Hey there,

I have a machine that I set up as dual boot to Linux and XP. /boot is on hdb, but Grub is on hda.

Can anyone tell me how to migrate grub to be useable from hdb? I want to physically remove hda all together.

Alternatively, is there any way I can convert to NTFS partition used for the Windows set up to be storage on the linux system?

Thanks!

Robin.

O.K., here goes;
- uncable the drive
- boot the Linux CD to get into recovery mode (varies by distro)
- re-install grub to the MBR
- check menu.lst/grub.conf
- update fstab to remove references to hdb (now will be hda)
- reboot from hard disk
Much better option.Delete the windoze partition(s), and create some Linux ones.
*WARNING:* You will lose *ALL* the data on any deleted partition(s). Make sure you delete the correct one(s).
Then add the new (Linux) partitions to fstab to get them mounted on boot.

I tried uncabling, and received the error 'error starting operating system'.

I was worried if I did fdisk on hda that it would over write grub on the drive, and I wouldn't be able to get in at all. I am assuming /boot is on hda, but cannot be sure - it is not showing up in fstab other than LABEL=/boot

Any assurance or further advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Robin.

Sounds like you tried to boot the remaining hard disk - you need to boot the CD to re-install grub.
fdisk'ing the (original) hda is *always* going to have less effect than removing it altogether.
fdisk deals with partitions. If you happen to remove the /boot partition, yes you will have problems.
That will show as a "grub>" prompt., and no way to proceed with the boot.

You originally stated /boot was on (original) hdb - you'll need to assure yourself of it's location prior to re-installation, and you'll need to use the same partition if it exists on (original) hdb, or create a new one if it existed on (original) hda, and is no longer available.

I don't know how this should be handled with FC - I've never used it.
Perhaps you should ask this in the Fedora forum, and get some-one with experience in that distro to help.

I just checked with df -a, and /boot is partitioned as hdb1, so, can I get the bios to point directly to that drive, and it should start up grub?

No.
You will (probably) have no boot code in the MBR of the second disk - you'll get the error you mention above.
Have another look at my first post - you'll need all the steps (at least) I mentioned.

Ok, so I managed to get hda set up - tip... make sure you do an MKFS on the disk if it is not a linux formatted partition...

Anyway - another question. Is there any way to migrate the OS from hdb to hda? I want to free up the disk...

Thanks...

Goes without saying ....
But you're right, I should have included it.
Plenty - most pretty simple; "cp -a" would do most of it if partitions are prepared, and keep things like permissions intact. Do a search - I've seen several suggestions pass by as I've watched these forums. Can be done from the running system, but there are issues with things like /proc.
I'd be inclined to do it from something like Knoppix, although you'd need to remount the targets as R/W as Knoppix mounts all disks as R/O for safety.