Thanks for the replies. I have installed SUSE 11.2 twice on to /dev/sda13 of my multi-boot computer and wanted to follow the same procedure I have done for a good number of years now, ie put grub on the root partition and use the ntldr as the primary boot loader. All my Linux distros have their grubs installed on their root partitions. On initial boot the ntldr menu appears, from where I select whichever distro I want to boot into and then that particular distro’s grub takes over.
However this hasn’t worked so far on SUSE 11.2
First installation 14 November
SUSE recommended the following for the boot loader location:
Status Location /dev/sda4 (extended)
Boot from MBR is disabled (enable)
Boot from “/” is disabled (enable)
So I went to Boot Loader settings, Boot Loader installation tab, checked Boot from Root Partition and unchecked Boot from Extended Partition.
Unfortunately, I have to confess I didn’t look at the Boot Loader options so I don’t know what SUSE had set there.
On completion of installation I restarted but it didn’t reboot into the ntldr. I just had a black screen with flashing cursor and I couldn’t boot into anything. Anyway I did eventually manage to get the ntldr back in control (won’t bore you with the details) and was able to use SUSE. But, on 20 November, following various attempts at enabling mp3s in Amarok, without warning SUSE suddenly shut the computer down!
I rebooted but nothing happened. It got as far as a splash screen, the one with the white progress bar. This completed its travel across to the right and then nothing. Just stuck. So I ran through the Repair Installed System from the installation DVD. The first error it reported was “The Ext4 file system of the partition /dev/sda13 is corrupted. To repair the file system, press Repair”. So I pressed Repair. A box saying “Repairing file system … “ flashed on the screen for a millisecond and then “The Ext4 file system of the partition /dev/sda13 is corrupted … “ appeared again. Again I pressed Repair, again the same thing happened. So I skipped that bit and carried on.
Various other errors followed about eg initrd and the boot loader and goodness knows what else were reported. By this stage I gave up and decided to reinstall.
Second installation 21 November
SUSE again recommended the following for the boot loader location:
Status Location /dev/sda4 (extended)
Boot from MBR is disabled (enable)
Boot from “/” is disabled (enable)
I clicked on “enable” next to “Boot from “/” is disabled”. This changed the Status Location line to
/dev/sda4 (extended), /dev/sda13 (“/”)
ie both extended and root partition
This time I did look at the Boot Loader Options. The only item checked was “Set active Flag in Partition Table for Boot Partition”.
On restart, it booted straight into SUSE’s grub, not the ntldr. Again I managed to get the ntldr back in control and am still happily using SUSE 11.2. And I have this time successfully enabled mp3s playing in Amarok.
However, as you will see, I have not yet managed to hit on the right boot loader combination during installation to get SUSE’s grub on its root partition and the ntldr retaining its primary boot manager role! 