i want to install mandriva to a second hd. ubuntu is on the first. i got to the screen where i select mount point and home (custom partition screen) and wasn't sure how to proceed. i don't want to install anything on the first drive (ubuntu). What does the install mean by select mount point? there was a second question - home partition i think (sdb). exactly what do i enter here tand not mess up ubuntu? or is there a easier option that will install to 2nd hd?

I hate reinstalling. i can never get it back to where i was before. i'll create a backup, but i'm still worried about messing up ubuntu on the first drive.

Walter

Hi and welcome to the board

All you need to ensure is that the mount points you are using will be on the second drive. You will already be using mount points for Ubuntu, such as / and /home - these are mount points for the partitions on the disk.

Mandriva, will need to go to /dev/sdb so ensure this is selected when you are partitioning the second disk for / and /home - you can even create swap of around 512MB or more if you like for Mandriva to use. What will probably happen is that Mandriva will modify the MBR on /dev/sdb and not the first disk, therefore, you can simply just switch the boot order of your disks in the BIOS to choose one or the other distro. Alternatively, you can copy the contents /boot/grub/menu.lst from the Mandriva installation into the /boot/grub/menu.lst file in Ubuntu and then you can boot either Ubuntu or Mandriva without having to switch the drive order in the BIOS.

Just for clarification:

/ is the root partition where the system will install all files that it needs for operating properly.
/home is the partition where your personal files (Music, documents, pictures,...) will be stored.
/swap is some kind of virtual memory that your system uses if your RAM is used up and more memory needed.

Mandriva allows you to install the bootloader (as already pointed out) on the second harddisk, so you can switch the system using the BIOS. Simply install Mandriva on the second drive and your Ubuntu installation will remain intact. If you run into problems, don't hesitate to ask us. And first and foremost: If something (for you) unexpected happens: don't panic. Everything can be fixed. (Well,... almost everything.)

Instead of going to the custom partition screen, you should be presented with an option to use the entire second disk (most likely called sdb - DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT mess with sda - that is where Ubuntu is). This is probably the "easiest" option. If you can give us a list of the options you see aside from the custom partition option, we should be able to tell you which one is a good fit for your setup - and help you avoid the need to custom partition the drive.

as long as none of the partitions you create reference sda (i.e. /dev/sda1) your Ubuntu install should be safe.