APM and GRUB

[F. Joseph Larcher]

I believe I have found a bug in GRUB, although it is probably just user
error on my part.

SUMMARY:
Installing GRUB on my system renders APM unuseable when running Win98. I
do not experience the same problems with lilo.

SYSTEM:
Gateway 9100 Laptop
20GB Hard Drive
256MB RAM
Pentium II 266 MHz MMX
Smart Lithium Battery

OS:
Win98
RedHat Linux 7.2 (kernel 2.4.9-13 and/or 2.4.7-10)

FDISK:
Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 2432 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *         1       765   6144831    b  Win95 FAT32
/dev/hda2           766      1537   6201090    f  Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3          1604      2432   6658942+  83  Linux
/dev/hda4          1538      1603    530145   82  Linux swap
/dev/hda5           766      1537   6201058+   b  Win95 FAT32

Partition table entries are not in disk order

GRUB.CONF: (GNU GRUB 0.90)
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this
file
# NOTICE:  You do not have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
#          root (hd0,2)
#          kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda3
#          initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,2)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.9-13)
        root (hd0,2)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.9-13 ro root=/dev/hda3
        initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.9-13.img
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.7-10)
        root (hd0,2)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.7-10 ro root=/dev/hda3
        initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.7-10.img
title Windows 98
        rootnoverify (hd0,0)
        chainloader +1

LILO.CONF (LILO verion 21.4.-4):
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux-2.4.9-13
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
lba32
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.9-13
        label=linux-2.4.9-13
        initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.9-13.img
        read-only
        root=/dev/hda3

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.7-10
        label=linux-2.4.7-10
        initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.7-10.img
        read-only
        root=/dev/hda3

other=/dev/hda1
        optional
        label=Windows 98

SYMPTOMS:
After running grub-install I can dual boot between Win98 and various Linux
kernels, however Win98's APM loses it's configuration data and is unable
to tell when the laptop is running on battery/ac, % charge/charging.
Linux APM works fine. A reinstall of Win 98 restores Win98's APM
functioality, but destroys the dual boot (expected behavior). Re-run
grub-install and I can dual boot, but the Win98 APM problem returns.
After installing lilo, all is well with Win98 and Linux APM, and the dual
boot works fine. Above is the working lilo.conf and my grub.conf.

If you require further details or more information, please feel free to
contact me. If this is user error, I apologize in advance, please point me
towards he part of the FAQ or man pages where I can be enlightened.

Thanks for all your work.
Joe Larcher