hofy wrote:
Of course in order to isolate the problem I tried with both disks separately, one at a time. Same damn thing.
Like Shinobar suggested,
"Simple solution is to install grub or grub4dos on both disks."
(1) I think that you have NOT installed a grub4dos MBR to the HDD boot partition
(2) Else, you are booting from some other device,
which is expecting the XP ntldr.
Note that there can be several XP partitions involved in an XP OS system,
and you may have missed this.
"Gary" boots XP at sda1, runs Apps in sda2, restores System from sda3.
Here is what I do, and let's see if we can move forward.
I will introduce some new concepts, which I think will be helpful.
I feel certain the matter can be handled by you.
* Normally I boot from a USB pendrive,
using a grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst method, on the pendrive, .
and run Puppy Linux off this pendrive.
* My main computer (solo) will boot from a grub4dos MBR
into 'grldr' and 'menu.lst', in sda1, the first partition.
I have sda1 for XP and sda2 for Puppy Linux.
* I have installed three Puppy Linux OS in this arrangement,
have controlled the interaction between finding the 'other' .2fs savefiles.
We will only discuss the one on the USB pendrive and the one on the sda2 HDD.
There is a running version of XP Pro on sda1, first partition.
* Why I would do this kind of arrangment is beyond the current discussion.
hofy wrote:
I have tried all your suggestions to no avail.
Both Grub and Grub4dos report they installed correctly,
but the PC always reports the NTLDR missing upon boot.
Maybe some BIOS setting?
Idea #1:
Check your BIOS settings.
* My XP has only a single partition, which is easy to work with.
* Some XP installs have triple partitions:
Perhaps you are booting from the wrong HDD by mistake,
or one of the 'other' XP partitions.
(1) boot (2) application (3) restore.
For example,
The computer I setup for "Gary" has this triple partition arrangement.
a) Some XP installs might call the first one the "boot' partition,
b) then they run ALL the applications and dll libraries and temps from the 'application' partition.
c) there may also be a 'restore' partition.
Now, back to my own system as an example of using grub4dos:
My main computer has both XP and Puppy installed.
So, From a USB pendrive, running Puppy Linux,
I ran grub4dos and installed to the HDD with these options:
(1) a new MBR,
(2) a new grldr,
(3) a new menu.lst.
grub4dos scanned all devices and made a usable menu.lst.
Since I commonly I boot from a USB Pendrive (thumbdrive, flashdrive),
via grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst
I am including the running code, with notes, carefully verified.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Pendrive:
( You may need to read these twice.)
Here are some of my menu.lst options code:
title ==={
U16 Lupu 525 (sdb1) }=== find(MARK-U16)
###
### this finds my MARK file, loads Linux kernel & initrd locally.
### this throws up the Linux note that it has found hd(0,0) on USB
###
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /MARK-U16
kernel /lupu_U16_525/vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash
initrd /lupu_U16_525/initrd.gz
title ==={
HDD/SDA1/MBR/grldr/menu.lst }===( map, hook, chain, sda1/menu.lst )
###
###
this does not run XP.
###
this runs HDD grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst
### Then I can select "XP" or "Puppy Linux".
###
### Verified by observing that bootloader throws up sda1/
menu.lst screen,
### providing all my usual options associated with the XP / Puppy HDD based system.
###
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map --hook
chainloader (hd0)+1
title ==={
M$-XP direct }===( map, multi-find, chain to file )
###
### this finds a valid bootloader , sets root to that partition, then chains in directly.
### this code does NOT activate the grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst system.
### (The HDD grub4dos MBR would activate grldr, menu.lst.)
### this code loads via a
XP bootloader file directly.
### which bootloader gets activated
### depends on which bootloader is found. (for me it is "ntldr")
###
### Verified by observing that the selected bootloader :
### (1) throws up the
XP booting screen with rainbow colors
### (2) then proceeds to load XP.
### (3) sda1 Menu.lst never comes up.
###
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map --hook
errorcheck off
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bootmgr
chainloader /bootmgr
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /ntldr
chainloader /ntldr
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /io.sys
chainloader /io.sys
errorcheck on
title ==={
M$-XP direct }==={ (sda1:PBS) ={ map,find(MARK-WX),chain+1 }===
###
### this finds my MARK file, sets root to that partition, then chains in directly.
### this code does not activate the grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst system.
### (The HDD grub4dos MBR would activate grldr, menu.lst.)
###
### Verified by observing that the bootloader :
### (1) throws up the
XP booting screen with rainbow colors
### (2) then proceeds to load XP.
### (3) sda1 Menu.lst never comes up.
###
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map --hook
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /MARK-WX
chainloader +1
#############################################
I run the above code daily from my USB pendrive.
#############################################
On the USB pendrive,
. there is grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst, (with above code).
On the HDD,
. there is a grub4dos installed MBR, looking for grldr, menu.lst.
On the HDD, partition 1, the XP partition:
. there is a ntldr (bootfile) for XP so M$ can do bootload.
. there is a grub4dos MBR, grldr, menu.lst so Linux can do bootload..
On the HDD, partition 2, the Linux partition:
. there is grldr, menu.lst for Linux to bootload.
#############################################
Which set of bootloader files will run
depends on which one I activate via my pendrive menu.lst.
#############################################
So, sit back and re-read this post,
and then
I suppose there will be comments about all these things.
Have fun.
