Seperate Hard Drives

[cr0ssfiRe]

I've just installed Mandrake 9 onto another HD I have, but at the moment I have to keep opening up my box to switch from that HD to my Windows HD.
I have them both connected on 1 of those (excuse the fact I don't know the proper jargon) "ribbon" cables. So is it possible to actually switch between HDs without physically switching them?

[Uncle Bob]

Give "mobil racks" some thought.

Hmm, during the Mandrake install, did you choose a boot loader, or did you opt not to install one?

Did you make a boot floppy for Mandrake.

You shouldn't have to physically switch between the drives to get it to boot. Do you have them setup as Master/Slave?

And yes, it's called a 'ribbon cable'.

[cr0ssfiRe]

I didn't see anything to do with a boot loader. Bet I just missed it.
I need to make a boot disk, where do I do that? I read that the images are on the Intsallation CD, but I don't know which files exactly.
How do I setup Master/Slave?
I'm completely new to Linux and I've never had to open my box before, so be nice :P

I only suggested the Master/Slave because it sounds like maybe you're only using one drive at a time? If that's the case, have/can you plug them both in at the same time and they work?

What brand/size are they as well?

[cr0ssfiRe]

I have them both connected via a ribbon cable, first to a 4gig quantum (Linux), then to a 10gig maxtor (Windows 98se).
When I boot up, Windows 98se loads, no access to the other drive, but it seems active as the power light is on.

You won't be able to access Mandrake from 98, you will be able to access 98 from Mandrake though.

It sounds like you just missed the bootdisk creation part. You need to boot into Mandrake to do this. Should be a utility to do it, not exactly sure where. Look for it in the "System" menu of KDE, not sure if Gnome has it.

Just to clear this up, they're both connected at the same time during boot up, but in order to boot from either OS, you have to switch there positions on the cable?

[cr0ssfiRe]

Correct...

MB ---cable---> Linux HD (does NOT boot) ---cable---> Win98se HD (boots)

... or...

MB ---cable---> Win98se HD (does NOT boot) --- cable---> Linux HD (boots)

Going to start Linux up and create a boot disk.

[strangerstill]

That suggests that you have both set as master or both as slave - to get both drives to work (be recognised by the BIOS) you need to have one as master and one as slave (jumpers on the back of the hdd)

then set the linux drive as the master so that the machine boots linux, then load DrakBoot in the Mandrake Control Center and tell us which boot manager it says you're using.

If you're using Grub (better) then edit /boot/grub/grub.conf (you will need to be root) and add the lines

timeout 10

(at the beginning) and

title Windows
root (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

at the end

Then when you reboot you will get a menu for 10 seconds that lets you select which OS to boot into.

If you're using Lilo then someone else can tell you which file to edit

[cr0ssfiRe]

Can find lots of things to do with Booting but nothing to actually create a boot disk, hmm.

Yeah I'm using Lilo, just my luck :P

Gonna look at the jumpers and see what I need to change.

-------

Edit: Right, checked the jumpers and found...

Quantum (Linux) -- was Cable Select --> Changed to Master

Maxtor (Win98se) -- was Master --> Changed to Slave

Time to test this with them both connected.