fresh install for dual boot with winxp : grub hangs

[Hans Horn]

Hi Alex,

> Did you manually post it here? Just because in the line above it should
> be "Disk /dev/hda" and not "hdb".
So I did - should indeed be /dev/hda (typo). Have no idea how send email 
from a linux rescue session, so I typed the outputs of the fdisk commands.

> 150 heads is a bit "uncommon" I feel.
That's what fdisk says!

> No good setup, the fist partition is extended and the second is the one
> with bootable flag, though the first is marked as hidden.
That's the way the box came configured by HP when I bought it.

>> /dev/hdb1         85282   89346    2048287+   82    Linux swap
>> /dev/hdb2             1   50793   25599640+    c    W95 FAT32 (LBA)
>> /dev/hdb3  *      50793   85282   17382330+   83    Linux

> Here the third marked as bootable. hdb1 is physically at the end of the
> disk but has the first letter.
I've go not clue how "drive letters" get assigned. Can that be changed?
Btw, the Linux partitions were created from w/i winxp using partitionmagic. 
That is also where I named the Linux partition "LINUX".
Unfortunately, I can't boot into any OS these days, and my bootable 
partionmagic floppy seems to be kaputt, so I can't make any change to this 
setup using partitionmagic.

What partscheme would you recommend for this disk?
Linux bootable first, then Linux swap, then FAT32?

> Did such setups ever work for you?
This is my first attempt to install linux; it is also my first stab at 
trying dual boot.

H.