Installing Grub on HD fails!

[Martin Felker]

Hi everyone!

 

    This is my first post to this list and I need some help and advice.   I have a very simple setup.   Windows XP is installed in the first partition of one of my two identical 40 GB drives.   I've used Partition Magic to create a /boot, / and swapspace partition in the remaining 3 partitions where I've installed Red Hat Linux SkipJack Beta 2 (release 7.2.93).

With some (ok a lot) of fiddling I've finally created a GRUB boot floppy which allows me to boot either OS. 

 

    But when I try to install GRUB (grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/hda) using the GNU documentation the installation is reported successful but I always get the message "NTldr is missing or corrupt reboot using Ctrl-Alt-Delete).

 

    However the simple GRUB commands

 

    rootnoverify (hd0,0)

    makeactive

    chainloader +1

 

ALWAYS boots to the NT bootloader menu (I also have Recovery Console installed).

 

I've forgotten the Linux menu item but it is something like

 

    root(hd0,1)

    kernel  --- blah blah.img

    Initrd /initrd.img

 

(Sorry I'm using Outlook Express).

 

Using Recovery Console fixmbr command also doesn't work - I need to have the XP CDROM in place or now the "magic GRUB floppy".

 

    I can "fix" the problem as far as XP goes but ONLY by re-installing the OS - a 40 minute operation.   Then as SOON as I boot Linux using a Linux boot floppy (Syslinux etc) the MBR seems shifted by one sector.

 

    Can you folks help me out here?   I sure like to boot from the HD!   BTW changing the order of the BIOS boot devices from my current floppy, CDROM, HD doesn't help either - always get the NTldr message - NOT the GRUB menu.

 

Martin Felker

Black Ridge Computer

 

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