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I currently have 2 small HDDs, one with Windows 98se on, the other with Ubuntu 5.04. And I swap HDDs when I want to use the other OS. Is there some easy way of having both HDDs in the computer and having a dual boot facility?
I know how to set up master and slave and get them both operational in bios.
Most 'reasonably' new PCs have an option in the bios to boot from a second hard drive. When you change the boot to the second drive, it automatically becomes C: and the first drive becomes D:.
It works great. I have been using two drives that way for many years. It just takes a few seconds to enter the bios and change the boot drive.
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Ah.. thats a good idea Ham. I have only ever used HDDs set as either master or slave. I guess what you are suggesting would require them both set as 'cable select'. I am not sure whether the HDDs I have have that. One is 4gb and the other 6gb.
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It's not necessary to set them as cable select. Master and Slave works fine.
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Thanks for the reply Ham.
I have tried various combinations of the two hdds on the primary hdd cable with various settings of master and slave. I can get 98se hdd set as master to run on primary 0 with Ubuntu hdd also set as master on primary 1. But the best I got when trying to get the Ubuntu hdd to run on primary 1 was when the ubuntu hdd was set as slave and primary 0 was off. Ubuntu then started but did not fully load; there was a "kernal panic".
I am a bit stumped now.
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Make win98 master on cable #1.
Make Ubuntu master on cable #2.Win98 will boot ok with the bios set to boot from drive #1
Ubuntu 'should' boot ok with the bios set to boot from drive #2.
If it doesn't, make Ubuntu master on cable #1 and win98 master on cable #2 and try it. I'm sure win98 will boot ok when you select drive #2 in the bios. If Unbuntu fails to boot when you select drive #1, maybe a linux forum can help.
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I should make it clear that the above setup should not be necessary. It 'should' work with one drive as master and the other as slave on either cable. However since Ubuntu didn't work that way, I suggested another combination. Linux might be more fussy about connections then windows.
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A short comment on BIOS boot selecting, in an early version of selecting the drive in BIOS, my motherboard actually meant drive 2 to mean ide channel 2 (master on channel 2). I now use a boot manager and I can boot any primary partition.
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Wizard-Fred is correct. Ignore response #5. I don't know what I was thinking.
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Thanks for the responses Guys. I am now a little confused. It may be easier for me to look for a boot manager. I have avoided this as I do not want to 'corrupt' my existing hard drive. I mean by this that I want to be able to use each hdd installed on its own at times.
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There are different kinds of boot managers. Some occupy their own partition, others are part of the OS in an existing partition (xp, lilo). I think also it may be possible to use a boot manager from a floppy.
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