Another hard drive question

[amenditman]

I have the same options.My HDDs, 1 - SATA 500 GB labelled PM, 1- SATA 500 GB labelled SM, and one Corsair 60 GB SSD.I shuffled them around and there was no change to the drive letters assigned to them by linux.Shuffled them back and no change.Sorry Lewmur, same result as Eric.

[lewmur]

I have the same options.My HDDs, 1 - SATA 500 GB labelled PM, 1- SATA 500 GB labelled SM, and one Corsair 60 GB SSD.I shuffled them around and there was no change to the drive letters assigned to them by linux.Shuffled them back and no change.Sorry Lewmur, same result as Eric.

Sorry but it's not the same result. He claims he doesn't have the ability to "shuffle" them. Your result may simply be because your Linux is using the UUID instead of the hd numbering. Or the fact that you aren't "shuffling" them using the option I'm talking about. The PM, SM and SSD designation certainly don't match that option. The Hard Disk Priority will list the drives by their manufacturer's model number. (Which makes it difficult when you have more than one drive of the same model.) Edited April 22, 2011 by lewmur

[b2cm]

BIOSes boots only the first disk (by default, determined by physical location). They also allow users to determine what should be the first disk (the HD boot priority feature). This info is passed on to the operating systems. How operating systems IDs and handles the disks vary. For Dale's problem, we should be looking at the bootloader and the fstab/udev files.

[lewmur]

BIOSes boots only the first disk (by default, determined by physical location). They also allow users to determine what should be the first disk (the HD boot priority feature). This info is passed on to the operating systems. How operating systems IDs and handles the disks vary. For Dale's problem, we should be looking at the bootloader and the fstab/udev files.

Which drive's MBR is called is definitely a function of the BIOS. And while it is true that the OS that gets booted can override the order of the drives, when grub is first executed, that order is determined by the "Hard Drive Priority" function of the BIOS. In Linux, the /etc/fstab file can use either the UUID numbers or the /dev/sd@# to mount the drives. But, say you open gparted and look at the drives. Which one is sda, sdb, sdc etc, should still follow the order set in the "Hard Drive Priority" function of the BIOS. Of course, unless it is manually changed, that should follow the physical ports the drives are plugged into. However, I don't know that there is a hard convention of the order of the physical ports when you have a mixture of SATA, IDE and USB drives. Particularly when external drives may or may not be plugged in each time you boot. Thus the current trend toward using the UUIDs.

[b2cm]

when grub is first executed, that order is determined by the "Hard Drive Priority" function of the BIOS

That's correct. Grub creates the device map file that translates BIOS drives to operating system devices. If you later change the hard drive priority, mapping errors can happen. Also, the kernel and driver subsystem can also change the device mapping.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Lew, those were just sample photos. They weren't of my actual BIOS screens.

[lewmur]

Lew, those were just sample photos. They weren't of my actual BIOS screens.

Whatever they are, they disprove your contention that the feature either doesn't exist or is rare. The one picture you happen to come up with, does have the feature. I can post pictures of a both AMI desktop BIOS screens I have on hand and the feature exist in both.edit: But first you have to tell me how to post pictures in this forum. Edited April 22, 2011 by lewmur

[longgone]

Very informative info here.... so this is what I think I am getting here,, under the listing of "Boot" I have a listing for hard drive order, under that listing I can move the order around as to which hard drive I can have as SATA 1, SATA 2, and SATA 3 or am I totally way out in the boonies on that ???

[b2cm]

edit: But first you have to tell me how to post pictures in this forum.

Go here: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/Click 'Choose file' button, browse to your image and select. Click 'Upload image' button. After the upload, copy the hosted image url with the IMG tags. For example:

[img=http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/25e85e21f8.png]

and the image will show up like this:

I have a listing for hard drive order, under that listing I can move the order around as to which hard drive I can have as SATA 1, SATA 2, and SATA 3

Yes, as far as the BIOS is concerned. But that info is the one that the OS sees. Edited April 22, 2011 by b2cm

[longgone]

So far, after some minor changes in the "hard drive" order, I have found out that I can move the 3 installed hard drives around and that whichever one I put in as SATA1 is the one that will get booted into. I did not yet see if by doing that it changes what I see when I click on the "configure your computer" icon. However, even though this is all good for me it still does not tell me how to add the new hard drive to the grub menu.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

You don't add "drives" to the GRUB, Dale. You add the partitions that have the operating systems on them to GRUB. Let's review...What are you trying to do here, specifically?

[longgone]

Right, wording error there. I did have Debian installed on the new hard disk in the first partition. During the install when it came to the partition where it asks where I want to put it, the new hard disk appeared as SCSI5 (now why that appeared that way I have no idea). Since there were no partitions on it I made the first one. Now when I came to the step where it asks about installing grub to the MBR, I selected no since I wanted to install it to the partition that I had just created (I am getting tired of messing up my grub boot loader). In my way of thinking the new drive should have been SDC or possibly appear as SD2. I tried using (in grub) to install this boot loader to (hd2,0) but it would not go, I got errors that I could not install to that selection. I have since removed the Debian install but I am going to try it again.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

OK, here we go...1) You don't need to install a bootloader anywhere if you already have an active bootloader on the MBR of your normally booted 1st drive.2) When you install a new distro on some partitions somewhere, just skip the bootloader installation, if it will give you that option (Debian does).3) Once you have installed your new distro, boot your main distribution.4) From the command line, use the fdisk command to make sure you have the proper names or drives (sda, sdb, sdc, etc.) and the proper numbers for the partitions.

 # fdisk -l

Here's what my fdisk -l looks like with three drives:

root_Slackware/home/vtel57:# fdisk -lDisk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250000000000 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30394 cylinders, total 488281250 sectorsUnits = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x0009e140   Device Boot	  Start		 End	  Blocks   Id  System/dev/sdb1   *	   16384	51216383	25600000	7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT/dev/sdb2		51232768   102432767	25600000	7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT/dev/sdb3	   102453181   488270159   192908489+   5  Extended/dev/sdb5	   102453183   106550639	 2048728+  82  Linux swap/dev/sdb6	   106565823   137289599	15361888+  83  Linux/dev/sdb7	   137304783   188501039	25598128+  83  Linux/dev/sdb8	   188516223   219239999	15361888+  83  Linux/dev/sdb9	   219255183   270451439	25598128+  83  Linux/dev/sdb10	  270466623   301190399	15361888+  83  Linux/dev/sdb11	  301205583   352401839	25598128+  83  Linux/dev/sdb12	  352417023   383140799	15361888+  83  Linux/dev/sdb13	  383155983   434352239	25598128+  83  Linux/dev/sdb14	  434367423   488270159	26951368+  83  LinuxDisk /dev/sdc: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectorsUnits = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x0002cd1d   Device Boot	  Start		 End	  Blocks   Id  System/dev/sdc1		   16065   102414374	51199155   83  Linux/dev/sdc2	   102430440   204828749	51199155   83  Linux/dev/sdc3	   204844815   488392064   141773625	5  Extended/dev/sdc5	   204860880   307259189	51199155	b  W95 FAT32/dev/sdc6	   307275318   409673564	51199123+  83  Linux/dev/sdc7	   409689693   488392064	39351186	b  W95 FAT32Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250058268160 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488395055 sectorsUnits = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x24812481   Device Boot	  Start		 End	  Blocks   Id  System/dev/sda1   *	   16065	51215219	25599577+  83  Linux/dev/sda2		51247350   153645659	51199155   83  Linux/dev/sda3	   153661725   488392064   167365170	5  Extended/dev/sda5	   153661788   204860879	25599546   83  Linux/dev/sda6	   204877008   307275254	51199123+  83  Linux/dev/sda7	   307307448   311403959	 2048256   82  Linux swap/dev/sda8	   311420088   488392064	88485988+  83  Linux

Yours will be different, of course, but similar. Notice the device names and the partition numbers listed there? /dev/sda1 = 1st drive, 1st partition, and so on. 5) Determine which drive and partition you installed the /(root) for your new distro. You say that your new Debian is on the first partition of the second drive on your system. IMPORTANT: YOU NEED TO CONFIRM THIS WITH FDISK ABOVE. OK, that would make the device and partition identification --> /dev/sdb1.Now's where it gets interesting...6) Mount your Debian partition from within your main distribution:

 # mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt

7) List the items in the Debian /boot directory:

 # ls /mnt/boot

It should look something like this:

vtel57_Slackware~:$ ls /bootREADME.initrd			 config			  initrd.gzSystem.map			 config-generic-2.6.37.6  vmlinuzSystem.map-generic-2.6.37.6  config-huge-2.6.37.6	 vmlinuz-generic-2.6.37.6System.map-huge-2.6.37.6	 initrd-tree		  vmlinuz-huge-2.6.37.6

But not quite, because the example above is from my Slackware installation. Debian's will be a bit different. Make a note of the vmlinuz-... and the initrd... items. You need that info to edit your menu.lst in your main distribution to boot Debian.If you're running GRUB legacy (not the newer GRUB2), you need to edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file to tell GRUB where you new Debian is and how to boot it. If you're running GRUB2, you're screwed because I know next-to-diddly about it. 8) Edit menu.lst to add this entry for your Debian:

# Debian title	 Debianroot	 (hd1,0)kernel /boot/vmlinuz-...<enter Debian info from /boot> root=/dev/sdb1 roinitrd   /boot/initrd-...<enter Debian initrd info from /boot>.img

9) Save your menu.lst.10) Reboot and choose the new Debian entry in your GRUB menu when it pops up.Have fun! :)By the way, you probably noticed that the root entry in the Debian entry above in the menu.lst is "(hd1,0)". You might be thinking that's wrong for your 2nd drive/1st partition identification in GRUB. Well, GRUB maps differently. Here's how GRUB sees drives:/dev/sda = (hd0)/dev/sdb = (hd1)/dev/sdc = (hd2)and so on...For partitions, GRUB starts the numbering at 0 also., so the 2nd drive/1st partition for your Debian is see by GRUB as (hd1,0). Clear as that 6 month old oil you just drained out of your truck, huh?

[b2cm]

So far, after some minor changes in the "hard drive" order, I have found out that I can move the 3 installed hard drives around and that whichever one I put in as SATA1 is the one that will get booted into.

Not only does it let you select which disk to boot, it also allows you to set how Grub is supposed to number your disks. As Lew had already pointed out, and as this Suse documentation on Grub explains:

GRUB does not distinguish between IDE, SCSI, or RAID devices. All hard disks detected by the BIOS or other disk controllers are counted according to the boot sequence set in the BIOS itself.http://www.novell.com/documentation/suse91...ml/ch07s04.html

I did not yet see if by doing that it changes what I see when I click on the "configure your computer" icon.

You can also check the 'device.map' file that Grub creates and maintains. If you see some errors, you can edit it.

As the order of IDE, SCSI, and other hard disks depends on various factors and Linux is not able to identify the mapping, the sequence in the file device.map can be set manually. If you encounter problems when booting, check if the sequence in this file corresponds to the sequence in the BIOS and use the GRUB shell to modify it if necessary. Once you have successfully booted your Linux system, edit the file device.map permanently with the YaST boot loader module or an editor of your choice.Any manual change to the device.map file requires that you update your GRUB installation. Use the following command: grub --batch --device-map=/boot/grub/device.map < /etc/grub.confhttp://www.novell.com/documentation/suse91...ml#sec:grub.map

As for:

However, even though this is all good for me it still does not tell me how to add the new hard drive to the grub menu.

This is a different matter, and Eric's suggestion on how to add system partitions to your Grub menu is the way to go.I have a diffrent way of setting up multibooting. I keep my MBR standard and chainload from my XP partition.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

A note: correcting the device.map file in the booting distribution will NOT change how the MBR GRUB sees the drives on the system. I'm having this issue myself right now. I can check GRUB geometry within Arch and get the correct device mapping, yet when I check GRUB geometry within the menu grub> command line, I get the incorrect device mapping that I'm having issues with. GRUB gets the geometry initially when it is installed. The stage1 file is created with that initial device mapping, so you can't always believe what the /boot/grub/device.map file says. The more accurate way to determine how the bootloader is actually seeing the drives is to drop down to a grub> command line once the menu appears at bootup by hitting the "c" key on your keyboard and then giving the following command:

grub> geometry (hd*)

This will show exactly how the actual bootloader is naming the drives on your system. Here's what mine looks like from within Arch:http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/li...16/#post4329997

[longgone]

[root@localhost dale]# fdisk -lDisk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x80778077 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sda1 * 517 13264 102398310 7 HPFS/NTFS/dev/sda2 1 516 4144738+ b W95 FAT32/dev/sda3 13265 47682 276462554+ 5 Extended/dev/sda5 13265 26012 102398278+ 83 Linux/dev/sda6 26013 27286 10233373+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris/dev/sda7 27287 37484 81915403+ 83 Linux/dev/sda8 37485 47682 81915403+ 83 LinuxPartition table entries are not in disk orderDisk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x000d64e0 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sdb1 * 1 121602 976760832 83 Linux/dev/sdb2 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdb3 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdb4 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x7ccb63d6 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sdc1 * 1 13 102400 7 HPFS/NTFSPartition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdc2 13 12749 102297600 7 HPFS/NTFSPartition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.[i just finished the re-install of Debian on the 1.0 TB disk, which, as you see is listed as SDB. A couple of noteworthy items (sorry Eric, but I did this to see if it would work), when it came to the step to install the grub boot loader, I paid much closer attention to the details this time. Instead of trying to figure out how to install it to a partition I put it at (hd1) and surprisingly it must have done it since I did not get any "errors" returned. Now, here is my thought, since Mandriva is my actual MBR OS with PCLOS being the OS that is predominately used and default boot, that I would/should/maybe via consol make the necessary boot loader changes there to add the Debian install into it as (hd1,0). Would that be a yes or no?

[b2cm]

correcting the device.map file in the booting distribution will NOT change how the MBR GRUB sees the drives on the system. I'm having this issue myself right now

There are many variables involved in this problem that you need to cancel out one by one. First, there's the BIOS device enumeration (the BIOS variable). Second, there's the Grub device mapping (the Grub variable). Third, there's the kernel probing and driver subsystem (the Linux variable). And probably many other more. If you have cancelled out disk priority and editing the device map, the next step is for you to check out udev. As I suggested in an earlier post:

This info is passed on to the operating systems. How operating systems IDs and handles the disks vary. For Dale's problem, we should be looking at the bootloader and the fstab/udev files.

In the link you provided, jeff_sadowski suspects:

maybe it is a udev problem. look in /etc/udev/rules.d or where your udev rules are. it sounds like udev might have permanently mapped specific drives to specific sd[x] drives

Now that is a good lead.Anyway, my point is we are dealing with variables, or to put it in another way, the cause of the problem will vary from PC to PC (BIOS and device mix), from Grub version to another and how/ when Grub was installed, and from distro to distro. So, if in your case the problem was not solved by modifying the device priority or the device map file, that does not mean that these will also not work for others.

[longgone]

Oh, okay, I guess. I still have to post the /boot/grub/menu.lst from the actual MBR OS. In that you will see that (hd1,0) is Win 7 (that is only OS on that drive). This is where I get more confused than I normally am. In the fdisk -l that I just posted it shows SDB as the 1.0 TB drive with SDC as a 500 GB drive, but in the menu.lst it shows SDB as the 500 GB drive that is shown in fdisk -l as SDC. If (big IF), I go into the menu.lst and make changes so that the Debian install which shows up on SDB and change the entries on what used to be SDB to read SDC will I be able to boot into them under their new designators or am I going to be up the creek without the canoe or paddle.

[longgone]

Here is the /boot/grub/menu.lst from the MBR OStimeout 5color black/cyan yellow/cyangfxmenu (hd0,6)/boot/gfxmenudefault 0title PCLinuxOS (PCLinuxOS)root (hd0,4)configfile /boot/grub/menu.lsttitle linuxkernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 resume=UUID=a1f143a8-2126-4229-8ed0-23b02edafa7d splash=silent vga=788initrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd.imgtitle linux-nonfbkernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 resume=UUID=a1f143a8-2126-4229-8ed0-23b02edafa7dinitrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd.imgtitle failsafekernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 failsafeinitrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd.imgtitle windowsroot (hd0,0)makeactivechainloader +1title windows7root (hd1,0)map (hd0) (hd1)map (hd1) (hd0)makeactivechainloader +1title desktop586 2.6.33.5-2kernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.33.5-desktop586-2mnb BOOT_IMAGE=desktop586_2.6.33.5-2 root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 resume=UUID=a1f143a8-2126-4229-8ed0-23b02edafa7d splash=silent vga=788initrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-desktop586-2mnb.imgtitle desktop586 2.6.33.7-1kernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.33.7-desktop586-1mnb BOOT_IMAGE=desktop586_2.6.33.7-1 root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 resume=UUID=a1f143a8-2126-4229-8ed0-23b02edafa7d splash=silent vga=788initrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd-2.6.33.7-desktop586-1mnb.imgtitle desktop586 2.6.33.7-2kernel (hd0,6)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.33.7-desktop586-2mnb BOOT_IMAGE=desktop586_2.6.33.7-2 root=UUID=338844ba-d916-482d-8992-0b1136d72773 resume=UUID=a1f143a8-2126-4229-8ed0-23b02edafa7d splash=silent vga=788initrd (hd0,6)/boot/initrd-2.6.33.7-desktop586-2mnb.img

[V.T. Eric Layton]

We are talking my issues and Dale's issues on this same thread. I didn't mean to hijack Dale's thread. I just wanted to point out some things to him using my issue as an example. I'd like to say one more thing about my issue though, b2cm... it cannot be a udev issue because the issue occurs during the BIOS-bootloader interaction. No operating system nor any udev has been initiated at that point. Anyway, lets' just drop my issue (or continue with it on the thread I have here in BATL) and get back to Dale's stuff...

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Dale,1) You really did nothing by installing Debian's GRUB on the MBR of sdb because sdb is NOT your 1st boot device. 2) sda is your 1st boot device. It looks like PClinuxOS controls the GRUB & MBR on that drive.3) You need to determine the info that I posted about above regarding Debian's kernel and initrd and then edit the PClinuxOS menu.lst above to add an entry for Debian.

[longgone]

[root@localhost dale]# ls /mnt/bootconfig-2.6.32-5-amd64 initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64 vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64grub/ System.map-2.6.32-5-amd64and that is all there is there .

[longgone]

Going back to item 8 of your post where you have Debian at (hd1,0) is where I have problems since prior to this adventure, when (hd1,0) was on what is now (hd2,0) it had/has Windows 7 there. So I am guessing that when I make the new (hd1,0) Debian, I shall have to change WIndows 7 entry to read (hd2,) ,,, correct ???

[V.T. Eric Layton]

The info you need to create the Debian entry in your menu.lst is the "vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64" and the "initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64".

 # Debiantitle		  Debianroot		 (hd1,0)kernel	 /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-5-amd64 root=/dev/sdb1initrd	   /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-5-amd64

To confirm that your drives are (hd0) = /dev/sda, (hd1) = /dev/sdb, (hd2) = /dev/sdc you'll need to check the drive geometry from within the GRUB menu command line. Reboot your machine, during the menu page, click the "c" key on your keyboard. You will be shown and GRUB prompt that looks like this:

grub>

At that prompt type:

grub> geometry (hd0)

Write down the info you get. Repeat that command for the other two drives:

grub> geometry (hd1)grub> geometry (hd2)

If the answers are:/dev/sda = (hd0)/dev/sdb = (hd1)/dev/sdc = (hd2)you're all set. You're Debian is on (hd1,0) --> /dev/sdb1 --> 2nd drive/1st partition. That entry that I have above in menu.lst should boot Debian.If the above geometries are not what I have listed, then we post here what they are on your system so we can figure this out.Don't worry about Windows for the moment. Let's try to get your Debian to boot.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Also, Dale...GRUB does NOT count drives and partitions from 1 to whatever. GRUB starts at ZERO. This means that drive 1 is drive 0 to GRUB. Drive 2 is drive 1 to GRUB, and so on... Partitions also start at 0 in GRUB, so the 1st partition is 0 in GRUB.Your Windows is on your 1st drive/1st partition --> /dev/sda1 --> (hd0,0) to GRUB. Your Debian is on your 2nd drive/1st partition --> /dev/sdb1 --> (hd1,0) to GRUB.See how that works? Nothing changed for you Windows. It should still boot fine using that menu.lst entry you already have for it.

[longgone]

Okay,, now to start the fun,,, also Windows XP is not the Windows that I am concerned about. It is Windows 7 that is going to be "somewhere in the ether" after this.

[longgone]

Here are the results (I would venture to say, not to good)Drive 0x80Partition num0 filesystem unk part 0x7Partition num1 filesystem fatPartition num4 filesystem ext2fs 0x83Partition num5 filesystem unk 0x82Partition num6 filesystem ext2fs 0x83Partition num7 filesystem ext2fs 0x83Drive 0x81Partition num0 filesystem unk 0x7Partition num1 filesystem unk 0x7Drive 0x82Partition num0 filesystem ext2fs 0x83

[V.T. Eric Layton]

That's interesting. GRUB doesn't even recognize the partitions on some of your drives. Here's what you fdisk -l looked like:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x80778077Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sda1 * 517 13264 102398310 7 HPFS/NTFS/dev/sda2 1 516 4144738+ b W95 FAT32/dev/sda3 13265 47682 276462554+ 5 Extended/dev/sda5 13265 26012 102398278+ 83 Linux/dev/sda6 26013 27286 10233373+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris/dev/sda7 27287 37484 81915403+ 83 Linux/dev/sda8 37485 47682 81915403+ 83 LinuxPartition table entries are not in disk orderDisk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x000d64e0Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sdb1 * 1 121602 976760832 83 Linux/dev/sdb2 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdb3 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdb4 * 1 1 0 0 EmptyPartition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylindersUnits = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytesSector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytesDisk identifier: 0x7ccb63d6Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System/dev/sdc1 * 1 13 102400 7 HPFS/NTFSPartition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary./dev/sdc2 13 12749 102297600 7 HPFS/NTFSPartition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Your GRUB geometry is just FUNKY! This calls for some assistance from someone with more smarts than me, Dale. Sorry. :(Just out of curiosity... what did you use to partition/format that new 1T drive?

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I see it now...Drive 0x80 >THIS IS YOUR /DEV/SDA DRIVETHIS IS YOUR /DEV/SDC DRIVETHIS IS YOU NEW 1T /DEV/SDB DRIVE

[longgone]

Gee.... I am so confused when all I really wanted to do in the beginning is load Debian on the new drive, wipe hda/sda slick except for the Win XP. Would this make this easier, burn to disk the .thunderbird folder from PCLOS and burn the "bookmarks" that I already exported to the documents folder, wipe the hda/sda like I just mentioned and install Debian there ,,, or am I going to cause more headaches than I already have ???