i tried to install the linux 11.3 in external hard disk with window xp. but as soon as i laod the linux and remove the hard disk grub error 21 show and window xp cannot be started.please help in this regard

Above is what the error 21 on Grub Legacy means. What you have done is install opensuse onto the external hard disk and its Grub bootloader to the master boot record of the internal hard disk. If you can boot into opensuse with the external hard disk attached, do so and run the command: fdisk -l (lower case Letter L in the command run as root user) and post the output here. You will likely need the xp installation CD to repair this if you do not plan to have the external connected at all times. I don't use xp myself but, I am sure someone can explain what you can do to repair the xp mbr on the internal.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Slackware - Installation Suse/Novell and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Welcome to LQ, imajay.

As you can see, I have moved this to a more appropriate spot.

Let me offer some advice:

• Please do not call openSUSE 11.3 "linux 11.3", here is no such thing as "linux 11.3" -- the Linux kernel is only at 2.6.x. This mistake can confuse a few people, & tends to make you look bad.
• Provide links to info. on h/w, like transcend external hard disk", w/ which we may not be familiar. -- This helps us help you.
• In English, the official language of this site, it is customary to capitalize "I" when it refers to yourself. (Technically, when it's used as the 1st person singular pronoun.) Again, this mistake makes you look bad.

Again, welcome, & I hope your membership in LQ is productive.

Edit: I apologize, I meant to put this in Suse/Novell, but clicked Slackware - Installation instead. Thanks, XavierP, for fixing my mis-click.

Moved to Suse/Novell. Although Suse was originally based on Slackware, it's been an rpm based distro for some time now...

Try reinstalling.
Go to Custom Partitioning, and shrink your XP installation 90MB. Then set the filesystem as ext3 and as your boot partition. Then make your root partition on your external hard disk. Continue with the rest of the install after that. That's how I got it to install on mine when I did that some years back.

You could install grub to the external drive, and use the quick boot menu to select it.

Read the grub info pages for details.

Run "kdesu yast2 bootloader" for the gui interface in SuSE. Select the "Boot Loader Installation" tab.

Select the custom boot partition button and enter the partition you want to use. E.G. /dev/sdb

Grub has files it needs under /boot. When you eject the external drive, even the file for the menu, menu.lst, is gone, and grub can't continue.

You will need to repair the windows boot loader. One option is to reduce one of your partitions on the internal drive and create an ext2 partition on it. Copy the files in /boot to this partition, and use it for /boot. Install grub to this partition. Now if the external drive is disconnected, you can still boot to Windows.

Also consider installing grub's boot loader to the mbr of the external drive, and modifying the C:\BOOT.INI file to chainload Linux on the external drive. Google for "NT Linux Grub BOOT.INI" to locate a number of web pages detailing how to do this.

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Excellent idea, jschiwal, much simpler.