Running RedHat 9 (2.4.20-8) on hda
XP on hdb
Grub as bootloader
Installed XP on hdb first, then installed RH9

Two days ago I decided to add Gentoo. At the partition part I realized there was no place to put another distro, so I bailed out. Problem is, somehow I hosed my bootloader in the process. Now I cannot boot XP by any method - even changing boot order in bios (don't know when this happened because I only use it for PageMaker, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver). RH9 will only boot from the floppy.

I have read many threads on many forums, just to have myself totally confused. I wouldn't mind having to reinstall RH9 because I can do this in about 30 mins. and need to change my partitions; but I don't want to have to reinstall XP because it takes so stinking long to fully patch it, and that install is running like a scalded Cheeta.

Could someone direct me, or help me in some manner. I will post my device.map and grub.conf

TIA

# this device map was generated by anaconda
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb


# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
password --md5 $1$v5nstA0B$ULo2t/L4ULVp.8LHm.tVP0
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.20-8)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.20-8 ro root=LABEL=/ hdd=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.20-8.img
title Windoze
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

When I boot I never get the splash screen, but rather
Grub booting into stage 2
some wording like that on a continual scroll

If you have the rescue CD just boot it up (its the 1rst installation disk). Then just run grub configue and it will reconfigure for your system automatically! Good luck!

Hey Dude,

I just yanked the ribbon cable off the Linux hd and ran fdisk /mbr on the XP hd. Now XP boots - hated to loose that fast system until I learn how to get the crawling RedHat up to speed :-)

I'll try what you're saying once I power down and stick the ribbon cable back on the Linux hd. If it doesn't work (since I've read every forum thread, and done fdisk /mbr the way they say about x times already), I think I'll install Gentoo or something that's not as bloated as RedHat.

With Linux, the idea is to build your own system (isn't it to have control?), not tear down what someone else has built! That's what I have to do to Windoze to get it to run properly. Why else would I want Linux? My XP box runs like a race horse, as does any other Windoze OS I install. Plus, it has the best software available, that I've already paid for :-) - though in China copyright means the right to copy - if you want to, you can purchase any software made for 3 yuan, about 35c USD. I've learned M$, but I don't want to be a M$ slave anymore. I really like Linux, and want to learn it, and be a part of this community.

The forums tell me how to do stuff, but sometimes it's just another newbie guessing. I'm not a *computer newbie* just a *Linux newbie*. I know M$ only too well. Now I want to learn Linux. In 1999 I installed RH 6? and gave up. This time I won't give up. I build and repair computers, and want to start installing Linux systems instead of M$ systems. That will happen soon :-)

Okay, I put the ribbon cable back on the Linux hd, and now I got GRUB Loading stage2.. scrolling on my screen. I'll stick the first CD in as you suggest, and try to run grub configure (can you run that only?). Are you guessing, or have you learned this by experience? Can't hurt if you're wrong, though, as I am faced with these options -> spend way too many hours learning how to trim the bloat out of RedHat (M$, Jr.); or install Gentoo and spend the same time learning what this Linux kernel is all about, and build my own system with just what I need (email client, web browser, Gimp, Scribus, something to replace Dreamweaver, and a text editor). That's all I want for now!

TIA

Okay, it wasn't quite as simple as your instructions, but then again, you didn't take me to spoon feed, did you?

I'm back in RH9, but booting to the gui is awfully slow (maybe 2 mintues), and then from the point of entering the user password, to the loading of the actual desktop is another 30 secs. or longer. Yes, I know, it's not necessary to reboot Linux often (unless you need to use Windoze software for the moment). I haven't been able to install Scribus 1.0 - dependency nightmare!

Thanks for your help. I'd still like to know how to determine what to stop, or eliminate, from this os to get it to run as fast as others report it will run. I have read a lot of threads, but so far I haven't really understood it a lot. When I go to
red hat ->
System Settings ->
Server Settings ->
Services
there are so many of them that the explanation doesn't help, or leaves me like a dog chasing his tail, trying to find out how and why this uses that or whatever. Is there something simple to read to understand all of this? (I am in China, where I can't buy a Linux book in English, so it needs to be online.)

This machine booted and ran programs faster before I installed Alsa to get sound from the output jack vs. the mic jack, and then attempted to install Scribus and it's dependencies.