Help configuring GRUB for external drive boot

[kayrish5252]

Hi, I am trying to install Debian 6.0.1 on an external hard drive through USB. I removed my internal hard drive because I absolutely cannot change or delete anything on it.
I burned the image on a DVD and installed the OS on the external drive successfully. I know this because I booted up from an Ubuntu Live CD and it recognized my external drive. I was able to view all of the root directories on my ehd through the ubuntu OS. But when I try to boot from the ehd, I get a black screen stating "Operating System not found".
On installation of Debian on the ehd, I had the option of installing GRUB which I did, but for whatever reason, GRUB is not being detected. Here is what I already did.
1) configured the BIOS to check for a USB ehd first,
2) removed the cd and Internal HD and tried to boot from the ehd, received the "OS not found" message
3) during installation, I labeled the ehd as "C", would this cause a problem?

Other information:
1) I have a Sony VAIO VGN AR 520E, with a 32bit duo core intel processor
2) The version of GRUB that I can view on my ehd is labeled for an amd64 processor, I'm 90% sure this is part of the problem

So, I'm confused how to configure GRUB, or ultimately, reinstall the DEBIAN OS with a 32bit version of GRUB. If that is what I need to do, how do I ensure that the correct version of GRUB is installed with the OS? Also, Once I have that set up, how to I tell the BIOS where to locate the initial boot files?

[kayrish5252]

Also, I downloaded the stable version of Debian from the debian website. The i386 version, DVD-1 iso.

[fanderal]

I removed my internal hard drive ... I had the option of installing GRUB which I did

Sounds like grub was installed on the external HD without the internal HD present/active. The internal HD is the primary HD, and when you reinstalled the internal HD and booted, Windows ignored the external HD and OS (Windows cannot read a Linux file system).

I'd recommend installing grub to the MBR on the internal HD in order to recognize the external HD and boot Debian. It doesn't change anything on the Windows OS file system, apps or user files... just the MBR. To do that, with both HDs active, boot to the Debian install DVD. Choose rescue mode and install grub to the internal HD.

An alternative is to add the Debian OS to Windows' bootloader.

[fanderal]

I think mis-read your post. Booting to the USB drive without the internal HD present... is that a temporary or permanent method to boot Linux? Will the USB drive always be plugged in or just once in a while?

[kayrish5252]

I think mis-read your post. Booting to the USB drive without the internal HD present... is that a temporary or permanent method to boot Linux? Will the USB drive always be plugged in or just once in a while?

Booting Linux from the external HD will be permanent. The idea is that I will be able to boot into linux from the ehd on any computer.

And for the computer that I'm currently using, the USB drive will be plugged in only when I want to use linux.

Ideally, I'd like to have two separate hard drives that use independent OSs and separate MBRs. I'd like to have to ehd with linux so that I can have a portable configured OS to use from anywhere, that is already configured to communicate with my home network.

[AdamTheComputerGeek]

What Directory did you install Debian in? If it was the external drive, you have to boot from that. Then, you can try to download a live cd and boot into it. Then install Debian, but choose the option that says configure partitions, and delete all partitions except for the external drives. What I mean by delete is format. Then, simply, install Debian to to the Internal Drive, and it will write the MBR to it. It's your choice to delete all of your files on your internal drive.

If you have no internal HD present, then you need to boot from the USB key. You need to keep it in at all times, so the OS can run. Please think about getting a fixed HD. You will run out of space very quickly

-- Thanks if it worked--

PS: You cant access your home network from everywhere. If you have a webserver at home then yes, but you cant connect to it. You need Mobile Wireless then. Also, if the MBR's aren't in the specified Directory, Debian will be Corrupt. If you want, you can partition your USB key. Then install two different distros if thats what you mean.

[AdamTheComputerGeek]

Dude, use this Debian Installer for Windows. Please Google it. If your USB Key has an active mbr, then make that partition active. If the Windows Partition is marked as active, it will crash the system. Also, you need to make the External Drive Active some how. Use the Partition Manager in the Live CD, and make the External Drive active. Then, it will boot. Also, go into your boot menu, like click f12 or something, when the computer turns on, (Before Windows loads) and click Something with external in it. Then it *may* load the External HD because it's not fixed. Also, make sure GRUB in in Dev/sda

[AdamTheComputerGeek]

With the Drive thing. Just get two drives, or partition the ehd so you can install two different distros

[fanderal]

Booting Linux from the external HD will be permanent. The idea is that I will be able to boot into linux from the ehd on any computer.

And for the computer that I'm currently using, the USB drive will be plugged in only when I want to use linux.

Without installing grub to any of the computers' internal HDs, you might try the alternate method of using Windows' bootloader to boot Debian. It means editing the 'boot.ini' file for XP or using 'BCDEDIT.exe' to edit the Vista/7 bootloader on all of the computers. I'm not too familiar with this method as I tried it briefly several years ago on XP and decided grub was easier to use/edit (read: I forgot what I did ).

Another possible method is getting a 5-8GB USB flash drive and create/install a Live USB Debian with persistence. Persistence is the Live system's ability to save creature-comfort changes as well as files/edits. This method has some drawbacks but it would boot (without any bootloader edits) on any of your computers.

Another method is installing VirtualBox on the Windows machines and then installing the Debian OS as a VM. You won't need to reboot to use Linux but you will need a recent CPU to have it run reasonably well. As a reference, I'm using a 2 yr old quad core and with a few services tweaks, WinXP runs at native speed.

Good luck deciding which method works best for you.

[Lostfarmer]

1)It would seem that you did not install GRUB to your ehd's MBR but to the / partition.
2) there is not boot code in the MBR or there is a generic boot code but the linux / partition is not mark bootable/active.

To start post output of 'fdisk -l' NOTE: l is a small L , run command in a termianl with root permissions. That will show if the boot flag is correct.

version of GRUB

does not matter.

how to I tell the BIOS where to locate the initial boot files?

The only thing you tell the bios is what hdd to boot from, it only can read the boot code in the MBR (very first sector of hdd). When you install linux, is when you tell it where to install GRUB.

If you have a live Debian cd (I do not use Debian) you should be able to reinstall grub to the ehd's MBR.

As posted above you can also use 'BCDEDIT', 'easybcd', 'grub4dos' installed on the MS Windows.

If you have a live linux CD with internet run below to installl bootinfoscritp

http://bootinfoscript.git.sourceforge.net/git/gitweb.cgi?p=bootinfoscript/bootinfoscript;a=blob_plain;f=boot_info_script.sh;hb=HEAD

then run it and post it's output "RESULTS.txt"