F9 new line in GRUB?

[Jappi]

Hi!

I installed F9 and XP in dual boot. I manually wrote "Fedora Core 9" and "Windows XP" as text in the GRUB, and it looked fine when starting.

Today, I discovered one more line in the GRUB, 1 for XP and 2 for Fedora. Indeed the grub.conf looks like this:

default=2
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,5)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora (2.6.25.3-18.fc9.x86_64)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.25.3-18.fc9.x86_64 ro root=UUID=8cdcbe7b-e2c5-4b5e-a
7ca-8d287a7e92cc rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.25.3-18.fc9.x86_64.img
title Fedora Core 9 (2.6.25-14.fc9.x86_64)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.25-14.fc9.x86_64 ro root=UUID=8cdcbe7b-e2c5-4b5e-a7c
a-8d287a7e92cc rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.25-14.fc9.x86_64.img
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

Should I worry about it? It seems that doesn't matter which line of the 2 Fedora I choose... May I delete one of the 2 lines? which one?

[ebelog]

You must have updated the kernel. The two Fedora 9 lines reference different versions of the kernel:

title Fedora (2.6.25.3-18.fc9.x86_64)
title Fedora Core 9 (2.6.25-14.fc9.x86_64)

It looks like it's defaulting to Windows XP, and you should choose the updated kernel when you boot to Fedora, which is the one titled "Fedora"

You could delete the entry for "Fedora Core 9" if you want, but if you have a problem booting, it's sometimes handy to have the previous kernel that you can use if you have to.

[corvisrex]

No, you don't need to worry. Every time the kernel ( the core of the OS) is upgraded to a newer version, an entry into grub is added, pointing to the new kernel. It leaves the entry for the older kernel there just in case. Maybe (unlikely) it's unstable,? or you have the entry there for a reason, it doesn't know or ask, so it just adds a new entry rather than replace the old one. That way you can boot into the older kernel if need be.

If you notice the first entry is "Fedora (2.6.25.3-18.fc9.x86_64)" the number tells you it is a newer version than the second one which is "Fedora Core 9 (2.6.25-14.fc9.x86_64)"

I usually leave it there for a while. but after two or three updates, I delete the older entries if I never use them. Just for cleanliness.

[enter77]

Having a backup line is also good if you're using (say) proprietary kernel modules from the Livna repository that haven't quite been updated yet for the shiniest kernel and you'd rather hold on to wireless or graphics or whatever.

yum updates usually automatically get rid of all but the two newest kernels, anyway, so you shouldn't have to worry about maintaining your grub.conf to keep it current.

[corvisrex]

Yeah, and occasionally some apps DO have problems when you update the kernel, VMWare in particular. Which can be real frustrating until they themselves are updated or a new patch is released. Being able to back up to a "Known" stable configuration is good until you are sure all your apps do, in fact work. It saves the annoying "I thought it was supposed to be an upgrade!!!" state of mind.