Grub help

[dansoccer1010]

Im moving from Redhat 8.0 to Gentoo 1.4 rc2 and I can do everything in the Gentoo installation but when it comes to the Grub setup i seem to be messing it all up. I run grub during the install and i type:
grub> root (hd0,1)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

Then I edit my /boot/grub/grub.conf file like it tells me to do and i make it this...
default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=hd(0,1)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda4

title=Windows XP Pro
root (hd0,0)
chainlaoder +1

Im trying to make it dual boot with Windows XP Pro. My partitions are as follows:
Winblowz=/dev/hda1
Linux: boot=/dev/hda2
swap=/dev/hda3
root=/dev/hda4

Thanks for any help

[Bokkenka]

title=Windows XP Pro
root (hd0,0)
chainlaoder +1
If this is a direct cat of your grub.conf, you have a typo... "chainloader" not "chainlaoder".

[rid3r]

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda4
---
^does not look right to me you copied the new bzImage manually? Then you put at the same time 'root(hd 0, 1)' and 'root=/dev/hda4'
hd0, 1 = hda2
hd0, 2 = hda3
hd0, 3 = hda4
also initrd is missing
root (hd0,3) # it depends where is your "/"
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-your_version ro root=/dev/hda4
initrd /boot/initrd-your_version

title=Windows XP Pro
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
imakeactive # try this
chainlaoder +1

[dansoccer1010]

So could someone send me exactly what to type in there to make it right? Thanks

[dansoccer1010]

By the way, what I originally typed was from what Gentoo said on how to install things and I'm sure i made some mistakes just so you know.

[homey]

Here's what my grub looks like. Windows on the first partition and Linux on the second partition. Using the MBR.

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb2
# initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=15
splashimage=(hd1,1)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Windows 2000
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
title Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.18-14.img

[homey]

I just noticed the problem. when you ran root (hd0,1) that is pointing to your /boot partition. It should point to the / partition (hd0,3)

Get into the grub configuration utility with the command: grub.
· At the prompt grub> type the command: root (hd0,0) ; this will tell grub that the linux files it needs are in the first partition (0) of your first hard disk (hd0). Change this to meet your configuration needs. For instance, if the linux files are on the second partition (1) of the second hard disk (hd1), then type root (hd1,1).
· If you selected the correct location (where linux is installed), you should see a message as follows.... Filesystem type is Ext2fs, partition type is 0x83.
· Then issue the following command: setup (hd0) ; this will install grub in the MBR of your first hard disk. You could change that to use the /boot partition if desired.
Exit the grub utility with the command: quit

[dansoccer1010]

Well, i did everything, and all that comes up is the Grub prompt screen, so I'm re-doing my installation for the millionth time. I have a pretty decent grasp on Linux, I learned a lot from Red Hat, but I basically am starting over with Gentoo because I want to know it more thoroughly. I'm getting tired of spending 4 hours setting Gentoo up and having it fail because of Grub, so if someone could just tell me exactly what to do so i could just print it out and type it word for word. If someone could, start from the Grub setup prompt itself, to the file that actually tells it what to do. Again, my specs are Gentoo 1.4 rc2, I have an 80GB ide hd. Its split up with Windows on 40 GBs, and Linux on the other 40. The drive is partitioned:
Windows XP: /dev/hda1
Gentoo Boot ( ext3 ): /dev/hda2
Gentoo Swap: /dev/hda3
Gentoo Root ( ext3 ): /dev/hda4
I would like it to automatically boot Windows after 10 seconds and then give me the option to boot into Gentoo if i choose to do so. Thanks again.

dansoccer1010

[homey]

Because you have a large hard drive, the /boot partition probably will not be of any use. This is because it will be past the 1024 cylinder limit (if your windows partition is larger than 7.5 GB). That means that you will need to use the MBR.

On your machine that translates to this....

grub

root (hd0.3)
note: you should see a message about the file type 83 which indicates that you have correctly selected the "/" partition.

setup (hd0)


quit

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by dansoccer1010

Windows XP: /dev/hda1
Gentoo Boot ( ext3 ): /dev/hda2
Gentoo Swap: /dev/hda3
Gentoo Root ( ext3 ): /dev/hda4


default 1
timeout 10
splashimage=hd(0,1)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda4

title=Windows XP Pro
root (hd0,0)
chainlaoder +1

That should be correct as long as '/boot/bzImage' is the kernel image name and is located under /boot in hda2.

[dansoccer1010]

I did exactly as told and still nothing works. The system starts but just goes right back to the grub prompt and wont allow me to see windows or gentoo...what is wrong here! I'm going insane. I've installed Gentoo at least 20 times the past 2 weeks and it takes me at least 2 hours each time, and i cant even start it up. Im lost here. Any advice is welcome

[mdwatts]

Was Grub installed properly and into the /boot (hda2) partition?

[dansoccer1010]

I dont know what the problem was, but i did an emerge grub while i was in the installation cd and then re-did it all and it finally worked. Thanks to everyone who helped out on this. Its nice to have a fully functioning Linux install.