Dual boot problem

Discussion in 'Software' started by Genesius, May 13, 2005.

  1. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    Trying to dual-boot XP Pro SP2 & Ubuntu Linux 5.04. Having the same problem using both GRUB and OSL2000 boot loader. Boot loader detects both OSes, I can get into Linux fine, reboot & get into XP fine, but when I reboot after XP my system crashes at the boot loader. In GRUB I get a reboot loop going, in OSL2000 it just freezes. Either way I have to crack out the XP CD, go into Recovery Console and run FixMBR. Seems like XP is writing info back to the MBR on logoff & screwing up the boot loader, but my BIOS doesn't have an option to lock it.

    System Info:
    M810LR mobo w/ 1Ghz Duron & 640MB PC133 HoneyX DM810L BIOS
    2 HD - 40GB Maxtor w/ XP SP2 & 8GB Maxtor w/Linux
     
  2. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    Use NTLDR for your Boot Manager on Your Primary Partition and GRUB on the Secondary Partition. XP should be on the primary partition. When your system boots it will boot with NTLDR and when you select Linux from the boot menu it will pass control to GRUB on the secondary partition to boot Linux.
     
  3. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    Here are some detailed instructions:

    1. Use fdisk to partition your drive properly.

    2. Install Windows 2000/XP on the first partition.

    3. Start your Linux Installation and install the /root directory into the second partition. Install GRUB/LILO into the first sector of your boot partition (usually /boot) and NOT in the MBR.

    4. Make a boot disk during the Linux installation if possible so that you can boot into it.

    5. Now boot into Linux and copy the boot image from the boot sector. To do this run: dd if=/dev/hdan of=/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1, where /dev/hdan is the location of /boot and /bootsect.lnx is the Linux boot image. Copy this bootsect.lnx file to a safe location where you can reach it using Windows.

    6. Reboot into Windows 2000/XP and copy this bootsect.lnx file into the root directory (C:\).

    7. Edit c:\boot.ini and append the following line: c:\bootsect.lnx="Linux".

    8. Reboot your system and boot directly from the hard disk.

    9. The Windows boot loader should now give you the option of booting into either Windows 2000/XP or Linux. Try booting into both of them to see if you were successful.
     
  4. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    OK. . . I think I'll skip #1 & 2 because a) I have no desire to do a full reload of XP, and b) I have XP & 'Nux on 2 different drives so I don't think my partitions are in need of major work.

    Other than that, sounds doable. I'll report back later.
     
  5. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    <sigh> I spoke too soon. . .

    Reinstalled 'Nux on my 2nd drive, told it to install Lilo in the 1st partition rather than the MBR. If I do a search, I have a file "bootsect.b" in "usr/lib/lilo" (Getting into 'Nux temporarily using OSL2000 boot loader. It'll be fine as long as I never go into XP again). Tried running the dd command with if=/dev/hdb1 since it is on the secondary drive and nothing happens. I run a search for files named "bootsect" and the one above is all that shows up.

    Question #2: Assuming I do manage to create the bootsect.lnx, it doesn't look like 'Nux sees my floppy drive. Do I need to mount it, or is there an easier way to get to it?
     
  6. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    1st partition of the second drive is fine. bootsect, bootsect.bin, bootsect.lnx every distro is slightly different. Which ever file you have on your drive will work.

    You have to mount the floppy ever time you want to use a floppy disk.
     
  7. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    OK, so I'm correct that my command should be dd if=/dev/hdb1 of=/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1 right? Any ideas why it doesn't appear to be creatng the bootsect.lnx file? If I can get that to work then I'll figure out how to mount the floppy drive.
     
  8. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    I'm sorry left something off in my instructions the command should be

    dd if/dev/hdb1 of=dev/fd0/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count =1
     
  9. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    Still couldn't get it to work, even after switching from Ubunto to Mepis. However, I did find an answer: visit http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm and download Bootpart. It scans all your partitions & then modifies BOOT.INI. One free download and I'm off & dual-booting! :D
     
  10. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    Could you post a copy of your boot.ini.

    It may go along ways to resolving dual-boot issues with Windows/Linux in the future.

    Also I am kind of curious what modifications bootpart made to the boot.ini.
     
  11. Genesius

    Genesius Private E-2

    OK, here's the details for multi-booting with Bootpart:

    1) Install Linux with Grub/Lilo in the boot sector, not the MBR
    2) In WinXP, download & install Bootpart. When you run it, you get a report like this:

    Physical number of disk 0: ffff6a32
    0 : C:* type=42 , size=22659651 KB, Lba Pos=63
    1 : C: type=42 , size=17358232 KB, Lba Pos=45319365
    Physical number of Disk 1 : ca1dca1d
    2 : D: type=83 <Linux native>, size=6184993 KB, Lba Pos=63
    3 : D: type=82 <Linux swap>, size=522112 KB, LBA Pos=12370050
    4 : D: type=83 <Linux Native>, Size=1542240 KB, LBA Pos=13414275

    Since Lilo/Grub was installed in the first Linux partition, the command for modifying BOOT.INI in this example is: C:\<install directory>\bootpart 2 bootlinx.bin Mepis Linux

    Here's the BOOT.INI:
    [boot loader]
    timeout=30
    default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
    [operating systems]
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
    C:\download\bootlinx.bin="Mepis Linux"

    c:\download is the directory where I have Bootpart installed.

    Any further questions?
     
  12. Shadow_Puter_Dude

    Shadow_Puter_Dude MG Authorized Malware Fighter

    Cool, bootpart did what I thought. It read the partitions, found Linux on the second drive. made a copy of the Linux BootSector, then saved it to the C: drive, then appended the boot.ini.

    A lot easier that trying to do it manually. Think I will bookmark the web page and update my Dual Boot instructions.
     

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