My earlier post seems to have disappeared after one reply! At least, I can't find it

Here's the issue - two drives two installs of WinXP - one on each drive (I use one for audio work) - Suse Linux 9.1 on the first drive. I currently access the second drive winXP installation using the boot menu through windows - after selecting the first drive winXP install in Grub.

I would prefer to use just Grub but I am told it apparently needs to be 'fooled' into booting into the WinXP on the second drive.

Here's what I have been given to put into the boot/grub/menu.1st file:

Title Windows2
Map (hd0) (hd1)
Map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

The only reply I received suggested I should instead have

"rootnoverify (hd0,0)"

What happens, whatever the 'rootnoverify' line says, is that by selecting this option from the grub menu - which should boot my second drive installation of WinXP - is that it boots straight into the first drive installation - without even the menu option I have for windows booting without 'grub'.

These two Map lines are unknown to me. What do they do?
You can try removing the two and editing the rootnoverify, like this:

Title Windows2
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Most win entries on grub are like this.

And then check what happens.

As evidence of my 'newbie'-ness I don't know what they do either . . . something about fooling grub into thinking the second hd is the first hd.

However, I have used what you suggested and it boots into the windows boot menu which is set up on the first disc (from which, of course, I can choose the second winXP) but this is not what I want - I want it to recognize the choice as being the WinXP on the second drive instead of always accessing the first (and getting the windows boot choice).

Thanks for trying

As evidence of my 'newbie'-ness I don't know what they do either .

He he... I don't know either...

I want it to recognize the choice as being the WinXP on the second drive instead of always accessing the first (and getting the windows boot choice).

Yes, I understood that. I believe I did a mistake, in the previous post: the parameter should be hd1,0. Grub names the hd's and partitions begining with 0 (little bit different from the kernel, who names begining with 1). So, in your system, hd number 1 is the second hd. It didn't work?

Can you answer me this question first:

Are you able to boot into the second WinXP installation if you set the bios to boot from the second drive?

Thanks for your help/interest . . .

Bruno: That setup is how grub set itself up in the first place but it boots into the first drive - I've been told it only accesses the first drive (which is what it is doing) and it needs to be fooled into thinking the second drive is the first drive which is why I put the 'map' stuff in in the first place (having found that after a lengthy google search). But that didn't work and I don't understand why.

Demonbane: Yes - Before installing Linux I used the windows boot method anbd that is how I currently get to my second drive winXP install. Linux install/grub recognizes that I have two windows installs, but selecting either goes straight to the first disc (and menu) - and without that winboot thingy I cannot access the second drive install of Win XP. I want to be able to access the second drive using just the one (grub) menu.

Try this one:

I get this on a DOS screen:

rootnoverify (hd1)
map (hd0) (hd1)

Error 23: Error while parsing number

Press any key to continue . . .

hmm what about rootnoverify (hd1,0) ?
though that's pretty much what you had