Stop bootloader from timing out and choosing default partition?

Question

I have Ubuntu 12.04 dual-booted with Windows 7, and I am using the Ubuntu boot loader. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the fact that after 10 seconds or so, it boots into the default partition. I would like to know if there is a way to disable this, so it will stay at the screen listing what partition you want until you choose one.

Answer 1

1. If you're using GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader)

1. Open the terminal and enter the following: sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

2. Find the line GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 and change the value (in seconds) to the one you desire (if you want to disable the timeout, use -1)

3. Save and close the file

4. In the terminal, enter the following: sudo update-grub2

5. Reboot and test

2. If you're using the newer BURG (Brand-new Universal loadeR from GRUB)

1. Open the terminal and enter the following: sudo gedit /etc/default/burg

2. Find the line GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 and change the value (in seconds) to the one you desire (you cannot completely disable the timeout though, so use a large number, like 600)

3. Save and close the file

4. In the terminal, enter the following: sudo update-burg

5. Reboot and test

Answer 2

As the root user open the file /etc/default/grub with your favorite text editor, locate the line containing GRUB_TIMEOUT= and change a numeric value to -1 (minus one). Then save the changes and run the command grub2-mkconfig

All should be set.

Other possible values are:

0 - do not wait at all;

positive number - amount of seconds to time out