Fedora 15 Final Release Candidate 2 (RC2) - GRUB problem [solved]

[mike cloaked]

On Fri, May 13, 2011 at 4:00 PM, Frederic Muller <fred at cm17.com> wrote:

> Here is what I do:
> 1. Download DVD iso image
> 2. Use livecd-iso-to-disk to copy to USB
> 3. Boot from USB to install on laptop
> 4. Select all default option except disk partitioning:
>  - custom
>  - I create 3 partitions: / & /home ext4 and swap
> 5. Install prompts from GRUB install which is /dev/sdb1 (USB) by default
> 6. I change it to /dev/sda1 (which is the other options)
> 7. Validate and complete install "successfully"
>
> => Laptop doesn't boot (no error message)
>
> In fact grub is installed on /dev/sdb1 no matter what I select apparently
> and I then go to system restore to install grub on /dev/sda1
>
> So is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

I have been using this same technique for quite some time - and a
while back I posted that there is a standard gotcha - when it comes to
the bootloader you need to "Switch device" - then make sure that
first bios drive is /dev/sda and 2nd bios drive is /dev/sdb (or
equivalent for your system) - and then it will write the grub to the
mbr on the internal HDD
i.e. you need to write to mba of /dev/sda if that is your HDD - by
default it writes the mbr of the source device which is the usbkey if
you booted the install from there.

I do wish that there was an obvious option at that point in the
install process asking which drive to write the MBR but saying it will
put it on the device containing the install media if you do nothing!

-- 
mike c