OpenSuse 11.3 - How to skip bootloader installation?

I just upgraded two 11.2 installations. One I easily managed from the dvd the other I had to install anew as the cd didn’t offer the possibility of upgrading. While I appreciated the many improvements in desktop stability I fuond I am non very satisfied of the installer.
It became minimal and just does what IT wants and not what I want anymore.
I miss the possibility of choosing desktops, programmes and settings during installation. Most of all I miss the possibility of choosing the bootloader and its location.

I have a multi boot multi disk machine and I prefer to modify entries by hand so i never install the loader but add the new entry in the grub but this was not possible and it made just a mess erasing completely all other entries…
Booting has always been a great problem for one of my machines and I’m not going to upgrade it if thisi is the result. Is there a way of going back to the old options (no loader?)
Why are the new installer always “easier” but less flexible for a user who’s not geek but not even a newbie?? Why does it have always to be more “Windows like”

polly argue wrote:

>
> I just upgraded two 11.2 installations. One I easily managed from the
> dvd the other I had to install anew as the cd didn’t offer the
> possibility of upgrading. While I appreciated the many improvements in
> desktop stability I fuond I am non very satisfied of the installer.
> It became minimal and just does what IT wants and not what I want
> anymore.
> I miss the possibility of choosing desktops, programmes and settings
> during installation. Most of all I miss the possibility of choosing the
> bootloader and its location.
>
> I have a multi boot multi disk machine and I prefer to modify entries
> by hand so i never install the loader but add the new entry in the grub
> but this was not possible and it made just a mess erasing completely all
> other entries…
> Booting has always been a great problem for one of my machines and I’m
> not going to upgrade it if thisi is the result. Is there a way of going
> back to the old options (no loader?)
> Why are the new installer always “easier” but less flexible for a user
> who’s not geek but not even a newbie?? Why does it have always to be
> more “Windows like”
>
>
All the options you say are missing are still there (I installed 11.3 on my
laptop with the dvd just a few days ago so I remeber that). But I always
make a fresh install and later move my data onto the machine.

Maybe you did not see that options because you upgraded and did not make a
fresh install. If so it makes sense to me, if someone does an update why
should the installer show that options and not take the options which were
used before.

For the cd installer it is clear that you cannot choose a desktop because
the cd’s are made for one desktop.

Martin Helm wrote:

> polly argue wrote:
>
>>
>> I have a multi boot multi disk machine and I prefer to modify entries
>> by hand so i never install the loader but add the new entry in the grub
>> but this was not possible and it made just a mess erasing completely all
>> other entries…
>> Booting has always been a great problem for one of my machines and I’m
>> not going to upgrade it if thisi is the result. Is there a way of going
>> back to the old options (no loader?)

As usuall I forgot a part of my answer. Is it an option for you to make a
fresh install on the multiboot machine where you can choose all the options
you need and only leave the home partition intact (of course I do not know
how your environment is set up)?
Of course it is somewhat more work compared to a simple upgrade but maybe it
is worth it.

I did both on two different machines. One was a new install as while installing it did not find the old installation and didn’t offer me the possibility of an upgrade (I choose a new installation only with old distros very mixed up but this was a clean 11.2), the other (from the dvd) offered me the possibility of upgrading but it overwrote the grub without my consent and kept only Opensuse sweeping away win and Mandriva. Luckily that machine has only one disk but I have a quite older one more complicated with a mix of ide and sata and disks and I won’t update/reinstall if I’m not sure i can skip the loader-install step and add it afterwards by hand in the grub. I won’t run the risk of being shut out as it happened lots of times. (i always have /, /boot, /home and /data)

polly argue wrote:

>
> I did both on two different machines. One was a new install as while
> installing it did not find the old installation and didn’t offer me the
> possibility of an upgrade (I choose a new installation only with old
> distros very mixed up but this was a clean 11.2), the other (from the
> dvd) offered me the possibility of upgrading but it overwrote the grub
> without my consent and kept only Opensuse sweeping away win and
> Mandriva. Luckily that machine has only one disk but I have a quite
> older one more complicated with a mix of ide and sata and disks and I
> won’t update/reinstall if I’m not sure i can skip the loader-install
> step and add it afterwards by hand in the grub. I won’t run the risk of
> being shut out as it happened lots of times. (i always have /, /boot,
> /home and /data)
>
>
What I wanted to point at is: You can skip the bootloader if you use the dvd
not the cd and choose not upgrading but fresh install. Of course leaving the
partitions intact which you want not to touch (/home and the other operating
systems of course).
I do not know about another possibility, maybe someone else.

On 2010-08-04 09:36, polly argue wrote:
>
> I did both on two different machines. One was a new install as while
> installing it did not find the old installation and didn’t offer me the
> possibility of an upgrade

This is one problem. If you want help with it you will have to give specifics.

> the other (from the
> dvd) offered me the possibility of upgrading but it overwrote the grub
> without my consent and kept only Opensuse sweeping away win and
> Mandriva.

An upgrade MUST upgrade grub as well, and it uses the configuration you had previously. If your
configuration was bad, it will create a bad grub. If some entries disappear, you recreate them from
the backup. You made a backup, didn’t you?

If you think grub was badly upgraded, create a bugzilla so that it is solved for the next version.

And yes, an upgrade asks very few questions. It is an upgrade, you answered those questions when you
installed the system, no need to ask again something that can not be changed, anyway.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” GM (Elessar))