Dual boot problem. Couldn't figure it out.

Thetargos · #1 3rd September 2006, 06:01 AM

Well, here's one tough problem I have not been able to solve...

So it happens that I have the salvaged image of a friend's Windows 2000 disk on one partition of one of my hard drives. My problem is that this has proven to be too difficult and resiliant to be booted from Grub. I can boot if I change the boot oder from the BIOS, however at boot Windows complaints about an invalid Boot.ini file, and as such it says it will boot from C:\winnt.

However the devices and partitions are bit strangely layed out. Here's a "topologic map" of my machine:

/dev/hda:
- hda1 - on old boot partition, unused.
- hda2 - thirtiary storage disk
- hda3 - secondary storage disk
- hda5 - primary swap partition
- hda6 - primary storage disk
hdb
- hdb1 - Yet another storage partition, samba share.
hde
- hde1 - another shared partition
- hde2 - home partition
- hde5 - boot partition
- hde6 - root partition
hdf (this disk is a major MAJOR mess).
- hdf1 - Windows partition
- hdf5 - movie file partitoin
- hdf6 - music files partition

Now, the disks have an order quite confusing: As I have an expansion IDE card, the disks detected as hda and hdb are actually those on the expansion card, hde and hdf are the motherboard's IDE channels.

Now here's the partition table for hdf:

Code:

Disk /dev/hdf: 41.1 GB, 41110142976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4998 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdf1   *        3967        4998     8289540    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdf2               1        3966    31856863+   5  Extended
/dev/hdf5               1        1983    15928384+  83  Linux
/dev/hdf6            1984        3966    15928416   83  Linux

As you can see the hdf1 partition should actually be hdf7, and hdf5 should be hdf1 (given block boundaries). The disk is set to be hd1 on GRUB, and theoretically, it should be able to boot with a parameter similar to:

Code:

title Windows 2000 (crippled)
        rootnoverify (hd1,0)
        chainloader +1

But this does not work. the disk should be hd1, as it is the second in the boot heriarchy in the BIOS, and I belive that GRUB grabs the device order from the BIOS. The Fedora installation which is on hde, has an identifier of hd0

Now, remember what I said about a damaged Boot.ini?, here's how it looks like:

Code:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Any insights

james419 · #2 3rd September 2006, 06:58 PM

My boot.ini for a Windows XP install on hda partition 2 is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Home Edition"/noexecute=optin /fastdetect

I install all my linux distros on an external drive. This gives a device maping of:

(hd0) (sda)
(hd1) (hda)
(hd1) (hdb)

In order to boot Windows from grub I have to remap the boot order in grub:

Normal grub:

title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
chainloader +1

In order to make this boot I have to change grub to:

title Windows XP
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
chainloader +1

I may be you will have to remap something on this order.

I will say that it looks like your original Windows install was on partition 3 of the original drive. Is it possible that if you change boot.ini so that the partition was 1 rather than 3 that it would work?

Just some random thoughts from a linux newbie.

Edit: After rereading your post and looking at the MS site I am sure you can cure the boot.ini error by changing the partition from 3 to 1.

The grub boot problem should be corrected by a remapping set of statements. You may have to diddle around with the map statement though.

Thetargos · #3 4th September 2006, 06:38 AM

And the fact that the drive is the slave of the first IDE channel, I may have to also map the disk to disk(1), I guess rdisk(0) refers to RAID (otherwise I'm not sure what that rdisk is about)

james419 · #4 4th September 2006, 09:05 PM

Windows normally wants to boot from drive C: , so the problem is to make what ever drive
seem like drive C:. First I would set the partition to 1. Boot and see what happens.

The change in boot.ini are seperate from the grub changes. The grub changes are to make grub see Windows where ever it may be. The boot.ini changes are to make Windows boot properly how ever it is called to boot.

I am just guessing as to how to change boot.ini, but your comment about the disk(x) reference seems logical. I have no idea what multi and rdisk reffer to.

Edit: I found the following which might help:

http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/window...nfigfiles.html

This describes the boot.ini items.

Thetargos · #5 4th September 2006, 09:29 PM

Well, actually now I have another problem, more suitable for Windows® experts than Linux...

It turned out that the format for boot.ini is similar to this:

multi() is the actual channel your disk is on, regardless of ATA/S-ATA/SCSI, so in this case multi(0) means ATA-0.

mutli() must always be followed by disk(0), unless you are using SCSI, where LUN format takes place.

rdisk(#) is the actual disk order for that particular channel, so in this case, the line should be:

Code:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\winnt

Anyway, that got me going, but now I have a different problem:
When I select the entry (with the /fastdetect, as the "normal" one is no longer available), Windows now complaints that it can't find the kernel!! And to make sure I have the file ntoskrnl.exe under <Windows 2000 root>\System32\... mounting the partition, it IS there... Anyway, that's what more for Microsoft gurus than Linux gurus.

james419 · #6 5th September 2006, 12:25 AM

Now I am at a loss. A Windows or Linux guru I am not; just able to look at a file and compare it to another one. With your initial post I had thought that you had copied the disk partition that contained Windows. If it was only copied I do not believe that the MBR for the installation nor the correct structure for booting would be copied. If that is true the best that could be obtained would be to copy the data to a suitable storage device then reinstall the Windows system, all necessary drivers and software and then use the backed up files to restore the use of the system.

This is something for a true Windows guru. Sorry I can not be of more help.

Thetargos · #7 5th September 2006, 02:24 AM

Well, I kinda figured it out. Not thanks to Windows or Microsoft help, though... But I at least got it going...

No, I did not simply "copy" the partition, I "dumped" the partition using dd from a Linux liveCD

](sure enough, there was the MBR and all).

So it turns out, that I could simply set the line right bellow the default entry, to C:\winnt and it DOES boot. I still want to find out the specific format for Boot.ini should I run into these kinds of problems again.

james419 · #8 5th September 2006, 05:17 AM

Thetargos

I am glad you got it to boot. I am fortunate I have never had trouble with the boot.ini file. What little help I gave was by comparing our boot.ini files and a quick look at two articles I found on the MS site via a Google search. The other reference I found later, again via a Google search. I due to some good luck have not had very many problems with Windows and have tried as mush as possible to not look under the hood of Windows. I let sleeping dogs lie. I used to prefer DOS and never used Windows until 98SE can along. Linux and DOS both are more friendly IMHO. Although linux is new to me- something I have taken to to keep my mind active.

Good Luck

Thetargos · #9 5th September 2006, 06:34 AM

Yeah. It was kind of interesting, as I was giving up on this partition already. Not that I need anything from Windows 2000, I don't, but there are still some programs that I require that do not work with Wine, and is not like it is such a big issue... What I can say, though, is that Windows' 2000 fonts are HORRID!