Ok heres my story, so my parents dont want linux on the main computer so I am in the process of putting it on an older computer. Its a Compaq Presario Series 5000 Model # 5BW120, Celeron 600Mhz 64MB Ram. Ok So I am installing mandrake 10 off of a hard drive onto an other hard drive. So I made a boot disk for it with the rawwritewin and used this web site to make the hd grub for my system:

http://qa.mandrakesoft.com/hd_grub.cgi


When I go to boot the disk I get a Read Error on stage 2. Can someone help me? I would really like to get this system running.


Thanks
Joseph

As its an old computer, the /boot partition may need to be in the first 1024 cylinders of the disk.

Ok I am a little confused. Are you talking about the hard drive that has the Linux install or the hard drive that I want to install Linux on?


Thanks

Either and both. Some old BIOSes can't read past the first 1024 cylinders, so can't read the grub files. So no Linux boot.

You maybe better off starting from scratch with a CD, then just copying what you want from the old HD ( usually just your home directory ). Plus the Kernel from the other disk won't be set up for the new computer its living in, and won't have the right modules on startup.

The hard drive I took from the main computer that had Linux on it does not have linux on it anymore. What I am trying to do is re install linux on that hard drive on a diffrent computer. So there is no linux currently installed on this computer. Right now just trying to install it.

You've completley lost me now.

SO we have two disks, one from your parents computer, that used to have Linux on it, or it does now? and one from the Presario that never had Linux on it. Both attached to which computer?

Ok Disk #1 = Use to have linux but not anymore and is in the persario.
Disk #2 = has the downloaded Mandrake on it which I used before to install onto the disk# 1

So where booting #2. To reinstall onto the presario?

What settings did you give the cgi script above. Also where are both disks connected on IDE. ( ie. Primary Master, Secondary Slave ).

Yes we are booting #2 to install onto #1 and the options it put out this:

timeout 0
default 0
fallback 1

title Mandrake Install

root (hd1,0)
kernel /1/isolinux/alt0/vmlinuz ramdisk_size=128000 root=/dev/ram3 acpi=ht vga=788 automatic=method:disk,partition=hdb1,directory=/1
initrd /1/isolinux/alt0/all.rdz

or:
Pull down menu 1: 2nd BIOS hard drive
Pull down menu 2: 2nd IDE hard drive (hdb)
Pull down menu 3: 1st primary partition (hda1, sda1 or...)

and for the directory its /1

Try remaking the Floppy disk. ( It could simply be a bad floppy, as it should have the stage_2 file ). I've been reading through the stuff, and thats all I can think of that could be causing the problem.

I got a bit confused and was thinking the stage_2 file was trying to be accessed on the HD, which of couse is wrong.

Well that didnt work. So I guess I am out of luck? Maybe I will have to give linux an other try sometime?


Thanks
Joseph

Why not try another distro, or burn a CD.

With an other distro wouldnt I still have to use the HD grub? and I dont have money for blank Cds

Hmm probably. When you get the cash for a blank CD, get one. or use LinuxISO. Maybe someone else could still solve your problem. Giving up is not an option