Triple Boot XP - Ubuntu Hardy - ???? (Oensuse 11)

[kevrox]

Thanks for advice MetalheadGautham
I am open to any ideas... I was wanting opensuse 11 to see what the newer 2.6.25 kernel can do on my system seeing as ubuntu will only use it when "Intrepid 8.10" comes out.... also found out that our telstra bigpod 3g wireless drivers are included ( was checking it out to see if this would suit my dad's laptop)
When you say install debian on second hard drive do you mean the one I have prepared for opensuse ( /dev/sdb7) or put it on my dev\sda1?
I had Ubuntu on my old pc on a separate hard drive to Xp and that worked very well... simple and easy... I did look at debian so will have another look again before I do this.... keep the advice coming....

[devils casper]

On which partition do you want to install SuSe?
During installation, there will be a Boot Loader section. Click on Boot Loader and type partition name of SuSe's root partition. Let say you are planning to install SuSe in /dev/sdb8 partition. Type /dev/sdb8 in Boot Loader location text box. It will install Boot Loader in boot sector of /dev/sdb8.

Add this code in Ubuntu's menu.lst file :

title OpenSUSE
rootnoverify (hd1,7)
chainloader +1

I assumed that you are going to install SuSe in /dev/sdb8 partition.

[kevrox]

Hi devils casper
I would put Suse in dev/sdb7 that is what I made last night in readiness.
thanks for the "Add this code in Ubuntu's menu.lst file" Why is rootnoverify (hd1,7) hd1 and not hdb? I still have so much technical stuff to learn.

[devils casper]

For /dev/hdb7, code will be

title OpenSUSE
rootnoverify (hd1,6)
chainloader +1

GRUB uses device and partition numbers instead of names. It starts counting from zero.
sda --> hd0
sdb --> hd1
If you start counting partitions from zero, /dev/sdb7 will be 6.
So, correct code is rootnoverify (hd1,6).

[kevrox]

thanks for that... but since last night after I did the re-partitions I have had boot issues... mostly cosmetic... instead of a nice boot loader bar I get the loaded text... so am trying to work out why. All the "splash quiet" options are on and so the only thing that changed was the formatting. I read here Scrolling text (Verbose) on boot-up & shutdown - how to remove? - Ubuntu Forums about a similar thing... have posted a question on launchpad.
wondering if I should make the /dev/sdb7 not part of the dev/sdb4 extended partition and make it a stand alone one? ... perhaps my thinking is too windows like

[devils casper]

If you create any partition outside /dev/sdb4, it will Primary and device name will be /dev/sdb2. There is no need to create any other partition.

If you won't change anything in Boot Loader section, SUSE installer will install Boot Loader in MBR of Primary Harddisk ( /dev/sda ). Thats a default behavior of all Linux distros.

[kevrox]

ok thanks for your help... off to bed now... will continue this journey tomorrow as you say If you woke up breathing, Congratulations! You get another chance.
have a great day

[MetalheadGautham]

Thanks for advice MetalheadGautham
I am open to any ideas... I was wanting opensuse 11 to see what the newer 2.6.25 kernel can do on my system seeing as ubuntu will only use it when "Intrepid 8.10" comes out.... also found out that our telstra bigpod 3g wireless drivers are included ( was checking it out to see if this would suit my dad's laptop)
When you say install debian on second hard drive do you mean the one I have prepared for opensuse ( /dev/sdb7) or put it on my dev\sda1?
I had Ubuntu on my old pc on a separate hard drive to Xp and that worked very well... simple and easy... I did look at debian so will have another look again before I do this.... keep the advice coming....

Well, Debian will also allow you to experience the latest kernel. I suggest you start with a debian derivative, called Sidux.

Figuring out how best to use it, along with frequent visits to its website will make you a standard fully qualified intermediate user. And yes, it runs KDE, giving you a nice change of scenery in your working environment over gnome ubuntu.

It takes about a week to get used to, and it will help you adjust better to commandline. You will start enjoying apps like nano, which you might never have heard of before.

Just be warned that it sends out 100mb updates every other day, and you need to constantly watch its website for news to see weather it has any issues or not, since its based on Debian "Unstable" and does some patching to the updates to stabilise them. It has the latest kernels, and you can enjoy bleeding (I mean bleeding) edge linux technology with it.

Since debian is the second oldest distro alive (after slackware), and at the same time its easy to use and has an awssome package management system (apt-get), it has HUGE and I MEAN HUGE repositories. And TONNES OF MIRRORS in every obscure region of the world. So you can get high speed downloads of nearly every software on the net.

Since ubuntu is based on debian, both are internally very similar. This means that you find it easier to use it.

And yeah, I meant that you should install this in the HDD you prepared for OpenSuSE.