Multi-Boot with GAG (or not)

[Objekt]

I finally took the plunge and tried, first, a couple different distros of Linux Live DVDs, then installed one each on my notebook and desktop machines.

The notebook is going to be a pure Linux (ExTiX v5.0 at the moment) machine, so no multi-boot scenario there.

My desktop machine is a bit more complicated, and this is where GAG comes in. I have 3 hard drives, with 2 OSes, arranged as follows (I'll use the DOS/Windows drive letter nomenclature for now):

-160 GB, 3 partitions, C:, D:, E:, all NTFS. The C: partition is a Win XP Pro boot volume, the others just data. This disk is plugged into SATA port 0.

-300 GB, 2 partitions, H: and I:, NTFS, also data only. Connected to SATA port 1 (2 SATA ports total).

-80 GB IDE/PATA, one partition, currently a Kubuntu 7.04 boot volume using Reiser filesystem, plugged into IDE 0 (called HDD0 in BIOS setup).

Each of the hard drives is in a removable enclosure. So, I can choose which OS boots simply by removing one or more hard drives. However, that's not the most convenient way to do it. I'd really rather do something with GAG and/or boot order so I don't have to play musical hard drives.

In BIOS setup, I can also specify up to 3 boot devices, in order of preference. Right now it's set to:
1) CD/DVD-ROM (plugged in IDE port 1)
2) Serial ATA 0.
3) HDD 0 (the IDE drive, if plugged in, which connects through IDE 0).

I've read through GAG's docs, but it's not clear to me what the optimal setup would be. What combination of boot order and GAG setup would you suggest?

Or, should I ditch GAG and work something out with Grub? I don't know much about Grub, other than it's some sort of boot loader. I don't know, for instance, whether I can set it up to do the same things as GAG. Can it handle booting from an entirely different hard drive? If so, I could perhaps set my boot order like this:
1) CD/DVD-ROM
2) HDD 0 (remember, Linux and thus Grub here)
3) SATA 0

[kbunt]

Re: Multi-Boot with GAG (or not)

I think GAG is better to use than plain Grub. The only issue with GAG comes when you change your disk sequence.

I recommend using the System Recovery CD (check the website and/or distrowatch) to set up your partitions. It's like GParted.

Then use GAG and you would have two OS to choose from, XP and Kubuntu.

Why have all the partitions, though? You could partition the 160 GB drive and have part of it for C: and the rest NTFS. Then have the 300 GB as it is formatted in NTFS. ntfs-3g can be set up in Kubuntu so that you can read/write to any of the (ntfs) partitions. I don't have an IDE/PATA drive in my system so I'm not sure how to co-ordinate an IDE drive into the mix. I have my computer set up in a similar setup as I've outlined, though.

[Objekt]

Re: Multi-Boot with GAG (or not)

Glad you mentioned System Recovery, as that's another thing I was wondering about.

It's always a huge pain when I have to reinstall Windows XP. I would like to have an easily-restored image I can go to whenever I feel the need.

Same goes for Linux. Once I get everything configured just the way I want it, I'll want a way to easily reinstall it just that way. I've had to reinstall Kubuntu once already because I broke a setting and couldn't figure out how to fix it.

I should have enough disk space for all this. I'm not so much concerned with backing up data files. All that I can stick on DVD-R. Not so much with the OS boot volume. It's the ass-pain of reinstalling Windows XP, and the zillions of utilities, drivers, apps, etc. that go with it, that I want to avoid.