Adding Haiku to GRUB2 in Ubuntu 9.10

The recently released Ubuntu 9.10 -- also known as Karmic Koala -- uses GRUB2 by default. This new version of GRUB handles the configuration of the start menu displayed during boot differently. Here is how to add Haiku to GRUB2 in an Ubuntu 9.10 installation.

Adding Haiku to the GRUB start menu

From Terminal, enter the following command to open the 40_custom file:

~$ sudo gedit /etc/grub.d/40_custom

Add the following lines:

menuentry "Haiku" {
    set root=(hd0,1)
    chainloader +1
}

The hd0,1 portion should be changed to match the disk and partition numbers where your Haiku installation is located; in the above case, hd0,1 corresponds to the first the first partition (identified by the number "1") on the first disk (identified by "hd0").

Then save the file and close the editor.

Making sure the GRUB start menu is enabled

Depending on your installation, the GRUB start menu may not be disabled by default, so you need to make sure that it does appear during boot. To do so, use the following command from Terminal to open the GRUB configuration file:

~$ sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Then look for the following line...

GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0

...and comment it out if it's not already (there should be a "#" character at the begining of the line; if there isn't one, add it). Finally, save the file and close the editor.

Updating GRUB so that the changes take effect

The last step consists of updating GRUB so that the changes you made take effect and the start menu including Haiku is displayed during boot. For that, simply run the following command from Terminal:

~$ sudo update-grub

You are now set. Reboot Ubuntu, and when GRUB2 displays the start menu, you should now be able to select your Haiku partition to boot from it.