BIOS and GRUB haywire

[James Wilkinson]

Thufir wrote:
> This time, however, I opted to have grub
> install not to the MBR but to /dev/hda.

Um. /dev/hda *is* the MBR.

With DOS-style partitions (what nearly everyone uses), there is a boot
sector / boot record at the start of each partition, *and* a separate
one at the very beginning of the disk. This partition is known as the
MBR, and boot loaders installed there are referred to as being "on
/dev/hda".

If you had tried putting Grub on a partition's boot record, it would be
"on /dev/hda1" (or whatever).

For the rest of your query: what make is your PC? If you know it, what
make is your motherboard? (Some PCs from certain manufacturers do Odd
Things at boot-up). [1]

Hope this helps,

James.

[1] Arguably, *all* PCs do Odd Things at boot-up. It's just that some do
Different Odd Things...
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