Error After Installing Suse10.3 On Usb Hadr Drive Please Help!

\hello guys please help im totally new to linux so i installed portable suse 10.3 on my usb hard drive from portablelinux.com guide.
everything went fine till i removed usb hard drive after complet installation to boot my vista but instead i'm getting blank screen stating "error 21" and nothing happens and second part is when i try to boot vista with inserted usb drive i'm getting error 13
please tell what to do as i have installed suse on usb and i'm am a newbee so dont know much so tried my best to do this so far:-

this is the menu.lst

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Thu Jun 5 12:57:37 BST 2008
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd1,1)/boot/message

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-Generic_USB_Disk-0:0-part2 vga=0x317 resume=/dev/sdb1 splash=silent showopts
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
chainloader (hd1,0)+1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-default root=/dev/disk/by-id/usb-Generic_USB_Disk-0:0-part2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.22.5-31-default



device map

(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb

please solve as i can only use suse and not vista....

Can you explain where your openSUSE root partition ( / ) is and where you Vista partition? I mean disk and partition because you say that you have sda and sdb, but nor what is on what.

And btw:

please solve as i can only use suse and not vista....[/b]

Isn't that an ideal world? B)

Hi
In addition to hcvv's verbal description, can we look please at the partitions and at which ones are active. This command in a console will show you that:

sudo /sbin/fdisk -l[/b]

You can use your mouse and copy/paste to get that dialogue from the console window and copy it into a forum reply post.

Swerdna

Grub 1st part is on the Vista disk but points to the second part on USB it needs the grub installing carefully.

Meaning you either need a little landing area on the vista drive so it can work when its not plugged in. Or using Vista's loader or finding other means like restoring Vista's loader and using a boot floppy or installing all of the grub to USB, and changing disk order in BIOS

As for why Vista is not working when USB is plugged in I suspect it may be the mapping.

Hi
In addition to hcvv's verbal description, can we look please at the partitions and at which ones are active. This command in a console will show you that:

You can use your mouse and copy/paste to get that dialogue from the console window and copy it into a forum reply post.

Swerdna
[/b]

ok here it is

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xdc9edc9e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 5225 41969781 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 5226 9729 36178380 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 5226 9729 36178348+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 38154 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa95f648d

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 1028 1052656 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb2 * 1029 38152 38014976 83 Linux
maxton369@linux:~>

hey gusy cheers i got through the 2nd problem and now i can boot vista while my usb drive is attached.
but the first problem is still there i.e every time i detach my usb drive and boot nothing happens but jst black screep appears
says suse 1.5
grub 21 error ,so please help me in sorting out this problem.
thanx

Read my post that has all the options you can do.

Read my post that has all the options you can do.
[/b]

i saw but it is not the solution and in the mean time i foun another post saying:

Grub is a "multi-stage" boot process. When you see Grub Error 21, it means that Grub is unable to locate the correct partition that holds either the 1st or 2nd stage. It's quite easy to fix though - as long as you have a Linux live CD that you can boot from (AFAIK, any live CD will do for this process. It doesn't need to be OpenSuse). The main requirement is that you know which drive & partition your OpenSuse distro is installed on. The drives start at hd0. Primary partitions start at partition 0. Extended partitions start at partition 4 (regardless of the number of preceding partitions). Here's what I've done whenever I needed to fix this problem in the past (note that hd0,5 is the correct partition in my case - it may not be correct in your case !! )

1) Boot up from the live CD
2) Open a terminal window
3) Type: sudo grub
4) Type: root (hd0,5) ## 0 & 5 being correct for MY installation
5) Type: setup (hd0)
6) Type: quit
7) Type: exit

When you next re-boot your PC it should boot correctly.

so i think it can help but i dont know my exact partition i.e "root (hd0,5)" for my installation , so anyone experienced out there see all my posts ant tell how to do it.........plz
thanx

but i tried and i get "maxton369@linux:~> sudo grub
sudo: grub: command not found"
please find the right procedure

OK fine but when you're back here I'll help then. You need grub first stage and second stage on the vista disk, or on the USB disk.

At the moment as I said and you repeated you have first stage on vista second on USB.

Edit
The fix above is for installing all to the usb but you will still have the first stage in the mbr of the Vista disk. Meaning you will still have to remove it and change boot priority each time in bios you want Suse to boot. So though the above is correct the second stage is already on / you need the first stage on the USB mbr.

OK fine but when you're back here I'll help then. You need grub first stage and second stage on the vista disk, or on the USB disk.

At the moment as I said and you repeated you have first stage on vista second on USB.

Edit
The fix above is for installing all to the usb but you will still have the first stage in the mbr of the Vista disk. Meaning you will still have to remove it and change boot priority each time in bios you want Suse to boot. So though the above is correct the second stage is already on / you need the first stage on the USB mbr.
[/b]

ok bro i did it i now cleared my mbr and now can boot vista normally but now i will need to do those steps so tell me the correct usb disk partition where i should install grub again. so that everyting stays at its place and i can use suse on any pc.

so m waiting...