ubuntu dual boot

turbodiesel

turbodiesel

Member
hi all

i have windows 7 and Ubuntu on my laptops hard drive

recently i updated Ubuntu and now Ive got 3 Ubuntu's showing up on the Os chioce screen

i have logged into all of them and they are all the same

how do i get rid of this
 
ok, first the sreen you are talking about is alled GRUB, which is moniker for GRand Unified Bootloder.

Start with booting to Ubuntu and open Terminal. Then you will need the following code.
Code: 
 sudo update-grub
. That will ask you for your password (because of teh Sudo command). Enter the password and it will run. If this doesn't fix it, then you will need to manually edit the Grub file. This I am going to research right now to see how to do.
 
Are the choices all identical? If not, I wouldn't touch them and here's why:

I'm pretty sure the "other Ubuntus" are just different kernel versions so when you update to a newer kernel and it goes belly up for some reason, you can just boot with an older kernel, fix the problem and be on your merry way. Most distros maintain at least one if not several older kernels for this very reason.
 
no dosent fix the problem wolfeking

yes hackapelite they are all identical

i may just remove Ubuntu then reinstall and start again
 
if you go that method, then do not install updates for GRUB that are in the update list. That is where the duplicate entries come from.
 
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yes.
Grub don't really need updates anyway. You don't see windows updating the MBR do you? Most of the updates to it probably just make it more usable with other versions of Linux. If you aren't haveing a GRUB specific issue, then don't update it.

Really, that is how I feel about most updates. If it don't fix something that you are having an issue with, then don't install it.
This does not go to kernel updates. They are the base, and most of the time install new features that may be needed to run some programs.
 
Ok I think I might know how to fix it, but I have a few questions for you.

did you install using Wubi?

You have 3 versions of Ubuntu in your Grub. Are they different numbers after ubuntu or are they identical in the kernel versions as well.
 
Can you copy me exactly what you see when you run

sudo update-grub

This is what I have.


Generating grub.cfg ...
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin
Found Windows 7 (loader) on /dev/sdb1
done
 
Ah yep. Here is how to solve this.

Boot whatever kernel that you want to keep. So I would recommend 2.6.32-38. That is the most up to date Linux Kernel. When you have booted to Ubuntu, go to the Synaptic Package Manager. for me it is under System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager. I am using Ubuntu 10.04 so it is a bit different than the more current versions. You may need to search for it in the unity menu.

Once you have Synaptic Package Manager open use the quick search function to enter in the numbers to the Kernels that you want to get rid of. If you do not remember what those numbers are go to a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and type in sudo update-grub. This will give you a list of what your Grub loader finds as bootable.

Alright so in Synaptic Package Manager with the number typed in of the kernel versions that you want to get rid of you will find that there are some that are marked with a green box beside them. click the box and check "mark for complete removal" In order to remove a Kernel from my PC I need to find 2 different parts to uninstall.

linux-headers-2.6.32-33
linux-headers-2.6.32-33-generic

Once you uninstall those then you need to run sudo update-grub again. This should show that you have removed the 2.6.32-33 from your system.

I hope that works for you.

EDIT: Be sure not to delete any Kernels that do not match exactly to the one that you are trying to delete! Remove One Kernel at a time and check to see that it was removed before moving on to the next one!
 
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Those entries are not identical, they allow booting with different kernel versions (for the reasons I mentioned). This is perfectly normal and you have nothing to worry about, your GRUB is just fine. Anyway, if you want to, you should be alright to remove the older kernels using the method in salvage's post, but I would leave at least 2 different versions just in case (even if the newest one works fine). There's really no benefit in removing kernels other than the very small savings in HD space and making the boot menu look a little neater, though.
 
thx for your input guys

ok salvage this, if i do that will i have to do it everytime Ubuntu updates or just once?

sorry i am new to linux
 
ryan.white said:
thx for your input guys

ok salvage this, if i do that will i have to do it everytime Ubuntu updates or just once?

sorry i am new to linux
Click to expand...

Like Wolfking mentioned, you would only need to do this whenever your system updates with a new Linux Kernel. I would think that after the first big update you would rarely have to do this.

The point that hackapelite made is a good one. While you can use your system with only one Kernel installed it would be a good idea to leave another stable version installed just in case the most up to date version does not work. It would be best to leave 2 versions of the Kernel installed.
 
ok guys question 2



if i had only ubuntu installed on my laptop would i still have grub when i start up or straight to ubuntu?
 
ryan.white said:
ok guys question 2



if i had only ubuntu installed on my laptop would i still have grub when i start up or straight to ubuntu?
Click to expand...

Grub menu. Grub is a bootloader, ie every linux distro regardless of how many or few you use on one computer all come with grub (at least any newer ones, silo and lilo are pretty much never used) because that's the bootloader for linux. If you really don't want to see that screen, just change the time for it to 1 second (you might be able to go to 0, not sure) and then it'll just flash real quick then start loading ubuntu. I'd leave it at 1 though, just so you can quickly go into a different kernel or recovery mode if needed.
 
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