Subj : Re: Getting started with XP/Debian dual boot (long)
To   : comp.os.linux
From : mephraim2
Date : Thu Jul 15 2004 11:02 am

Thanks, mjt, for the insight.  I finally caught on...
 
> > 1.  The BIOS only seems to allow booting from drive 1, not drive 2. 
> > So I think this means I need to put Grub on drive 1?
> 
> ... not necessarily. part of it will go into
> the MBR, the rest on the the /boot partition

I put all of Grub on the /boot partition (on drive 1).  Stage1, which
you suggest putting in the MBR, I put on the boot sector of the /boot
partition since I wanted to be sure Windoze/antivirus didn't complain
about an altered MBR.

> > 2.  I read that Grub must be stored within a Grub-supported partition
> > type.  I don't think NTFS is Grub-supported.  So if Grub must indeed
> > be on disk 1, does that mean I need a small partition (probably FAT?)
> > at the start of drive 1?
> 
> how about a Linux-related partition/filesystem
> for the /boot partition.
> 

Yes!  I used ext2 for the /boot partition.

> > 3.  I've read it's safest with Linux for a bootable partition to be in
> > the 1st 1024 cylinders of a hard drive.  
> 
> .. that was a restriction for older BIOS - this
> should <not> be a restriction with newer BIOSes 

I put my /boot partition above 1024 without trouble.  But I think this
is because I chained Grub (in the /boot partition) from the Windoze
bootloader.  Might have had to mess with LBA in BIOS otherwise.  (BTW,
was not able to boot directly to GRUB by setting the /boot partition
active.  Is this a "feature" of the Windoze code in the
Windoze-created MBR?)

> 
> > 4.  Assuming I want to repartition drive 1 to be 500 MB FAT at the
> > start and the rest NTFS for XP
> 
> ... i wouldnt worry about it
> .

Yup, gave up this idea.

.