When grub resides in a separate partition and you chainload you do not have to worry about kernel updates or distro changes, it will boot the partition.

Read this article, chainloads 145 systems with grub legacy, but same applies to grub2

145 distros

Thanks for the advice. Larry Webb, I think I will try your suggestion. Before I do though, would this work and be easier?

1 - Install Fedora or Mint (or any other distro that uses Grub2) on /dev/sdb8.
2 - When asked where to install the bootloader, select /dev/sdb2.
3 - Let the installer create all the necessary boot files in /dev/sdb2.
4 - Once the installation is complete, the computer should boot up with a generic grub.cfg (containing the distro at minimum).
5 - Reinstall distro in step 1 a second time to the same location. Have it format the partition and select /dev/sdb8 this time when asked where to install the bootloader.
6 - Edit /dev/sdb2 grub.cfg file to point to /dev/sdb6, 7, 8, etc.
7 - Any time I update the kernel for any of the installed distro's, they should not touch /dev/sdb2 since their individual bootloaders are in their respective partitions. Would that be true?

Thanks again everyone for the education. I truly appreciate it.

I see that I did not submit my reply for a few hours. Sorry to repeat some of what you said Larry. That article is the exact reason I am trying this. Albeit, I only want about 10 distro's for now. Being new to Linux, though, makes it a bit of a challenge to say the least.

But don't you have to "adjust" something everytime you update to a newer kernel.

I have read it and, even though it is an excellent resource, I wonder how functional it is in the real world. I currently have 14 on this laptop, by the time I am finished setting it up I will have 28. All using Grub2, all with their own / and no separate /boot. I may even throw XP and Vista (only because I have them) on it but realistically I will need a bigger hard drive. So far os-prober works perfectly.

No, you are booting the partition not the kernel. I do adjust the timeout time on the distro grub.cfg so that I do not have to wait on the boot to start.

There is nothing wrong with the way you are installing. It is just a personal preference.

2 . No, it will install the mbr instructions there.
3 . No a distro when installed will not install grub to a separate partition, just the mbr.
4 . No
7 . True

The way I explained in my earlier post is the easiest way.

Thanks Larry. In the process of writing the file now. I will let you know how it goes. I appreciate it.

That took care of it Larry. Windows XP, Ubuntu and Fedora are all launching using the boot partition and chainloading. Now I need to install a few more distro's and update the grub.cfg file to point to them.

I appreciate the help you and everyone else have given me. I have a lot to learn and hope to be able to contribute to the group at some point in the near future.

easyBCD may help

Please use the 'Thread Tools Button' at the top of the post window to mark as "Solved".

OK, new problem. I installed OpenSUSE in /dev/sdb8 (next empty partition). During installation I told it to use /dev/sdb16 for /home (I am trying to use a common partition for all installations. Unlike Fedora and Ubuntu, OpenSUSE did not make it really clear where to set the boot partition. Or it did and I completely missed it. I thought I had set / for boot. Now, instead of Grub2 on /dev/sdb2 running at boot up, OpenSUSE on /dev/sdb8 appears to have taken over. Is there a way to reset my chainloading Grub2 installation on /dev/sdb2 as my MBR? Thanks in advance. Sorry for more newbie questions.

Yes there is.

Use your ubuntu live cd from terminal
Here is the documentation that I refer to (pay attention to section 12) grub2

You are lucky I caught this. After marking a thread solved you need to start a new thread. After all this is a new problem.

If after repairing your mbr you can not boot suse come back with a new thread.

Solved again. Will open a new thread with future issues (which I am bound to have). Thanks again.