Hello LQ.

I have an Acer Aspire One D250 Netbook with Windows XP on it.

In short, there is no way I could give XP up because my school requires MS Office, my iPod needs iTunes, and I need Pokerstars ):

But I also love Linux (: , especially Ubuntu. I wanted to install it and the GRUB bootloader onto an External Hard Drive so i can always have Linux around.

Basically, what I am asking for is that Windows boots with it's bootloader when the Drive is not inserted into the USB port, and then, when the thing is plugged in, for GRUB to come up and be able to boot Linux first (the default setting) but also have the option to boot into Xp in case I accidentally left it in there.

After some help by a gracious LQ user, I successfully installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.10 on the FreeAgent Go 320 GB 2.0 USB External Hard Drive.

The install works, ans XP always boots up, but when USB HDD is inserted, it doesn't always bring up GRUB. In fact, it never does when I shut down the computer. But when I restart it (with MS XP, Linux, BIOS), it always loads?

My computer supports USB booting and I already have it set to where I anytime a bootable device is in there, it boots up.

Also, in the install, I told Ubuntu to install GRUB to the external drive, so it wouldn't overwrite Windows' MBR.

It seems strange that GRUB shows up during restarts but not cold boots?!

Anyways, if you guys could help me out to fix it, It is greatly appreciated. Also, if you can, explain why it does this. LQ is great, and so are all of you. Cheers!

Sincerely,

leopard

Just a thought, maybe a delay in the USB device being recognized from a cold boot? Can you boot from a USB stick from cold? If so it would suggest an issue with your USB hdd.

IG

Just bought the HDD. I went to the BIOS to have a look and found "Quick Boot" enabled. I disabled it. Sometimes decides to work when the system is 'properly shut down.' When the system is not 'properly shut down' (Linux and XP) it will not boot (GRUB won't; XP will). So I guess theres been a slight increase in my percentage of successful boot. The issue still remains though.

Question:
Other than the "Quick Boot" and "Boot Order" configurations changed, are there any other options as to why it does not consistently boot? Possibly; Sata Mode? Network Boot?

Also, what if I changed boot flag form 'ext4' to 'linux-swap'?

I will change Boot Order to the Atheros Boot Agent being first (it causes a long delay in boot time) to act as a test to the HDD itself. If it shows consistency, your theory may be correct. Will Post Results.

As to booting a USB STICK cold, I can. In fact, that was my method of installing Ubuntu before I realized WINE support for iTunes & Pokerstars was limited.

thanks for the help kind member.

always appreciative,

leopard

The Atheros Boot Agent test (added approx. 15 sec. boot time before usb initialization) returned a 1/3 cold boot success rate. I do not believe it is the HDD, but I may be wrong. I still cannot understand why its doing this. Seems like booting into BIOS, then saving changes and rebooting is the only way of booting Ubuntu in reasonable time.

Please help, anybody, I cannot even begin to diagnose whats wrong here as my Linux knowledge is limited.

Again, thank you LQ members for your time and patience.

leopard