Adding FC5 to an XP computer -
Bob Goodwin
bobgoodwin at wildblue.net
Sat Sep 2 01:06:09 UTC 2006
Rick Stevens wrote:
> On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 19:29 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
>
>> Rick Stevens wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 17:13 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Bob Goodwin wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Tim wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Just quoting the salient points:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bob Goodwin wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> XP Home is already installed and I have no way to reinstall it, no
>>>>>>>>> o/s
>>>>>>>>> CD's are provided.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Tim:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> If you want to keep the XP installation as-is, and the Linux
>>>>>>>> completely
>>>>>>>> separate, I'd consider:
>>>>>>>> 2. Modifying the XP bootloader menu so that *it* is used to boot
>>>>>>>> itself, or Linux.
>>>>>>>> 3. Copying a file copy of the Linux bootblock onto the XP
>>>>>>>> drive for
>>>>>>>> that XP bootloader to work with.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Aaron Konstam:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thhis used to be the wqay to do it in the RedHat Linux days. But for a
>>>>>>> long time under Fedora grub does the job without any extra effort.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ordinarily, I'd use GRUB to handle booting, too. But the original
>>>>>> poster mentioned not having any Windows install discs. It seems prudent
>>>>>> to avoid altering the Windows installation in that situation.
>>>>>> Especially if one isn't familiar with fixing things up, after a problem,
>>>>>> the hard way.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> Prudent or not, the installation is now running with Grub and boot on
>>>>> the mbr.
>>>>>
>>>>> If I break something I'll have to fix it somehow?
>>>>>
>>>>> So far things have gone smoothly, there was physical space for the drive
>>>>> and I was able to set bios to recognize the new second drive. Hopefully
>>>>> the rest will go as uneventfully ...
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob Goodwin
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> I have installed fc5 from the dvd twice now to be certain I've done
>>>> things correctly. I believe I have.
>>>>
>>>> The fc5 install is on the second drive, /dev/sdb. XP is factory [Dell]
>>>> installed and I have no install disk. XP is of little importance to me
>>>> but I would like to retain it is possible. Both drives are 80G.
>>>>
>>>> It should boot Linux from the mbr, /dev/sda on which XP resides, grub
>>>> is installed with FC5 designated as the default, but I never see a grub
>>>> display at turn on, it simply boots XP right off without offering any
>>>> alternative.
>>>>
>>>> What am I doing wrong?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> grub should be installed in the MBR of the first SCSI disk (aka
>>> /dev/sda). That can be done by getting in to Linux and doing
>>> "grub-install /dev/sda" as the root user.
>>>
>>> We need to know how you laid out the Linux stuff. Is it all in one
>>> partition or did you divvy it up? Assuming you put it in separate
>>> partitions, with /boot as partition 0 and / as partition 1,
>>> this /boot/grub/grub.conf should work:
>>>
>>> #boot=/dev/sda
>>> default=0
>>> timeout=5
>>> splashimage=(hd1,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
>>> hiddenmenu
>>> title Fedora Core (2.6.17-1.2174_FC5)
>>> root (hd1,1)
>>> kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-1.2174_FC5 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb
>>> quiet max_luns=256
>>> initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.17-1.2174_FC5.img
>>> title Windows XP
>>> root (hd0,0)
>>> makeactive
>>> chainloader +1
>>>
>>> If Linux is all on a single partition, change the references above
>>> that say "(hd1,1)" to "(hd1,0)"
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
>>> - VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
>>> - -
>>> - Life: That which happens while you search for the remote control. -
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> XP is installed on the original 80G h.d., untouched, still as Dell
>> set it up.
>>
>> I installed a second 80G SATA drive and installed FC5 to that with
>> the DVD, all pretty much as Fedora intended except where I told it to
>> use the mbr and default to FC5 Linux.
>>
>> Grub looks pretty much as you specify.:
>>
>> sh-3.1# cat /boot/grub/grub.conf
>>
>> #boot=/dev/sda
>> default=0
>> timeout=5
>> splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
>> hiddenmenu
>> title Fedora Core (2.6.15-1.2054_FC5smp)
>> root (hd1,0)
>> kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5smp.img
>> title Windows XP
>> rootnoverify (hd0,1)
>> chainloader +1
>>
>> [I typed this manually but it looks identical to the display
>> on the Dell display.]
>>
>> It looks to me like Dell has somehow set aside about 3 gigs of
>> the 80 apparently to provide a means of reinstalling Windows?
>> I don't know it that has any effect on this problem?
>>
>
> If you are CERTAIN you did a "grub-install /dev/sda", then it may be
> that the BIOS virus checker keeps overwriting grub with the Winblows
> boot loader (it considers grub to be a virus). You'll need to disable
> that in the BIOS.
>
I can't find anything that resembles a "BIOS virus checker" in
the system setup screens.
I'm beginning to think I'll pull the plug on the Windows drive and
just put it back when I want to boot Windows! Whatever, I've spent
too much time with this today. Tomorrow ...
Thanks for your help.
Bob Goodwin
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens at vitalstream.com -
> - VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
> - -
> - "The bogosity meter just pegged." -
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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