"Jay \"Boogieman\" Edwards" <boogie350@NOSPAMyahoo.com> writes:

> ...if I umount /boot (hdb1) as root, there is also a
> /boot directory in the / partition (hdb2). There is a kernel in there as
> well as a map and a couple boot.xxx files.

Okay, this is important, because there is no reason to have any files
in the /boot directory of the root partition.

Those files got there somehow by accident. I would not feel at ease
until the system boots without any of those files being present.

What are the names of those files in /boot (when your /boot partition
is NOT mounted?). Maybe that would give a clue about which step your
installation went astray.