XP, RH7.3, GRUB, 2 HDD's

[Guy Allard]

With RH on the second HDD. Any one done this?
I am struggling to help a nephew over the phone to get this done, but am hampered by my own lack of grub experience.
I can find dual boot scenarios on the net, but not with Linux install to 2nd HDD.
Regards, Guy

[Tim Holloway]

Been there, doing that now. Got Win/9x and RedHat 7.2. on /dev/hda and RedHat 7.3 on /dev/hdb1.
I'm using LILO, since Windows loves to clobber the MBR and I've not yet puzzled out how to restore a zapped grub, but the main thing is that grub operates with a notation somewhat like what the Windows NT bootloader does, with a disk#, partition #, (controller #?) scheme. A gotcha is that some of the above start counting at 1 and some start at 0.
More than that I can't say without reading that fine manual.

[Greg Harris]

i have 2 HDDs with RedHat 7.2 and Win98... i boot using GRUB and i like it better than LILO. however, if you install linux first, the windows installation will over-write the boot sector and GRUB will not run. so, you should install linux second so it will control the boot process.
however, when i had Win2000, Win98 and RedHat7.0 on the same machine a couple years ago, i remember the Win2k saying something about having to install it LAST. i bet XP is the same way, and therefore your nephew will have to resort to booting linux with a floppy.
disclaimer: i am a linux newbie, so do not believe anything i tell you.

[Guy Allard]

Hi guys - Thanks for the replies.
I should have been more specific.
What the kid wants is a system like mine, except using grub not lilo. I run XP-Pro and RH7.1, RH on the 2nd HDD. I use NT boot loader to get to lilo on /dev/hdb1. From there I can boot various kernels *or* boot back to XP.
So ..... after Linux install (last not first), with a boot floppy creation, with grub do I:
a) use 'dd if=.......' like I do with lilo to make a boot image file (which will be copied to C:\) ???
b) do what in the grub configuration file? Anybody got an example config file?
The all is happening because the real 'problem' we have is that a straight install of XP, then 7.3 choosing grub on MBR is that the installs run, but nothing boots. XP is 'gone' and RH can only be loaded from the floppy.
We know how to restore the MBR so then XP can boot again, that is not a problem.
However when we use 'dd if=....' (like we would with lilo), go back to XP, set up the c:\boot.ini, and select 'RedHat' the system does a 'cold' boot: i.e. the BIOS splash screen shows, and we are back at the NT loader selection screen (in a loop).
Regards, Guy

[Guy Allard]

Hi - thought I'd update this with my own subsequent experiences, this may be of interest to others at some time ......
I had my nephew burn the 7.3 install CD's and mail them to me.
I installed over the top of an existing multi-boot system (98, XP, RH 7.1 with lilo on /dev/hdb1 - this is not my primary Linux system, so nothing really to lose).
I did:
-custom install
-use disk druid to reformat the existing Linux partitions as ext3
-install grub, not to MBR but to /boot on /dev/hdb1 (I have never used grub before)
-loaded all packages except jikes (I have a fair amount of HD space).
-created boot floppy
-booted with it, used 'dd if=....' to create a bootsect.lnx file (just as I would with lilo), and copied it back over to the XP C:\
-booted, get normal NTLDR screen, select linux, get grub splash screen, and the basic linux OS boots fine. Not sure what my nehpew's problems is here.
I typically use custom kernels, so I immediately ran a kernel build, without changing any parameters.
-the 'make install' updates /boot with the compressed kernel image and system map as expected.
-interestingly, it also updated /boot/grub/grub.conf for me.
-I shutdown (forgetting to create a new 'bootsect.lnx').
-Reboot, select linux from NTLDR, and get the grub splash screen again. Surprise, the new custom kernel is there, and it boots fine.
So ..... I like it, but am now not sure under what circumstances one must use 'dd' to create a new bootsect file for XP. Perhaps that only has to be done once with the grub boot loader.
Hope this helps someone .....
Regards, Guy