how to make a dual boot xp& fedora 7?

leo5111 · #1 23rd June 2007, 05:39 AM

i tried usin vmware but that didnt work out so how do i make a dual boot xp and fedora core 7??

marcrblevins · #2 23rd June 2007, 07:46 AM

Install XP first, would be on first hard drive.
Install Fedora 7 on the 2nd hard drive, grub would be install. Works like a charm.

Are you using two drives or one drive?

If one drive, when installing XP, may sure you use partial of that hard drive and leave the rest for other Linux flavors.

leo5111 · #3 23rd June 2007, 07:54 AM

im looking at doin the 1 drive approach EDIT im totaly lost in that regard you have time to talk on aim??

markkuk · #4 23rd June 2007, 09:59 AM

1. Install XP first, leave unpartitioned space for Linux instllation.
2. Install Linux in the free space.
How can you get "totally lost" in a two-step process?

leo5111 · #5 23rd June 2007, 04:19 PM

ok so to be sure when i run fedora installer what option do i choose to make sure that it only formats the free space??? cause i know it has like 3 options thanx

juny20 · #6 23rd June 2007, 04:59 PM

I have a problem again. I posted on a similar problem some time ago. I had WinXP installed and then I installed FC6 on the second drive. Yes, it worked like a charm. No problems at all. Grub worked perfectly and both OS were booting great. Then I upgraded XP to professional and did a full install on drive C. WinXP was working great. I did a search and found how to get FC6 going again by doing the following:
-Boot system with FC6 disk 1
-at prompt enter: linux rescue
-select NO to network
-at prompt type: chroot /mnt/sysimage/
-then type: grub-install--recheck /dev/hda
-exit
-exit
-remove CD
Grub shows both FC6 and XP, but XP will not boot.
This is the second time this happens. The first time I just went ahead and re-install XP.
Does anyone have any idea at what the problem might be? I don't want to keep re-installing. I need XP for school and for the family.
Thanks!

Seve · #7 23rd June 2007, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juny20

I have a problem again. I posted on a similar problem some time ago. I had WinXP installed and then I installed FC6 on the second drive. Yes, it worked like a charm. No problems at all. Grub worked perfectly and both OS were booting great. Then I upgraded XP to professional and did a full install on drive C. WinXP was working great. I did a search and found how to get FC6 going again by doing the following:
-Boot system with FC6 disk 1
-at prompt enter: linux rescue
-select NO to network
-at prompt type: chroot /mnt/sysimage/
-then type: grub-install--recheck /dev/hda
-exit
-exit
-remove CD
Grub shows both FC6 and XP, but XP will not boot.
This is the second time this happens. The first time I just went ahead and re-install XP.
Does anyone have any idea at what the problem might be? I don't want to keep re-installing. I need XP for school and for the family.
Thanks!

Hello:
You need to post the output of
fdisk -l
and
cat /boot/grub/grub.conf

So folks can have a look and go from there.

Seve

leo5111 · #8 23rd June 2007, 06:37 PM

ok im confused how do i setup xp & format to ony install to like 20 gigs or so and leave free space for linux???

Seve · #9 23rd June 2007, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leo5111

ok so to be sure when i run fedora installer what option do i choose to make sure that it only formats the free space??? cause i know it has like 3 options thanx

Hello:
Re you pm
Follow the instructions provided by markkuk.

Free space, means un-partitioned space, so keep that in mind.

When you install xp, use it to create the C:\ partition in the size you want. And leave the rest of the disk alone, i.e. un-partitioned.
Once you have installed XP boot it up and make sure that it works as advertised.
Once you are happy with that then pop in your Fedora disk and install that.
Have a read through here, as it describes the options available in better detail than I can. Disk Partitioning
In your case, you can select Use free space on selected drives and create default layout, or Create custom layout
Custom layout means you will have to create your own partitions, if you don't know what this means or how to do it, opt for the the default.
During the installation process it will prompt you to install the bootloader, which is grub. More reading here : Boot Loader
Since you have only 1 hard drive with both XP and Fedora on it, grub should be installed to the mbr of the drive i.e. /dev/sda

Once you are done reboot and you should be good to go.

Seve

juny20 · #10 23rd June 2007, 08:45 PM

Hi Seve, here is the information. Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
My fdisk -l look like this:

Code:

[root@localhost juny20]# /sbin/fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1        2432    19535008+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2            2433        4864    19535040    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5            2433        4864    19535008+   7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/hdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdb1               1        2432    19535008+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb2            2433        9729    58613152+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hdb5            4865        7296    19535008+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb6            7297        9729    19543041    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb7            2752        4026    10241406   83  Linux
/dev/hdb8   *        2433        2464      256977   83  Linux
/dev/hdb9            4027        4536     4096543+  83  Linux
/dev/hdb10           4537        4727     1534176   83  Linux
/dev/hdb11           2465        2655     1534176   83  Linux
/dev/hdb12           4728        4863     1092388+  83  Linux
/dev/hdb13           2656        2751      771088+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

My cat /boot/grub/grub.conf looks like this:

Code:

[root@localhost juny20]# cat /boot/grub/grub.conf
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd1,7)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb12
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd1,7)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.20-1.2952.fc6)
        root (hd1,7)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2952.fc6 ro root=LABEL=/1
        initrd /initrd-2.6.20-1.2952.fc6.img
title Fedora Core (2.6.20-1.2948.fc6)
        root (hd1,7)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2948.fc6 ro root=LABEL=/1
        initrd /initrd-2.6.20-1.2948.fc6.img
title Windows XP
        map (hd0) (hd1)
        map (hd1) (hd0)
        rootnoverify (hd0,0)
        chainloader +1
        makeactive

Seve · #11 23rd June 2007, 09:07 PM

Hello:
Assuming that your windows is installed on /dev/hda ?
Yes or no ?
If yes, then boot [from your BIOS hd settings] /dev/hda as you default boot device, does windows successfully boot ?

Seve

juny20 · #12 23rd June 2007, 10:29 PM

Ok, I rebooted the system and got to Grub, chose XP and got the following, including the characters at the end, which I find very weird:

Code:

Booting Windows XP
map (hd0) (hd1) 
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
make active
. )u;]♀V♥ï ]♀  ц≡¼ ☺½ ☺

I checked my system BIOS and it is set to boot from HDD0.
Does my fdisk -l looks normal?
What about my grub.conf? Is it showing the right things?
Thanks!
Juny20

***bob*** · #13 23rd June 2007, 10:40 PM

You can remove the 'make active' and the garbage on the next line. Under 'chainloader +1' simply hit 'enter' once to create a blank line that allows grub to read all the way to the bottom of the grub.conf. Then save, exit, reboot and test.

bije · #14 24th June 2007, 12:00 AM

Leo5111,

After installed as proposed for markkuk I did as follow:
-boot using Windows cd and recover the mbr
- type: fixmbr
The next steps are almost the same as explained by Seve
Boot system with Fedora disk 1
-at prompt enter: linux rescue
-select NO to network
-at prompt type: chroot /mnt/sysimage/
-then type: grub-install --recheck /dev/hda
-then type: grub-install /dev/hda
-exit
-exit
-remove CD

I hope it woks!

juny20 · #15 24th June 2007, 04:58 AM

Thanks Bob!!! It worked like a charm!

This is how my grub.conf looks now, just for reference if someone is having the same problem. To configure grub, I did:

Code:

#su
#gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf

I eliminated the lines you suggested above. Now I have this:

Code:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd1,7)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hdb12
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd1,7)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.20-1.2952.fc6)
        root (hd1,7)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2952.fc6 ro root=LABEL=/1
        initrd /initrd-2.6.20-1.2952.fc6.img
title Fedora Core (2.6.20-1.2948.fc6)
        root (hd1,7)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2948.fc6 ro root=LABEL=/1
        initrd /initrd-2.6.20-1.2948.fc6.img
title Windows XP
        rootnoverify (hd0,0)
        chainloader +1

It work perfectly. I was able to boot Win XP and FC6 with no problems at all.

Thanks again!!!!

juny20