[SOLVED] Two Ubuntu Selections on boot menu

[killswitch]

Hi Guys,

I am dual booting Linux and Vista on my laptop. Upon doing my sudo apt-get update and downloading a new Kernel, I now had 2 Kernel's on my first boot menu, EASY ENOUGH, I know how to fix that.

I went into synaptic and marked the older kernel for removal, and now the initial boot screen only has the Kernel and the Kernel recovery.

Here's where the problem comes:

If I select the Windows Loader, it takes me to the next screen where I can select "Windows Vista" or "Ubuntu," BUT, for some reason, it looks like this:

Windows Vista
Ubuntu
Ubuntu


Any idea why there are 2 Ubuntu's selections there?

[devils casper]

Post the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst file here.

[rokytnji]

If you are running a wubi install of Ubuntu inside of Windows and are using the Windows bootloader to boot up Ubuntu. Then I for one am at a loss o how to tell you to edit the Windows Bootloader fie in Windows.

If However you are using grub to boot up Windows and Ubuntu you can open Terminal and

sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

And remove the old kernel entry by just adding a Comment mark "#" before the old kernel menu entry.

Edit: Casper has you on the right track.

[killswitch]

Ok, had to switch to Linux. The old kernel is 2.5.28.11, my new and current kernel is 2.6.28.15. I don't see anything in my gedit file referencing 2.6.28.11:

# menu.lst - See: grub(, info grub, update-grub(
# grub-install(, grub-floppy(,
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
uuid 258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid 258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Windows Vista (loader)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda2
title Windows Vista (loader)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

[rokytnji]

First Ubuntu Entry

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic
uuid 258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic
quiet

is normal boot up

2nd Ubuntu grub entry

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-15-generic (recovery mode)
uuid 258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-15-generic root=UUID=258ec5e6-b91b-45fd-a739-1a2f413cbedc ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-15-generic

is a recovery boot option for the same kernel which you should leave alone.
That is why you have 2 entries for Ubuntu. Recovery is there as a failsafe parachute in case normal boot fails to work for whatever reason. Grub looks just fine to me. I would not touch it. And you are right, the old kernel is not on the menu so no need to mess with it.

[killswitch]

Cool, I gotcha.

Thanks guys.

[Haarlem]

For future reference. I had the same issue and executed the following command to get rid of it and all went well:

sudo apt-get autoremove