mhbell Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Ok Arch Fans is there a way to boot Arch Linux derivatives such as Manjaro using another distros Grub such as Mints grub. I don't want to use manjaros grub to boot my Primary OS. I also don't want to use a 3rd party boot loader such as ReFind. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookmem Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 1 hour ago, mhbell said: Ok Arch Fans is there a way to boot Arch Linux derivatives such as Manjaro using another distros Grub such as Mints grub. I don't want to use manjaros grub to boot my Primary OS. I also don't want to use a 3rd party boot loader such as ReFind. Mel I'm not an Arch user, so I may well be wrong about this. But in my experience, when you install a distro it wants to install grub to itself and make it the default boot. But usually there is a way to make it install its grub to its partition instead of sda. Then your system should boot to the previous grub and the previous default distro. Then from that distro, you can run sudo update-grub to add Arch to the grub menu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted March 29, 2022 Author Share Posted March 29, 2022 20 minutes ago, Bookmem said: I'm not an Arch user, so I may well be wrong about this. But in my experience, when you install a distro it wants to install grub to itself and make it the default boot. But usually there is a way to make it install its grub to its partition instead of sda. Then your system should boot to the previous grub and the previous default distro. Then from that distro, you can run sudo update-grub to add Arch to the grub menu. Don't think that would work for me as I use GPT partitioning and a EFI partition for boot. I may have to experiment to see if I can get it to work. I find this problem on all arch and derivative distro's. That is one of the reasons I don't use them. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted March 29, 2022 Author Share Posted March 29, 2022 Well I solved it partly by adding the following line at the bottom of the Manjaro entry in Mints grub config. /boot/initramfs-5.15-x86_64.img The only problem is now Manjaro is the first entry to boot. I use to be pretty good with grub, but have not had to change grub config for many years and I've forgotten alot of the settings in the various grub configs and sub menus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Nah, just run sudo update grub on linuxmint and it will overwrite the boot loader with LinuxMint one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 Or run this in mint: sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg The bootloader installation is not distro specific, this would work for any dual boot method with grub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 (edited) On 3/29/2022 at 4:58 PM, securitybreach said: Nah, just run sudo update grub on linuxmint and it will overwrite the boot loader with LinuxMint one. Yes and as soon as I update grub or update the kernel, manjaro or any Arch derivative will no longer boot without the work around. Arch and it's derivatives are all the same in this regards. Their grub2 is different from standard grub2. Edited April 13, 2022 by mhbell spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Actually that is not the case. update-grub only updates grub.cfg and it will not run grub-install to replace the bootloader. https://askubuntu.com/questions/503417/how-to-prevent-ubuntu-from-overwriting-grub-bootloader-after-update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Just boot into the distro you want to use GRUB from, run grub-install then update-grub. If the Manjaro or whatever new distro has taken over GRUB, boot the other distro from that. If that's not possible, use Boot Select menu or REFInd. Note that Linux often throws curve balls - Debian Sid GRUB no longer runs os-prober when updating. Something about blah blah security blah. Not sure if it affects non-Debian setups. In that case, one needs to add GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false to /etc/default/grub to enable other OSs to be detected. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 (edited) Ok Here is the work around to get Arch Linux derivatives to boot from Another distros Grub. This line would have to be added everytime you update grub or a new kernel Mel In Mint's grub.cfg there is no /boot/initramfs-5.12-x86_64.img. This Line has to be added to the primary grub. Edited April 13, 2022 by mhbell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted April 13, 2022 Share Posted April 13, 2022 Seems like rEFInd would solve all your problems, but I see you don't want to go that route. Is there any specific reason you're looking to avoid the most obvious (and perhaps easiest?) solution? Not busting your chops....maybe you're looking for a challenge? I've been known to do that, LOL! OTOH, I saw your posts about GPT vs MBR, so you're obviously well versed in GPT. Why not just use the boot menu in the EFI interface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 (edited) The reason I won't use ReFind is because it uses Icons instead of a Text Based boot menu. When you have 6 SSDs with 2 to 4 distros on each it is a little bit confusing when the majority of the icons are the same. As far as the EFI boot menu goes I would have to press a key and wait for the computer to boot up to the firmware and then scroll to the distro and press another key to boot the distro I want to boot. With grub I can boot any of my disks or distros in 12 seconds or less with my computer. Mel Edited April 13, 2022 by mhbell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted April 13, 2022 Author Share Posted April 13, 2022 Well the problem is solved for now. Instead of editing my grub menu everytime I update or add a new kernel I'll do like Hedon James said. I'll boot the EFI menu and choose the Disk or distro I want to boot to. Thanks Hedon for the suggestion. I'm in Manjaro right now and it didn't take but a few seconds longer to boot it that way. Mel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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