Help building a mega-multi-boot system

Hi all

I've got a bit of linux exp as I've done a couple of Mandriva installs - one even a simple dual boot

I now want to build a system to run XP and several flavors of linux for testing and learning on. I've built a system using an Intel 945 MB and a 3GHz Intel cpu. I've got a 100GB SATA drive (C:/) dedicated to XP Pro. Next is to drop in a second 160GB SATA drive for the linux partitions --- Ideally I'd like to switch between Redhat - SUSE - Mandriva - maybe UnButu (?) desktop loads -- and maybe a server version of a couple of those distis.

So first question is the boot manager --- are there any clearly better boot managers built into these distis that can manage all the partitions - or do I need a 3rd party boot manager --- key here is KEEP IT SIMPLE AND ROBUST.
So in a way I'm asking which disti should I load first as it will be the boot manager. Help is needed here

Second - I've got a fairly new Nvidia PCI-Express video card sitting here - I've been considering installing it (easy on XP) - but I'm not planning on doing any heavy gaming or 3D --- are there going to be hassles on the linux side ? Should I just stick to Intel chipset graphics ??

Lastly of course is SATA --- the MB I have easily loaded Mandriva - and the BIOS has a setting to treat (config ?) SATA as IDE --- I assume this should remove any driver issues around SATA on the other flavors of Linux

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOU HELP !!!!!!

hi PC_Hack

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So first question is the boot manager

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Boot maneger.?I think you need a bootloader.
well im using GRUB bootloader of fedora core 4.It works great.Every time when i install an new distro i just add it to grub.conf and that makes a possibility to boot into it.I have 2 HDD.one 160GB(windows,FC,slacware) and 30GB with ubuntu on it.

Don't know about sata but I have several distros and WinXP on one HD. What I do is after intalling xp first, install the first distro (with grub to mbr) next on hd and get dual boot going. Then install the second distro with its grub to mbr . Afterward, you will have the new grub booting only the second distro, but once in, you simply mount the first distro's root partition, open its /boot/grub/menu.lst (The one you were using before you installed the second distro that disabled it), copy its entries for Windows and Linux, and paste them into the new grub you just created. You might have to make a few minor adjustments. Reboot and the new grub will then present the three for your booting. Repeat this process until you run out of space like I have... ;)

The Gparted live cd partitioner would be a great tool to use to create new partitions as you go. Be careful not to install over a pre-existing install. You can use the same swap for all your linux distros, but in my experience, it isn't a good idea at all to try to use the same /home directory if it is on a seperate partition. Creating new /home partitions, along with the new root partitions will be the best way to keep things straight. After I install a new distro, I always mount my former /home directory to a directory in the new install's /home. That way I can easily access my former files and downloads and even drag them over if needed. Hope this helps.

see also this link http://www.linuxtoday.com/mailprint....9-011-26-OP-HL

I'm using this method successfully.

nomadic

hi PC_Hack !!!

i completely agree with Dapper Dan. six distro right now and i followed exactly same procedure...
there is only one thing to add... SWAP space for Fedora Core 5...
FC5 was the first distro i installed after windows installation... when i installed SuSe and assigned the SWAP of FC5 to it... FC5 simply rejected that... "Unable to mount SWAP"... i had to create a new SWAP space for FC5...

all other distros SuSe, Debian, Mandriva, Gentoo and Slax are using common SWAP space...

<=== { casper } ===>

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Originally Posted by devils_casper

when i installed SuSe and assigned the SWAP of FC5 to it... FC5 simply rejected that... "Unable to mount SWAP"... i had to create a new SWAP space for FC5... all other distros SuSe, Debian, Mandriva, Gentoo and Slax are using common SWAP space...

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Hi devils_casper,

That's really strange! I wonder why it rejected it? Did you try reformatting it again as the swap for FC5? I stopped using Fedora at Core 3 so I haven't kept up with all the changes. I've since moved over to CentOS which I have on a seperate machine that doesn't share any swap spaces.

hi Dapper Dan !!!

yes ! i reformatted that and it recognized by FC5. but when i booted up other distro, its gone again... i had to create a new one....
FC5 gives a LABEL name to SWAP space... i am not sure but i think other distros change that during boot up...
well !! actually i didnt try much... just created new and formatted it as SWAP and its working... i will look in to this matter again.....

EDIT: SWAP share problem is Fixed in Fedora Core 6.



casper

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Originally Posted by PC_Hack

Second - I've got a fairly new Nvidia PCI-Express video card sitting here - I've been considering installing it (easy on XP) - but I'm not planning on doing any heavy gaming or 3D --- are there going to be hassles on the linux side ?

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If you don't need to enable 3d acceleration in linux then you will need to do no configuration whatsoever in linux for the nvidia graphics card. So go ahead and put it in!