I would like to install FC3 on a second hard disk. I understand that this is possible with almost all distributions. The question I have is - If I want to do this without causing problems with my current installation of RedHat 9 and Windows XP on the first (original) drive what do I need to do with grub and grub.conf to make sure that after installation of FC3 I can still boot into RedHat or Windows XP whenever I need to. I would still want grub installed on the original first drive, but have it point to FC3 on the second disk so that I can optionally boot FC3 or my original RedHat/XP. Booting from floppy or other such work around would be messy so I would prefer not to go down this route.

I understand that it would be best to create a separate swap and boot partition on the second drive, which is fine by me. I have not tried it yet so I am guessing that if I start the FC3 install process, somewhere down the line when it installs grub, it would simply overwrite my current grub configuration. Is this right? If so what will I need to do to protect my current grub config? Will simply copying it to a safe place, then restoring it after installing FC3 and then manually editing it to add the FC3 parameters be the correct thing to do?

And by the way, what will be the correct grub.conf settings to boot from the second hard disk?

I would appreciate any help on this question.

Stephen Ng

Try to avoid installing GRUB when installing FC3. I think it can be done. Or if it's not, just install it and worry about it later. Once installed, run RH9 CD1 and run into rescue mode. Once inside, run /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda
This will install GRUB back to the primary harddrive. Then edit the config file in /boot/grub/grub.conf and add some more lines. Copy the entry from RH9 (all lines title, kernel and initrd). Then just change according to your FC settings (which is good to see first, or you can see them in FC3 before doing this. You will find the file in /boot/grub/grub.conf for information.

This is pretty much it. If you run in any new problems, let us know, and we'll help you out.

I'm always worried (perhaps needlessly) about screwing up the data on my existing drive, so I tend to be extra cautious and unplug it before installing an OS on a second drive.
Then, just install FC3 as normal on the new drive.
Plug the old drive back in as master (check your jumper settings to make sure they're correct, if your system requires them) and the new drive as slave.
Boot to the new drive and edit /boot/grub/grub.conf, adding the following (changing the kernel version number to match the OS on your second drive:

title Fedora Core (2.6.10-1.760_FC3)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.10-1.760_FC3 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.10-1.760_FC3.img

The above is assuming that the OS on your second drive (1) is on the first partition (0).
For more info on grub terminology, see:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...rminology.html

Install FC3 on hdb when you get to the part for grub chose configure then don't install boot loader. You can use hda swap for FC3. When done reboot into RH9 go to hda /boot/grub/menu.lst and add FC3, basically copy RH9 entry and change hd1,0 and vmlinuz entry's from hdb /boot

Thanks for all your responses.

I tried installing FC3 by first removing my orginal drive and using the new drive as primary. For my first try I partitioned the disk with a /boot, / and swap partitions. After installation, I reconnected the original drive as primary. During boot, the boot process discovered multiple /boot partitions and refused to mount /boot!

For my second try, I decided not to create a separate /boot partition. This meant that the installer would simply create a boot directory under /. Again after reinstalling the original harddisk and making all te relevant changes to grub.conf, when I selected FC3 during boot the system kept producing errors in hardware config such as missing mouse etc and finally would not start X.

Has anyone really tried this or am I wasting my time because it was never meant to work?

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks again.

Stephen

I have done this several times with FC and other distro's with no problem, just follow instructions above, install normal using hdb (second harddrive) and don't install boot loader. By swapping drives all config files are referring to hda for info when it has been moved to hdb.

I've done it as well - with RedHat/Fedora on one and Windows on the other. On the first try, did you make sure that the second drive was jumpedd as a slave drive? I've never run into the multiple boot sector problem.
Also, check your bios and if necessary remove the second hard drive as a boot option.

Again...thanks for your responses.

I will be travelling over the next few days and will not have time to try your suggestions. Will let you know as soon as I have a chance to do so.

Just to recap -

I can install Fedora as normal with both my disk drives connected. I should select the second drive for installation. When I am asked if I want to use grub, I should ignore it. (I forget if there is such an option!!) Anyway, after the installation is complete, I should boot to my original RH9 and edit grub.conf manually to include the Fedora related strings. On reboot, I should be able to start Fedora as well as my existing OSs.

Question - Can I create a separate /boot partition on my second disk?

Stephen

Hi everyone,

I'm back. I tried exactly as outlined - booted from FC3 CD, installed on hdb, did not install, grub. I then edited the grub.conf file to include following -

title Fedora Core (2.6.9-1.667)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667 ro root=LABEL=/
initrd /initrd-2.6.9-1.667.img

Still no joy! On booting, the loader or something still uses my RH9 setup.

Any other suggestions?

Stephen Ng

I think it is something like changing to:
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-1.667 ro root=dev/hdb?
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-1.667.img
change ? to partition #
The hard part's over, once you have it installed it's there it's just a matter of getting grub right.