Loads straight to windows (even with GRUB installed on MBR)

[stug]

I'm trying to get Linux installed on my PC for the first time, but keep running into the same problem with the 2 distros I've tried (Fedora Core 4 and Ubuntu 5.10). My PC has 4 drives; a 125GB NTFS, a 120GB FAT32, a 80GB FAT32 and a 20GB NTFS. On the 20GB NTFS I have Windows XP installed. When I tried to install Fedora on the 120GB FAT32 drive, everything was running smoothly until it came to rebooting after installation. Although I'd selected Fedora as the default boot OS, with Win XP as the secondary, on reboot it'd just load straight into Win XP, without even as much as showing an option screen to give me a chance to select an OS.

Next up, I decided to give Unbutu 5.10 a try, but a similar problem occurs, this time half-way through installation. After stating that I wanted to use GRUB, and it recognising I also have Win XP installed, it tells me to reboot the system (using the "continue" option) and take out the installation CD, then the installation process will continue. So I do this and to my disappointment, just as with the bodged Fedora installation, it loads straight into Win XP again.

This is happeneing even when I select to install GRUB on the MBR. I've tried several times now but always with the same results, I'm at a loss what to try next. Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

[AlexK]

What I think you are doing wrong is installing GRUB to the MBR of the drive where Linux is being installed. What you should do is install GRUB to the MBR of the drive which boots first i.e. the Primary Master.

[darkrose0510]

Sounds like the bootloader is coming from the MBR of the Windose drive, whereas GRUB is on the MBR of the 120GB FAT32. I'd say you need to open your case and either;
swap the jumpers on the drives so that the Linux drive is master and the rest are slave.
OR
reconnect the drive cable so that the Linux drive is on the end plug, this should make the BIOS select it as the master drive and boot using it's MBR.

HTH

[stug]

I'll try installing GRUB on the same drive that XP is on and see if that works. If not then I'll try swapping the cables around (something I can hopefully avoid).

I just tried installing Unbuntu again, but this time with GRUB on a floppy disk, but when I rebooted (with floppy inserted) it just comes up "GRUB" at the bottom of the screen and stays like that.

If all this fails I'm going to try installing the complete OS on the same drive as XP. Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know how I get on.