i installed mandriva 2006, on my laptop which had ubuntu breezy. I installed the boot loader on the first sector of the master boot record. However, i am not able to boot into my ubuntu installalation, even though i am able to see the files. any suggestions?

Let me make sure I understand the situation.

Both Mandriva and Ubuntu are installed on one computer (two separate partitions).
Mandriva's boot loader is on the MBR.
Ubuntu's boot loader is... where? On the first sector of the Ubuntu partition?

Is Mandriva's boot loader Grub or Lilo?

mandriva's boot loader is grub.
the ubuntu boot loader is, on the ubuntu partition.

thank you.

mandriva's boot loader is grub.
the ubuntu boot loader is, on the ubuntu partition.
i tried to use mandriva's configure utility to add a new item to the boot list. i gave the name of the kernel image and the root hard drive. which in this case is the ubuntu disk. but it is not booting.
i get a message which says
"kernel panic" "unable to sync"
thank you.

You may have to add Ubuntu to Mandriva's Grub manually.

Do you know how to mount partitions? Can you mount the Ubuntu partition in Mandriva? If so, take a look at Ubuntu's /boot/grub/menu.lst and open it up.

Then, edit Mandriva's Grub as root (after making up a back-up copy first, of course) and add a new entry for Ubuntu.

The key with the new entry is to use the parameters from Ubuntu's menu.lst but the format of Mandriva's Grub's other entries.

If you need help with this, post the /boot/grub/menu.lst from both Mandriva and Ubuntu, and I'll try to help you sort it out.

i dont know how to do it.. like i said, i tried to add it to grub using the boot configuration utility in mandriva, but it is not booting.

i will try doing it. please disregard the last post

thank you.
it worked like a dream