"Previous Kernels" Entry should be there even from clean install to avoid breaking boot entries

[TenLeftFingers]

Example of problem:
1) Do a clean install of Natty
2) Edit grub.cfg and change DEFAULT to 3 to make Windows the default OS
3) Update grub

result:
All is well until an updated kernel creates a new grub entry called "previous kernels". Now my friends machine doesn't boot because DEFAULT=3 gives a memory check (or somthing like that). So I have to manually edit grub.cfg again to make DEFAULT=4.

Example solution:
1)A clean install of Grub already has a "previous kernel" entry, which at this time is an empty list.
2)Edit grub.cfg as you wish
3)Update grub

result:
The DEFAULT boot entry will retain it's integrity.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[jessesmith (jessefrgsmith)]

I have also run into this problem. On my system Windows started out as option "4" on GRUB2, so I changed /etc/defaults/grub to reflect this and ran "sudo update-grub". All went well until the first kernel update, which added the "Previous kernels" entry and bumped Windows down a notch. My computer would then default to the memory check instead of Windows. Updating the grub configuration file to default to entry "5" fixes this issue.

This bug occurs using GRUB 2 on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.

I see two possible solutions to this problem:

1. As the original poster suggested, create an empty "Previous kernels" entry in the GRUB menu at install time to avoid it bumping entries later.

2. Force the "Previous kernels" entry to be the last menu item displayed in the GRUB boot menu, which will leave the existing menu items in their proper places.

[Marcus Tomlinson (marcustomlinson)]

This release of Ubuntu is no longer receiving maintenance updates. If this is still an issue on a maintained version of Ubuntu please let us know.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for grub2 (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]