ubuntu not loading from ext hard drive

[banewman at supernerd.com.au]

>
> Having some problems learning the world of linux.
>
> I installed ubuntu 8.04 on my external hard drive.
>
> this drive has about 5 partitions including the ubuntu one.
>
> on the installer when it comes up to the final screen i selected
> advance and on the boot loader i selected /dev/sdc which is the
> external hd so it wont install on the mbr of the main hd with xp.
>
> now install went well, updated the bios to first boot from external hd
> then cd then main hd. restarted, grub is nowhere to be seen and xp
> loads up.
>
> i checked the grub stage1 and menu.lst and their all displaying
> (h2,5)  which is the linux partition but is this where the bootloader
> went?
>
> did i commit an error on the bootloader install by just putting /dev/
> sdc? should i have put something like '/dev/sdc5' ??
>
> how can i fix this?
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
>   
You need to set the bios to boot from the external drive before the 
internal drive/s as it seems to be reading only from the internal 
drive/s afaik.