Dual Boot, Grub, FC3-WinXpSP2, 2 drives. No go.

[Nat Gross]

Sasa Stupar wrote:

>
>
> --On 1. marec 2005 13:07 -0500 Nat Gross 
> <natgross.rentalsystems at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> Sasa Stupar wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --On 1. marec 2005 11:14 -0500 Nat Gross
>>> <natgross.rentalsystems at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Craig White wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, 2005-03-01 at 01:00 -0500, Robert Locke wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, 2005-02-28 at 17:55 -0500, Nat Gross wrote:
>>>>>> <snip>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I thought so, too. But I just mounted both (vfat and ntfs) 
>>>>>>> partitions
>>>>>>> under FC3, and there is no boot.ini file. At this point I am 
>>>>>>> certain
>>>>>>> that for some reason (maybe due to an earlier install of Windows)
>>>>>>> Windows kept the boot.ini on C, hda, and used that to boot from E.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> This is beginning to sound problematic and more of a Windows 
>>>>>> thing....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am guessing that perhaps we would need to "repair" the Windows
>>>>>> installation.  Offhand, I am not sure how to do this and I think
>>>>>> that it
>>>>>> will most likely attempt to overwrite the MBR part of the first 
>>>>>> disk.
>>>>>> This is not necessarily a huge problem in that a quick linux rescue
>>>>>> followed by a grub re-installation of the first stage bootloader can
>>>>>> correct the damage potentially done by the Windows repair....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> <snip>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> One key question is, does grub require that I make hdb5 bootable?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> So to speak.  GRUB is passing control to the NTLDR and BOOT.INI 
>>>>>> files.
>>>>>> Remember that they are hidden/system files usually, so depending on
>>>>>> how
>>>>>> you tried to locate them might be why you did not see them 
>>>>>> (probably a
>>>>>> pipe dream)???
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think at this stage you may be looking to get some advice on 
>>>>>> how to
>>>>>> repair the Windows partition unless someone else wants to jump in 
>>>>>> with
>>>>>> advice on that side....
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> ----
>>>>> I'm coming in late in the game - NTLDR and BOOT.INI would normally be
>>>>> found in c:\ and they are invisible files - you wouldn't normally see
>>>>> them in Windows unless you set all files visible including system
>>>>> files.
>>>>>
>>>>> If the 'C' drive was removed, then these files no longer exist.
>>>>>
>>>>> You can boot Windows Install CD - go to recover console, and type
>>>>> "FIXBOOT"
>>>>>
>>>>> should fix that problem
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> The problem is that Windows has been updated to sp2, rendering the
>>>> original Win cd useless.
>>>> -nat
>>>>
>>>>> another option is FIXMBR but that might be a mistake if you want
>>>>> grub to
>>>>> chain the bootloader - remember though that grub should be 
>>>>> chaining to
>>>>> the proper drive hd(?,0) and the ? is likely to be a number like 1 
>>>>> or 2
>>>>> or 3 depending on how many hard drives are installed
>>>>>
>>>>> Craig
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Try the following change in your grub.conf:
>>> -----------
>>> default=0
>>> timeout=10
>>> splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
>>> title Pingo Linux
>>>     root (hd0,0)
>>>     kernel /vmlinuz-xxx ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
>>>     initrd /initrd-xxx.img
>>> title Windows XP Pro
>>>     map (hd0) (hd1)
>>>        map (hd1) (hd0)
>>>     rootnoverify (hd1,0)
>>>     chainloader +1
>>>     makeactive
>>>     boot
>>> -----------
>>> It works nice for me.
>>>
>>> Sasa
>>
>>
>> If this works, you get promoted!
>> Now, which portion of grub.conf are you referring to that I change?
>> Do you have a similar setup with two drives, Linux on the first and
>> Windows on the second?
>> Thanks.
>> -nat
>
>
> Yes. I have linux on first and winxp on second and each one with it'c 
> own MBR but I but from linux and I can choose linux or winxp.
>
> Sasa
>
>
I tried this along with various variations, but still no go. A key 
difference I think, is that my second drive does not have an MBR. Also, 
the second partition of the second drive is the Windows HOME drive (E:). 
(This is why I also tried (hd1,4) .)
Thanks,
-nat