Bootloader not loading
 

I have just installed Mandrake 9.0 on a partitioned HDD with WinXP and everything was peachy, but when I boot I never get an option to start Linux
Windows just starts up as normal.

During installation I chose GRUB as bootloader, but as I am completely new to Linux, I may have missed out on some option.

My question is: How do I get the bootloader to run, so as to be able to load Linux?

Any help or hint will be much appreciated. PW

i'm not absolute since i use lilo, but did you make a bootdisk? if so then go into your bios and change the first boot to floppy and then go from there. here's the grub from what gentoo says-

default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=My example Gentoo Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/hda3

#Below is for setup using hardware RAID
title=My Gentoo Linux on RAID
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/discX/partY

# Below needed only for people who dual-boot
title=Windows NT Workstation
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1

here's the link to grub itself-
http://www.cri74.org/linux/howto/grub-howto.html
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=4622

hopefully that helps some. good luck.

Erhm, my floppy drive doesn't work, so, no, no boot disk.

I'll check out the links (excellent chance to brush up on my French) and maybe do a re-install.

Thx for the advice. PW

You can use your Mandrake install CD#1 as a rescue disk. i believe it's F1 for other otions, then select or type in:

rescue

There will be an option to repair/reinstall your bootloader. Grub, or Lilo, can be configured to let you boot to either Windows or Linux, but to do so you will need to be sure its boot code is installed on the MBR of your primary hard drive. When fixin Grub be sure that both Windows have a name and are identified to their correct, respective partitions, and that the boot loader is installed to:

hda

not hda1.