Recently, I installed CentOS 7 and used it for a while. I created a dual-boot configuration (Win7 and CentOS). I then deleted CentOS and installed OpenSUSE (LEAP) in its place, creating another dual-boot configuration.
In both installs, I used the same method. I deleted an existing logical partition and let the install program use that whole area. I let it automatically add a boot code to the MBR of my C: drive. Also, both times, I chose the same file system—XFS.
Like CentOS, OpenSUSE successfully created a startup menu providing access to both Linux and Windows. However, I also wanted a Windows-based boot menu option (using EasyBCD) and a DVD-based rescue option (using SuperGRUB2 Rescue Disk) just to be safe—in the event that something happens to the original Linux boot code in the MBR.
Under CentOS, I could use SuperGrub2 Rescue Disk and EasyBCD to locate and boot into Linux. However, under OpenSUSE, neither of these tools worked. SuperGRUB2 Rescue reported that there was no Linux distro. EasyBCD seemed to have found Linux automatically. But when I tried to use the EasyBCD menu option for Linux, it did not work. GRUB2 was activated in a command line interface. However, the process ended abnormally, leaving me at a command line somewhere inside of the Grub2 program directory.
Installing Grub2 on the Linux Root Partition
Just to satisfy my curiosity, I also tried to install OpenSUSE by putting GRUB2 completely on the Linux root partition (leaving the C: drive MBR untouched). No boot menu was created by Linux. All I could do was start Windows. Once again, I tried to find Linux using the SuperGRUB2 Rescue Disk and EasyBCD. Neither utility could find any sign that there is a Linux OS on the hard drive.
Somewhere in your forum, I later read that I should have installed a Generic MBR boot record during install when placing GRUB2 in the root partition of Linux. I remember having seen that option during the install configuration process. However, I didn’t understand exactly what a Generic boot record is (and I still don’t). So, I just decided to leave the MBR alone. Was this a mistake?
I’m not sure why one Linux version works with these boot utilities while another doesn’t. Do you have any ideas?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.