cannot boot other os's

[Crispies]

i have installed kubuntu on my primary hd and i have a second hd with xp and vista on it. when i first started up the comp after the install i didnt see xp or vista on there so i went and added them to the menu.1st and when i try to boot either i get error 21 selected disk does not exist this is what i put in menu.1st

title		Windows XP
root		(hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

title		Windows Vista
root		(hd1,1)
savedefault
chainloader +1

i believe this is right...if so would this mean my second hd is just not detected?

I just tried to slave another hd and i got the same error when i tried to boot its os's

[Qqmike]

Re: cannot boot other os's

Yes, it sounds like BIOS (& GRUB) is not seeing hd1.

Your PC boots from the Kubuntu hard drive, right?
And you do see a boot menu when you turn on the PC.
At that boot menu, try to explore your drives using the geometry command, as follows:

At the boot menu, before the timer winds down, press the “c” key.
That gives a GRUB prompt: grub>, at which type the geometry commands:

grub> geometry (hd0)
grub> geometry (hd1)
See what comes back--do you recognize anything?

And, just to see that everything is working,
grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
(which should return (hd0,0) where Kubuntu is located).

You also want menu.lst to look like:

title Windows XP
root (hd1,0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1

title Windows Vista
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader +1


And, of course, you may be familiar with this one:
Vista *** The definitive dual-booting guide: Linux, Vista and XP step-by-step
http://apcmag.com/dualboot

[Crispies]

Re: cannot boot other os's

when i did geometry (hd0) it was right but when i did (hd1) game me error 21 again
and its the same with the other hd i tried
i can boot into kubuntu but when i put in find /boot/grub/stage1 its not found

ok i made a stupid mistake and forgot to go to the bios and set it to detect my other hd sorry to have bothered u guys

[Qqmike]

Re: cannot boot other os's

BIOS maybe? Does it see both drives? All settings look OK for the hard drives?

Re-install GRUB perhaps? (taking long shots here)
“c”
grub> root (hd0,0)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> reboot
(& test it on re-boot)
(I'm assuming Kubuntu is in (hd0,0))

Hardware issues?
Are you normally able to see/use both hard drives?
Cables (data and power leading from the mobo & power supply to the second hard drive? especially SATA connectors are likely to slip off)

Really long shot:
Manually re-type all references to hd1 in menu.lst (i.e., do not copy/paste from OOo Writer or from any text editor).

[Qqmike]

Re: cannot boot other os's

Sorry, in Reply #2, I did not see you had written:

"ok i made a stupid mistake and forgot to go to the bios and set it to detect my other hd sorry to have bothered u guys"

Glad you got it. No bother at all. A good example for others that sometimes Error 21 is resolved in BIOS.

Thanks for that feedback.

[Qqmike]

Re: cannot boot other os's

I edited my GRUB toolkit, Reply #23 on GRUB Errors, to include this discussion into a better coverage for Error 21:

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
--- GRUB Errors -- common errors and what causes them and how to fix them, Reply #23