How to dual-boot F8-Vista in a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop

[kpfuser]

In trying to set up the said dual boot, I used the indigenous Vista tool to shrink the existing partitions. Following this and during my installation attempts, the partition landscape looks as follows:

/dev/sda1 vfat 102 MB 1 13
/dev/sda2 ntfs 10240 MB 14 1319
/dev/sda3 ntfs 121724 MB 1319 16837
Free free space 103848 MB 16837 30075
/dev/sda4 extended 2560 MB 30075 30402

with the last two numbers in each row indicating the staring and ending point of each partition on the disk.

My objective is to create a /boot, /, /home, and /swap partitions for the Fedora 8 installation. However, during installation (from DVD) when I select 'New' and enter /boot as mount point, I get an error message saying that the requested partition cannot be created as a primary partition and the installation stalls.

How can I get around this? I do feel that I am doing something wrong because even if there was only one primary partition on the disk, it wouldn't be possible to create all of /boot, /, /home, and /swap as primary partitions.

Incidentally, if I choose to let the installer use the free space and create a default configuration, I still get the same error message that brings the installation to a halt. Any suggestions?

[stoat]

Hello kpfuser,

According to that partition layout, you have three primary partitions in cylinders 1 to 16837 and an extended partition in cylinders 30075 to 30402. You have no logical partitions in the extended partition which is currently too small to hold Fedora. Finally, cylinders 16838 to 30074 (approximately, because your numbers can't be accurate) is unpartitioned free space. The free space is physically situated between the three primary partitions on one side and the extended partition on the other. But you cannot now use the free space because the partition table can only hold four primary partitions (or 3 primaries and 1 extended). To be able to use your free space to install Fedora, you must get that free space inside the extended partition so that it can be used to create logical partitions for Fedora. Actually, you would expand the extended partition into the free space using a partition manager.

After doing that, you can then install Fedora any way you please including your original plan of /boot, /, /home, swap. But they will all be logical partitions which is perfectly acceptable. In fact, do not check the option "Force to be primary" for any of the Fedora partitions, or else they will "change places" with one of the existing primary partitions (likely with bad results). All of my Linux partitions are in logical partitions.

P.S.: Another way of thinking about this... Since your partition table is now full with the maximum of four partitions, the only thing that you can do with your free space is to make existing partitions bigger. I recommend making that small extended partition bigger so that you can create logical partitions inside it that can accomodate Fedora.

[kpfuser]

Thanks a lot stoat!

I did what you suggested and all went fine. Your suggestion is simple, logical, and straightforward. I should have thought of it myself since I knew that Linux can boot from any partition but I was led astray by too many recommendations in this forum and elsewhere to delete some existing partition(s) to make room for the Linux partition(s) in the partition table, which could have mangled the Vista installation. Your method leaves the option of using either OS intact, provided of course that I can manage to boot Vista somehow since grub refuses to do so for the moment complaining that "BOOTMGR is missing." But this will have to be addressed in a separate thread.

[sideways]

To boot Vista you need to edit /etc/grub.conf and add this entry

title Vista Boot Loader
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +1

[stoat]

Hello kpfuser and sideways,

I am very sorry that I did not continue on with your problem. The truth? I didn't see it. I agree with sideways. That error message just means that the grub.conf is misconfigured to launch the boot sector code of the wrong NTFS partition. It happens all the time. The fix is an easy edit to grub.conf. If sideways' suggestion does not "hit" Vista, then try them all: (hd0,0), (hd0,1), (hd0,2), (hd0,3). It will do no harm to guess at them. One of them will work.

[ShivaS]

I had Vista and XP installed prior to F9.
What F9 installed sees as Windows/Others, in the Grub configuration screen is actually Vista's boot manager ( which, in my case, is responsable for booting up both Vista and XP ).
So, choosing Windows in Grub boot meniu leads to vista boot screen, where I can choose to boot XP or Vista.

[kpfuser]

Thank you all for your timely help!

Sideways' suggestion worked outright and there was no need to try anything else. Now everything works just fine. Thank you all again for your prompt and accurate help. It is my turn now to help a couple of friends install Fedora in their laptops alongside the despicable Vista (their words as well as mine) without fear of unpleasant surprises.