grub

[Rob Crittenden]

Kostas Sfakiotakis wrote:
> Greetings Rob,
> 
> Rob Crittenden wrote:
> 
>> I'm in the process of upgrading my ancient RHL 7.2 system to FC 4.
> 
> 
> Well i would advice against that . A Clean Install of Fedora Core 4
> would be a much easier and better solution . Fedora Core 4 among
> other things uses a 2.6.*  kernel and not a 2.4 kernel . Many things
> have changed between those two kernel trees . So i would ask you
> to reconcider .
> 
> 
>>
>> What I've done is install FC4 on a new disk on another machine and 
>> gotten it fully updated. Now I'm ready to replace the RHL 7.2 system 
>> disk with the FC 4 disk but I have a question about grub.
> 
> 
> Well i guess you mean that you have 2 identical machines . You have
> installed and updated the first one and now you want to move the hard
> disk from the fully updated Fedora Core 4 to the other one .
> 
>>
>> My current system consists of many hard disks on 4 controllers (don't 
>> ask). The primary goal is data and OS separation.
>>
>> The relevent layout is as follows:
>>
>> hda - boot drive with NTLDR to boot
> 
> 
> We don't care about the NTLDR file , only the bootstrap loader
> needs that file . NTLDR has nothing to do with the whole proccess .
> Just let it rest where it resides .
> 
>> hda1 - Windows 98
>> hda2 - Windows 2000
>>
>> hde1 - /
>> hde2 - /boot
>> hde[3-8] rest of system
>>
>> hdfx - data
>>
>> Right now I'm booting kernel 2.4.30 off a boot floopy. 
> 
> 
> May i ask why haven't you installed grub on the MBR of
> hda ? Grub has nothing to do with the rest of the computer
> but the MBR .
> 
> 
> 
> Not the best
> 
>> solution but workable for me since I rarely reboot.
>>
>> So I'd like to keep the NTLDR as the boot mechanism for the windows 
>> partitions. I was hoping to have that launch grub which would let me 
>> boot FC4 on hde.
> 
> 
> You are making your life terribly difficult . The only thing you had to
> do is . First install whatever windows you like  ( Windows 2000 and
> Windows 98 , you have a boot menu don't you ? ) .
> Then make a clean install of Fedora Core 4 where ever you like it
> ( even Valhalla is good enough , for as long as you are not using
> any SCSI or SATA controller but even then things can be worked
> out. ) . At some point during the installation the installation proccess
> will ask you about where to place the boot loader . At that point
> ask it to place it at the MBR of the Primary Master hard disk
> At that very screen you should see grub providing two options
> one named Fedora Core 4 and the other one with the bogus
> name "DOS" . It will also ask you about the default OS to boot .
> What happens is this . Grub will replace the existing bootstrap
> loader with it's one code . That code will provide you with 2
> options 1. This options will boot with the Fedora Core 4 system
> 2. DOS . This option will sent you to another menu which will
> let you choose between Windows 98 and Windows 2000 and
> you are done . Grub is totally unaware about NTLDR and will do
> nothing against it .
> 
>>  From what I've read, to do this I need to have /boot on the first 
>> disk, hda.
> 
> 
> Yes , that's a perfect choise . Although i might be of error that is
> correct .
> 
>  I'd really rather not mix things up like this.
> 
> Which mix you mean ? Mixing the place where Fedora Core 4
> and Windows boot ?  There is no way that those two get mixed .
> 
> Is there another way?
> 
> Probably , but i don't know him .
> 
>> Assuming I break down and install grub 
> 
> 
> Am telling you nothing is going to break down if you install
> grub on /dev/hda
> 
> on hda can I still keep my boot   and root on hde?
> 
> You can keep them wherever you like .
> 
> 
>> thanks
> 
> 
> Your Welcome,
> 
>>
>> rob
> 
> 
> Kind Regards,
>   Kostas

Thanks for the info.

You're right. I had another machine that I installed FC4 to. I then 
pulled that disk and replaced the boot disk on my box with that. A clean 
start and all.

By "mixing things up" I meant putting a Linux /boot onto my windows 
disk. I'm not worried about a bad interaction I just prefer to keep 
things separate. I do frequent disk upgrades and it's one less thing to 
deal with.

I may end up installing GRUB onto the MBR of hda but for now I've 
installed it onto a floppy and I boot from that.  Call me chicken if you 
will :-) I rarely boot anyway so it isn't really that big an issue. I'll 
just have to remember to update the grub.conf whenever I install a new 
kernel.

rob