Grub is kicking my butt..

[OoteR02]

Here's the grub.conf file..
#########################################
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd1,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Fedora w00t
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.6_FC2 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-1.6_FC2.img
#title Fedora Core (2.6.5-1.358)
#root (hd1,0)
#kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
#initrd /initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive
#############################################

Ok, so my windows hdd (hdd0) is the one that has grub actually installed to it, or atleast it should be, thats what i told anaconda to install it on. Now i cant get it to load windows at all. instead of loading it, it will just show "Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive"
Minus the "'s. Its.. very perturbing, how do i need to edit this thing to load xp which shouldbe on hdd(0,0) as it says in the config already? Any help is appreciated.

 

[drag]

I don't know.

Maybe try entering the commands manually and see what happens. You can get into grub's command line by hitting "c" I think. Then you can enter in commands manually..
norootverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
boot


I don't think you need a "makeactive" statement, but I could be wrong.


er...
ment rootnoverify

 

[OoteR02]

I tried that setting as well, its still not working. Windows is on hd0,0 and its still not finding it or something. it just shows the commands that are in the config, instead of actually executing anything. 🙁 Any more ideas?

 

[drag]

I don't know, everything seems ok. I could be missing something though.

Most distros have a distro-specific message boards and irc channels for help, have you tried those? I could be a known bug with this specific sort of setup and they may have a quick answer if your lucky.

Otherwise you can try to install Lilo and use that instead of grub, or you can get your windows restore cds, and restore the mbr using the recovery console. The command is "fixmbr" I beleive. You can find more information at MS's knowledge base.

Basicly that just repairs the Windows bootloader, so you can boot into windows normally. There is a way to have it dual boot using the ntldr bootloader, but I am not that familar on how to exactly to do that.

Personally what I'd do is find the distro specific mailing lists, messageboards, or irc and see if I can't get a quick answer thru that. If that doesn't work then I'd try to install lilo instead of grub, and if that didn't work try the ntldr-based dual boot. But that's just my guess what to do.

 

[StuckMojo]

I believe that won't work if grub is installed on the drive windows is on, because it replaced the NT boot loader. I have windows on my third drive (i run linux on a raid 1 mirror of primary master and slave, windows is on the secondary slave) and use the conf below.

I'd suggest you make a grub boot floopy, then use the winxp cd to repair the windows installation (which will fix the boot loader), then swap the drives so that linux is the first drive, boot using the grub floppy and install grub on the linux drive, then alter your grub conf to match mine (replacing hd(2,0) with hd(1,0) since you only have 2 drives). That way your windows drive is a complete and working windows, and you linux is too. Grub will handle fooling the bios and NT boot loader into thinking it's the first drive (that's what the "map" lines do), then loading up the NT boot loader.

My conf (somwhat edited to remove the 5 or 6 kernels i have, for clarity):

default 0
timeout 5
fallback 1
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray

title 2.6.10-rc3k8
kernel (hd0,0)/vmlinuz-2.6.10-rc3k8 root=/dev/md1 hdc=ide-scsi psmouse.proto=imps


title WinXP
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd2,0)
chainloader +1