MBR & GRUB Not Working

[Dilbert]

I am having two hard disks in my machine. First hard disk has two partitions with OS as Windows Vista. In second hard disk I wanted to install Unix. When I try to install Unix, its starts flawlessly till the time it comes to GRUB. Then there is error stating that error while writing GRUB, and it asks me that whether I have to change the default settings. If I choose any option still it gives an error. Another problem is that I cannot edit the MBR on first hard disk. Due to which BIOS automatically boot to Windows Vista. So I should install GRUB manually into MBR of sda. But the same thing Unix is not letting me to do. Can anyone help me in fixing this problem.

[Lillebror]

You need to install GRUB by using the bootable floppy or CD. Before trying this installation take the back up of the files that you need. You can create a bootable floppy or CD, by following the steps :

Take blank floppy or CD. On Unix operating system the bootable is created by using the following commands :

# cd /usr/share/grub/i386-pc
# dd if=stage1 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
# dd if=stage2 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 seek=1
153+1 records in
153+1 records out
#

When you will boot from the floppy, that will bring you to a grub command line.
#root $BOOT PARTITION
#configfile /grub/grub.conf

Instead $BOOT PARTITION write the boot partition e.g. (hd0,3)
Once you have done this re-install grub to your mbr and all should be well.

[jesse]

Try doing this at the installation time. At the installation menu, type in the Linux rescue. After finishing this command press the enter key. After the system loads , type the command "chroot /mnt/sysimage". After then type
"grub-install --recheck/dev/hda" or "grub-install /dev/hda" if grub is on another boot partition. Otherwise type the first command. This may take few minutes to complete and must return the command prompt without any errors. After that type reboot and check whether the GRUB comes normally.

[Humberto]

This is the simple method. While booting from the live CD, go to the yast. In that go to the system where you will find the bootloader. Once you go into bootloader choose that option so that it will start installation from the bootable disk.