Saturday, December 9, 2017

grub2 - Grub boot menu does not properly reflect default selection using Start-up Manager

After a ubuntu linux core update (2.6.38-8 to 2.6.38-10) a few days ago, I noticed my OS default selection in grub had changed. The previous core version was added to grub as a single option to be selected. So grub now displays the following:


Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-10-generic


Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-10-generic (recovery mode)


Previous Linux Versions


Memory test (memtest86+)


Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)


Microsoft Windows XP Professional (on /dev/sdb1)


If you select Previous Linux Versions, another screen displays:


Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic


Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-8-generic (recovery mode)


Esc reverts back to the main boot screen.


I used the Start-up Manager app in ubuntu to change the default selection back to WinXP but in grub the default reverts to the first menu selection, Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.38-10-generic. I checked the grub default file (/etc/default/grub). The GRUB_DEFAULT=6 setting (including counting BOTH previous core selections) matches the convention of menu order selection (i.e. starting with 0, then 1,2.3...) and the change from using Start-up Manager, but the grub boot screen displays the first menu selection as default. Now, using Start-up Manager again, if you select the option JUST BEFORE the desired default (in this case, Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200), the default reverts to WinXP, the last selection. I confirmed the change was listed correctly as GRUB_DEFAULT=5 in the grub default file.


Any suggestions on cleaning this up? I have used Start-up Manager numerous times prior to the core update and had no problems. It's also easier than manually editing the grub default file.


Note: I have no trouble loading grub and booting into any manually selected OS, it's just the default is not reflected properly in the grub boot screen when making changes from the Start-up manager.


[System info: running ubuntu 11.04 dual-boot with WinXP (ubuntu on separate hard drive)]

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