Grub giving multiple entries and login screen borked

[Old Marcus]

I have a strange thing with grub where it's giving me multiple entries for the same os. After looking at menu.lst, they seem to point to different versions of the kernel. I've tried both, the top one gives me an awful resolution that I can't fix, and the second one gives me a login screen that seems to be in 1280x1024, but in a 640x480 window. so I only see a quarter of it. I can still blindly login though, and When I do, my desktop is normal resolution and no problems. The main thing is why is grub pointing to two different versions of the kernel?

menu.lst:

Code: Select all

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=/dev/sda6 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=/dev/sda6 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=/dev/sda6 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=/dev/sda6 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel memtest86+
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin

### 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		Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root		(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1

I recently reinstalled mint due to grub going awry after I resized a partition. But yesterday, everything was working fine. Any ideas? And also any ideas on fixing the login screen?

[Guest]

Old Marcus - you're not the only one!

I have same problem, several versions of the kernel listed.
For me it seems to have occurred after installing Virtualbox, which didn't work correctly when installed from synaptic, so i followed an ubuntu thread which instructed to grab some other files.
But i can't be 100% sure if thats the cause.
Since then, if i boot to the first option offered in grub, i get a crap resolution, no sound, wrong keyboard settings - you name it.
I have since sorted out the screen res, but can't get sound working nor a few other things.

However, if i boot to the third listed "generic" version, all is working though in general everything feels rather sluggish
I checked the xorg.conf file, and it seems to be totally different depending which boot option i choose

whats going on exactly?

[qbicdesign]

forgot to login - above post is mine.
sorry.

the kernel which works for me is:
title Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
root (hd2,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic

my boot list looks like this:

Code: Select all

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-386
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-386 root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-386

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-386 (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-386 root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-386

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-virtual
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-virtual root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-virtual

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-virtual (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-virtual root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-virtual

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-server
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-server root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-server

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-server (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-server root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-server

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-rt
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-rt root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-rt

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-rt (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-rt root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-rt

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-openvz
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-openvz root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-openvz

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-openvz (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-openvz root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-openvz

[b]title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic[/b]

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-21-generic root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-21-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=/dev/sdc1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel 2.6.24-16-generic (recovery mode)
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-16-generic root=/dev/sdc1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-16-generic

title		Linux Mint, kernel memtest86+
root		(hd2,0)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin

### 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		Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root		(hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.11-0.1 (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.11-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_ST3160812A_3LS0AQPX-part5 resume=/dev/sdb6 splash=silent showopts vga=0x31a 
initrd		/boot/initrd-2.6.25.11-0.1-default
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.0 - 2.6.25.11-0.1 (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.11-0.1-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_ST3160812A_3LS0AQPX-part5 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off x11failsafe vga=0x31a 
initrd		/boot/initrd-2.6.25.11-0.1-default
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		openSUSE 11.0 (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_ST3160812A_3LS0AQPX-part5 resume=/dev/sdb6 splash=silent showopts vga=0x31a 
initrd		/boot/initrd-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.0 (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_ST3160812A_3LS0AQPX-part5 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off x11failsafe vga=0x31a 
initrd		/boot/initrd-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		Memory Test (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/memtest.bin  
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sdb5.
title		Kernel-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae (on /dev/sdb5)
root		(hd1,4)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae root=/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_ST3160812A_3LS0AQPX-part5 resume=/dev/sdb6 splash=silent showopts vga=0x31a 
initrd		/boot/initrd-2.6.25.11-0.1-pae
savedefault
boot

[qbicdesign]

thanks for the very useful info - starting to make sense now!
I guess that means I'm running on an outdated kernel right now, as i booted from the entry i mentioned.
My GFX is Nvidia geforce FX5600XT, which should work ok in any kernel if i use Envy (I hope)
Sound may be a little harder. No matter what i do (in default boot option) I get errors when trying to configure sound, and my sound icon has a red X.
So far in Mint i haven't found a satisfactory way to define and configure soundcard drivers. If they work right away (which they did in vanilla Elyssa install, its perfect. If they don't then its a major challenge.

The 'Virtual' entry i suspect is purely to do with the Virtualbox extras on the thread i followed. I guess it allows me to run Mint also within Virtualbox, though I'm not sure why anyone would need to do that.

[Old Marcus]

I upgraded to Mint 6 and things are running smoothly. But thanks for the info, I've changed my 'howmany' option to 2. So If things do go wrong after a kernel update, I can go back.

[exploder]

100th Idiot, nice tip on editing grub! I usually clean out old kernels once I know the new one is ok but I changed the value to 2 as you suggested. Nice tip!