Imagine the next scenario, you install a Linux Distribution, then install a Windows operating system. All of the sudden, you cannot boot the Linux, and the computer directly boots up the XP, or Vista. You don't have to be afraid, the Linux isn't deleted, it's untouched, only the boot selector is overwritten with the one of the Windows.

All you have to do is download 'Super Grub Disk' and burn the image to a blank CD. It's about 4MB, and it does it job as it's supposed to.

When you boot it up, the following screen will show up:

Then press Enter, and the following screen will appear:


Now, here is what you can do:
First of the easier options is to select 'GRUB => MBR & !LINUX! AUTO' and then the Live CD will find the overwritten Grub, and give it's options (which it had, the operating systems listed and etc.) and you can select your installed Linux Distribution now. And when you are logged in Your Linux Distribution, you can install the GRUB again, and add in it the newly installed Windows as one of the options in the GRUB.
Second of the easier options is to select 'Super Grub Disk (WITH HELP)' where first you choose your language, then a few lines of explanations first will be shown, and then a list of options will be listed as in the last screenshot posted in this post/HowTo. Cause we want to restore GRUB, we select 'Gnu/Linux' and follow the next steps.


In my case, i had openSUSE 10.3 installed. And I installed Windows SP 2 (need it for college/studying). Then I chose 'GRUB => MBR & !LINUX! AUTO' and I booted in openSUSE, logged in, started YaST, clicked on the BOOT icon, installed GRUB again, and the problem was solved.

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I'm happy to copy/paste the official release announcement:

We are proud to announce the 3rd and last beta before the final release. The following applications were included in this release: gThumb replacing GQview, Pidgin instant messenger, NDISwrapper module, WineQ + Wine Doors installer. Fixes and improvements: now booting from any CD-ROM unit; improved Dreamlinux control panel and installer; theme switcher on GNOME changes theme without the need to restart X; network now set up to automatically start during boot; CUPS also starting up on boot; new wizard for Emerald themes; new wallpapers and icons; new Avant window manager themes; new GDM themes, now featuring countdown; other minor overall improvements.

This is the final/third Beta release, and here are some screenshots:

pic 1: the boot selector

GNOME DESKTOP

pic 2,3...6: GNOME Desktop screenshots

XFCE DESKTOP

pic 7,8...11: XFCE Desktop screenshots

All of the screens taken are in PNG quality, and the more important screens are taken, as Dreamlinux Control Panel, GNOME Control Center, XFCE Settings Manager, etc.

Only one thing I didn't liked. I had write support on the NTFS partitions on my Computer. Is that OK from security aspects? Except that, my overall one-hour-live-cd impression is really good.

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Customizing your installed Linux distribution is getting more and more easier. And adding a personal touch to it is a very nice thing everyone feels happy to do. Here we are going to change the boot theme in a few easy steps. Note that this HowTo is made only for Mandriva and therefore it is made also for PCLinuxOS (which is a fork of Mandriva). So, let's start.

Step 1: start the Mandriva Linux Control center, and click on the boot tab. You should get the following screeen:


Step 2: click on the 'Set up boot graphical theme of system' icon. If you click this icon for the first time, a new window will appear asking you to download some packages which are needed. You will approve that. After it downloads and installs the packages, automatically, a new window will appear.


Step 3: to create a new theme, click on the 'Create new theme' button. If you one to selest one from the ones premade, select one from the 'Theme' box in the up left corner of the window. So, we click 'Create new theme'. The following screen appears and we proceed to step 4:


Step 4: and this is where it is all about. This new window is the package we downloaded, called DrakSplash. (I mentioned that this is a HowTo only for Mandriva and it's forks cause DrakSplash is a Mandriva produced package. Every application which has 'drak' od 'drake' in it's name is made by Mandriva, or formerly Mandrake.)

You will see two tabs in DrakSplash called 'Silent bootsplash' and 'Verbose bootsplash'. Set first a theme name, and leave the resolution in 800X600 (recommended). Now go to Silent bootsplash. Select a picture, and position the progress bar (either with your mouse pointer, or with the sliders on the DrakSplash) on your desired location. Then pick the colors for the progress bar, and the coordinates for the text. Move now to the tab Verbose bootsplash. I recommend you to choose the same picture. Now customize this part by moving the X and Y coordinate of the text box, and by making the width and height of the same text box. In the end, click on the button Save theme and there you go! Reboot the PC to see your success.

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Project Indiana is a great project, which aims to put the OpenSolaris platform line by line with the Linux one which dominates the open source desktop. The aim is to create a binary distribution based on OpenSolaris source code, and the end product should be an attractive installable Live CD. First things first, here is the release announcement:

I'm pleased to announce that OpenSolaris Developer Preview 2 is now available for your download pleasure. This is an x86-based live CD install image, containing some new and emerging OpenSolaris technologies and should be considered a developer preview only. Among the spiffy features contained in this release are: based on Nevada build 79b; pkg(1) improvements, including progress reporting, verification support and incremental catalog update; ksh93 is the default system shell (bash remains the default user shell); introduction of /usr/has/bin (experimental); addition of several new packages, including OpenOffice.org 2.3.1; JRE included by default.

The following drivers are included:

NVIDIA Graphics System Software (nvidia)
ADMtek Ethernet Driver (afe)
AMD8111 Fast Ethernet Driver (amd8111s)
Davicom 9102 Fast Ethernet Driver (dmfe)
Macronix Fast Ethernet Driver (mxfe)
Nvidia ck804 pro / mcp55 pro combo SATA driver (nvsata)
Sun NIU leaf driver (nxge)
Ralink RT2500 802.11b/g Wireless Driver (ralink)
realtek 8180L 802.11b driver (rtw)
USB Keyspan serial driver (usbsksp)

This release is a big thing, and these days I'm hoping to install it and test it. For anyone else interested in doing the same thing, here is the download link. For more details see the official release annoucement in which the OpenSolaris team says that users to provide feedback and bugs on the hardware recognition and issues. So if you want to contribute, here is how to report bugs.

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The Alpha 2 of the upcoming openSUSE 11 was announced. Note that it's still alpha version, and is not to be used for day-to-day work, but for testing purposes. So, here is the release announcement:

Only three weeks after Alpha 1, we are glad to announce the release of openSUSE 11.0 Alpha 2. There are various exciting changes in there that we would like to have feedback on. Changes since openSUSE 11.0 Alpha 1: KDE 4.0.1 replaced KDE 3.5.8 as the default KDE; GNOME 2.21.90 was integrated; continued work on the installation workflow; live CDs for both GNOME and KDE; CDs support German as an additional language; DVDs have only open source software; Linux 2.6.24; OpenOffice.org 2.4 Beta; ALSA 1.0.16rc2; D-Bus 1.2rc2.

If you wish to download an iso, go to software.openSUSE.org/developer for direct links to all the available media. Since Alpha 1, the installer was rewritten in Qt4, and is really nice and stable, and since Alpha 2, KDE 3.5.8 is replaced with 4.0.1. I must say that this is the first distribution with somewhat stable KDE 4 packages.

So, here are some screens of the installer:




According to the roadmap, on April 17th the first Beta will be released, on May 29th RC1, and the Public Release will be on June the 19th. We all hope that the final (public) release will be alive and kickin'. Detailed info about the roadmap can be found here. I think it's our (the community) obligation to test and submit bugs, so if someone wants to contribute and submit bugs, here's how to do that.

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