Two Hard Disks and GRUB location /dev/hdb6

[zillah]

I have got two HDs, each one 40 GB. Connected to one cable to IDE0 (one hard disk master and the other is slave).

A- First HD (master or hda) is divided into :
1/A- 15 GB NTFS for XP.
2/A- 5 GB FAT32 for Storage.
3/A- 20 GB NTFS for win2003.

I had already installed both windows (XP and 2003).


B- Second HD (slave or hdb) is divided into :
1/B- 20 GB Solaris (hdb1,,,to be installed later).
2/B- 5 GB NTFS for Storage (hdb2).
3/B- 500 MB Linux swap (hdb3).
4/B- 14.5 GB ext3 Linux (hdb4).


When I started to install Linux FC4, I reached the option for :

Install Boot loader record on:
/dev/had Master Boot Record (MBR)

/dev/hdb6 First sector of boot partition.


I have choosen /dev/had Master Boot Record (MBR).


When I finished installation both windows and Linux,,,I have been greeted with grub,,,,first I booted winodws OS,,,then I restared the machine,,,the greeting of grub GUI disappered,,,,I have received this message (grub shell or native grub) :


[Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible completions of a device/filename.]
grub>


I Loaded a Live CD and type "fdisk -l" to find out:

root@0[knoppix]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40016019456 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 1959 15735636 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 1960 2612 5245222+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda3 2613 4865 18097222+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/hdb: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 2611 20972826 bb Boot Wizard hidden
/dev/hdb2 2612 3264 5245222+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hdb3 3265 4865 12860032+ 5 Extended
/dev/hdb5 3265 3328 514048+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdb6 3329 4865 12345921 83 Linux




[root@0[knoppix]# cat /mnt/hdb6/boot/grub/menu.lst
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd1,5)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb6
# initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd1,5)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.11-1.1369_FC4)
root (hd1,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4.img
title WinXP and 2003
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1



[root@0[knoppix]#cat /boot/grub/device.map
# this device map was generated by anaconda
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb

[ricercar]

When I saw a GRUB command line unexpectedly with a Fedore core install (VMware ESX Server), it was because I had installed the MBR on the wrong hard drive of a multi-drive machine. YMMV.

[seeker]

I have choosen /dev/had Master Boot Record (MBR).

This may have been a typo, but it probably should have been /dev/hda1(or 0). I am not a Linux guru, and am struggling with this system myself, because the first partition of hda is given as 1 in one place and 0 in another. I'm not going to attempt to give you specific advice, because it would probably be wrong. However, I think that you may need to edit /boot/grub and or /etc/fstab. Check this with someone that really knows, or from documentation.