[bug #14620] no countdown even if timeout is set

[fred novar]

Follow-up Comment #6, bug #14620 (project grub):

Timeout never counted down on my system, even if timeout was set in the
"menu.lst" configuration file of grub. The effect was that at boot time the
menu of grub would flash shortly and then immediately boot the default entry
of the menu.

The reason for this behaviour is my attached wireless usb-keyboard and mouse
(on notebook amd i686 32bit). When not plugged in, timeout will count down
properly. This behaviour can always be reproduced.
My operating systems are windows xp and ubuntu (previously 5, now 7) with
grub as bootloader.

Workarounds which worked for me are:

a) If you dont want to press a key during reboot:
Set the default options (with or without savedefault), so that the default
operating system will boot immediately. To boot an different os from the
default you have to press keys during boot time. When repeatedly pressing the
cursor-keys, the boot progress will halt at the grub menu and one use the menu
freely as usual.

b) If you want to make a choice at every boot:
Use a separator entry in menu.lst to halt boot progress. Grub will not boot
until a different menu entry is selected. An example for such a separator
entry in menu.lst:
default 3
... # the entries for linux come here
# this is the 3rd menu entry (starting from 0)
title This the separator
rootnoverify   (hd0,10)
# Note that my harddisk has no partition 10!
... # the entries for windows come here

Hope this helps other people with similar problems. What I am experiencing is
not a bug of grub, but a problem related to Bios and external devices.
Nonetheless I think this information belongs here, because it is currently
omitted from the documentation.


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