Member Avatar for Rearden

Hey, I've been using linux forever and want to start dual booting slackware and BSD. I've heard that Slackware doesn't like this very much and was wondering if anyone has any experience with this type of setup?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by alc6379

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Short summary and practical choices for : the community suggestions from , and point to two reliable patterns — let the BSD boot code own the MBR and put the Linux loader in the Linux partition, or put a flexible Linux loader (GRUB) in the MBR and chainload BSD. Both work; pick by which side you want to control the top-level menu and how comfortable you are restoring MBRs.

If you prefer the BSD-in-MBR approach: install the BSD boot manager to the MBR, then install LILO or GRUB to the Linux partition (not /dev/sda). That keeps BSD in charge and lets you press the BSD menu keys or configure a default. It is low-risk if you install the Linux loader to the partition boot record first, so you can always reselect the MBR owner.

If you prefer GRUB in MBR (what and recommended), use GRUB to chainload the BSD partition. Example entries:

# GRUB legacy (common in older Slackware)
title FreeBSD
root (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
boot
# GRUB2
menuentry "FreeBSD" {
  set root=(hd0,msdos2)
  chainloader +1
}

Practical tips and cautions: back up the partition table and MBR before changing boot code; verify device/partition numbering (hda vs sda; GRUB vs GRUB2 numbering differences); install boot code to a partition first while testing; and keep a live/rescue CD handy to reinstall a bootloader. On modern machines with UEFI/GPT the steps differ (EFI loaders or rEFInd are normally used), so follow the BSD and Slackware UEFI docs if that applies.

Recommendation: for a single, easy menu go with GRUB in MBR; for a simple, conservative setup that leaves BSD in control, put BSD in MBR and Linux loader in the Linux partition.

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Member Avatar for ilaiy

I have a dual boot with slackware and works like a charm .. But need to use grub as the boot loader ... All the best

./thanks
ilaiy

Member Avatar for alex_extreme

Yeah, the problem with Slack is that it uses LILO. LILO doesn't handle dual-booting that well. You should be able to install GRUB easily though.

Member Avatar for alc6379

you can do this one of two ways:

  • Let LILO handle the boot loading
  • Let the BSD MBR handle the boot loading

Personally, I prefer the latter. The FreeBSD MBR is SUPER simple-- you just hit the Fkeys (F1, F2, F3, etc)for the partition you want to boot. For something like Linux, it will even detect the partition type, and label it as "Linux". :cool: If you go this route, you'd install LILO onto the /boot or / partition of your Linux install, and configure it to automatically boot to that partition with no delays.

If you choose the first option, dual booting with LILO, it's pretty simple. You can follow these directions. They mention FreeBSD specifically, but they work for any BSD:

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=32084&seqNum=6&rl=1

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