[COLUG] Cloning Ubuntu Installation to New Drive: Missing MBR: grub problem?

[jep200404 at columbus.rr.com]

Drew wrote: 

> I don't know if this is too basic a question for this list.  

Your question is appropriate for this list. 

> I installed an [U]buntu system for my girlfriend to use for school and
such.  
> Well the hard drive seems to be working for now, but I'm not sure it will 
> continue to do so.
> 
> What I have attempted to do is setup another disk and use pax to mirror 
> everything over to this new disk.  

There are many reasonable ways to copy the contents of partitions, 
and pax is one of them. 

> I then install grub on this new disk, 
> and it says that it completed successfully, 
> but when I try to boot off of it, 
> I get a OS error like there is no MBR.

You likely got a _BIOS_ error (not an _OS_ error) 
about missing boot stuff. 

> Any Ideas?

There are many ways to set up grub. 
It is a complicated beasty that confuses me. 
When you boot the old drive and are configuring grub 
for another drive, it can be particularly confusing. 
It is likely grub that is your problem. 
I can confirm that pax is one of many reasonable ways to 
copy files, but since grub confuses me, I can not help 
you much with grub. 
Keep trying.