Hi:

I have linux installed and running in my second hard drive and WinXp in the first HD. I have Lilo in the MBR, but I really don't know what to do, do you guys have some suggestion ?

RUG

And the problem is...?

Sorry! The problem is that when I start the computer I am in WinXp but how can I do to boot the second HD?

RUG

How did you go about installing? Did you reinstall Windows, rearrange hd's ... ?

I didn't reisntall Windows, it was in the master HD.
What I did to install Linux was to disconnect the primary HD where Windows is, and set the second HD as primary, I did the installation and now the HD with WXp is the primary again and the one with Linux is the secondary. Then, now Lilo is in the MBR of the secondary and I suppose is not accesible at the beggining.

See this for using Windows bootloader to load Linux:
http://www.linuxsolved.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=125
You will have to change other things on the Linux drive. It thinks it is the first hd, and even if you get the Windows bootloader to boot it, you will get a 'Kernel Panic'. Boot with a Linux floppy or Knoppix, and mount your Linux partition. Then edit it's /etc/fstab file. Post it here if you need help.

Linux floppy: http://www.toms.net/rb/
Knoppix: www.knoppix.net
Your install cd may have a 'Rescue Mode' that you can use too.

Commands for mounting and viewing fstab:
fdisk -l (views partitions)
mkdir /mnt/hdlinux (makes folder)
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hdlinux (mounts hda1 partition to folder)
cd /mnt/hdlinux (goes in)
vi /mnt/hdlinux/etc/fstab (view fstab. Search for help on the 'vi' text editoe)
cp [file] [destination] (copying)

Thanks

Youi're right about the MBR, you created it on the Linux drive, which is why it's booting directly into Win XP. If your BIOS supports it, you can specify that you want to boot from the slave drive, that way you won't need to change any Lilo settings. I have a box booting this way and it works fine. It makes me nervous to write anything to an NTFS drive, even the boot sector, so I prefer booting from the Linux drive.

If you just have left your Windows partition or hard drive in the computer when you do the installation. Debian will create an entry to Windows in the /etc/lilo.conf then you can use lilo menu choice at start up to boot to either Debian & Windows.