initialized"... etc.

Here is how far I have been able to explore, without success for now:

root@gnu ~# guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
/etc/config.scm:9:0: error: extraneous file initializers (menu-entries)

Excerpt :

----------------------------------------------------------------
;; Operating system configuration for a full
;; "desktop" environment with gnome and
;; gnome-shell

(use-modules (gnu) (gnu system nss))
(use-service-modules desktop networking ssh)
(use-package-modules bootloaders certs gnome screen ssh)              

(operating-system
  (host-name "gnu")
  (timezone "Europe/Paris")
  (locale "en_US.utf8")

;; Assuming /dev/sda is the target hard disk, and "my-root" is
;; the label of the target root file system, and /dev/sda6 
;; the target partition for the GuixSD-0.16
;; installation. 
(bootloader (bootloader-configuration
              (bootloader grub-bootloader)
              (target "/dev/sda")))
            (menu-entries
              (list
                (menu-entry
                 (label "Debian GNU/Linux")
                 (linux "/boot/old/vminuz-4.19.0-1-amd64")
                 (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda1")
                 (initrd "/boot/old/initrd.img-4.19.0-1-amd64")))))                     

(file-systems (cons (file-system
                      (device "my-root")
                      (title 'label)
                      (mount-point "/")
                      (type "ext4"))
                     %base-file-systems))
------------------------------------------------------------------------

root@gnu ~# guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
/etc/config.scm:9:0: error: extraneous file initializers (menu-entries)

I have consulted a lot of documentation and examples but several things still escape me :)

Do you know where I should explore?

Hubert, an end user of GuixSD enthusiastic

----- Mail original -----
De: "hub lombard" <hub.lombard@free.fr>
À: "Maxim Cournoyer" <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com>
Cc: "Help Guix" <help-guix@gnu.org>
Envoyé: Dimanche 20 Janvier 2019 10:10:13
Objet: Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

Hello Maxim :)

 Thank you for your answer, maybe I will make a test like :


;; Operating system configuration for a full
;; "desktop" environment with gnome and
;; gnome-shell

(use-modules (gnu) (gnu system nss))
(use-service-modules desktop networking ssh)
(use-package-modules certs gnome screen ssh)

(menu-entries                                         ;To obtain the relevant informations about
  (list                                               ;label, linux, linux-arguments and initrd
    (menu-entry                                       ;I had a look to the grub.cfg's Debian.
    (label "Debian GNU/Linux")                        ;What about the '/old' reposiory?
    (linux "/boot/old/vmlinuz-4.19.0-1-amd64")        ;Like the exemple given by Joshua and Maxim,
    (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda1"))             ;I think to put it in the same place.
    (initrd "/boot/old/initrd.img-4.19.0-1-amd64")))  ;Not tested yet

(operating-system
  (host-name "gnu")
  (timezone "Europe/Paris")
  (locale "en_US.utf8")

;; Assuming /dev/sda is the target hard disk, and "my-root" is
;; the label of the target root file system, and /dev/sda6 the
;; target partition for the GuixSD's installation.
(bootloader (grub-configuration (target "/dev/sda")))
(file-systems (cons (file-system
                      (device "my-root")
                      (title 'label)
                      (mount-point "/")
                      (type "ext4"))
                    %base-file-systems))


----- Mail original -----
De: "Maxim Cournoyer" <maxim.cournoyer@gmail.com>
À: "hub lombard" <hub.lombard@free.fr>
Cc: "Help Guix" <help-guix@gnu.org>
Envoyé: Samedi 19 Janvier 2019 17:53:16
Objet: Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

Hello Hubert!

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hi Guix :)
>
> A few days ago, I managed to install GuixSD 0.16 next to debian testing on a Packard Bell 'EasyNote TE' laptop.
> At reboot, Grub only offers GuixSD.
> To have the choice at startup, I used the 'supergrub2disk' that I downloaded and put on a USB key, positioned as the first boot device.
> SuperGRUB2disk gives me the choice between GuixSD and debian, and I can start either one without any problem.
>
> For now, I keep the USB key inserted in the computer and everything is fine, having nevertheless planned to address the problem of the restoration of GRUB. 
>
> Would someone have a track that would enlighten me a bit?

In GuixSD, the way to handle dual (or more) boot is to define a list of
menu-entries for the bootloader configuration in your OS config. It's
documented here:
https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Bootloader-Configuration.html.

For an actual example, this post might give you some idea:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2017-04/msg00045.html.

Good luck!

Maxim

Re: Supergrub2disk helped me to have the choice at startup

[Maxim Cournoyer]

Hello, and sorry for the delayed answer!

hub.lombard@free.fr writes:

> Hello Guix people :) 
>
> Thanks again Josuha and Maxim for your answers \o
>
> I realize that my last post shows a certain lack of knowledge of the subject from me but I have the impression of having progressed a little.
>
> I have tried to inser menu-entry into (or after?) (bootloader but I have obtained several errors...  
> "unbound variable", "invalid field initialized"... etc.
>
> Here is how far I have been able to explore, without success for now:
>
> root@gnu ~# guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
> /etc/config.scm:9:0: error: extraneous file initializers (menu-entries)

It seems to be a problem caused by unbalanced parenthesises. See below
for a hint or two.

> Excerpt :
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> ;; Operating system configuration for a full
> ;; "desktop" environment with gnome and
> ;; gnome-shell
>
> (use-modules (gnu) (gnu system nss))
> (use-service-modules desktop networking ssh)
> (use-package-modules bootloaders certs gnome screen ssh)              
>
> (operating-system
>   (host-name "gnu")
>   (timezone "Europe/Paris")
>   (locale "en_US.utf8")
>
> ;; Assuming /dev/sda is the target hard disk, and "my-root" is
> ;; the label of the target root file system, and /dev/sda6 
> ;; the target partition for the GuixSD-0.16
> ;; installation. 
> (bootloader (bootloader-configuration
>               (bootloader grub-bootloader)
>               (target "/dev/sda")))
                                    ^
                                    this parenthesis is closing the
                                    bootloader field. This is wrong as
                                    the menu-entries that follow should
                                    be defined for the bootloader-configuration.

I can suggest Emacs + paredit for editing Lisp-based languages such as
Scheme. The learning curve is steep, but worth it IMO.

>             (menu-entries
>               (list
>                 (menu-entry
>                  (label "Debian GNU/Linux")
>                  (linux "/boot/old/vminuz-4.19.0-1-amd64")
>                  (linux-arguments '("root=/dev/sda1")
>                  (initrd "/boot/old/initrd.img-4.19.0-1-amd64")))))

There seems to be another parenthesis problem here, where the initrd
field is nested in the linux-arguments field.

>
> (file-systems (cons (file-system
>                       (device "my-root")
>                       (title 'label)
>                       (mount-point "/")
>                       (type "ext4"))
>                      %base-file-systems))
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> root@gnu ~# guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
> /etc/config.scm:9:0: error: extraneous file initializers (menu-entries)
>
> I have consulted a lot of documentation and examples but several things still escape me :)
>
> Do you know where I should explore?
>
> Hubert, an end user of GuixSD enthusiastic

I remember the feeling of discovering GuixSD -- I too was enthused :-)

With a little patience you'll find a great reward.

Good luck!

Maxim