help...dual boot probs...new to linux

[whoisKeel]

first off, i'm completely new to linux...this is pretty much my last cry for help before i just give up.

abit KX7-333R
maxtor 40gb
3Com 3C900TPO
radeon8500le

2 partitions, ~30 and 10gb
xp on the 30 for a few months, waiting to use the 10.
put mandrake on the 10, fine, but no internet, can't get it working, google around and mass say that mandrake is buggy, put fedora core2 on the 10, default install/bootloader.

'Error loading operation system' on boot. fixmbr and fdisk /mbr DO NOT recover xp. Neither does a re-partition/re-format/re-install for windows. nothing. screw it, almost completely backed up...low level format.

xp on 30, fine, fedora on 10 (this time bootloader option only write to partition's boot sector), thought that was it, bam, same problem 'Error loading operating system'.

Pissed, but determined, 10 then 30 this time. fedora on the 10, fine, but no internet. xp on the 30, fine, but no linux. tried that bootpart 2.5 program, which is supposed to make a bootable image on the c: and appropriate changes to the boot.ini. doesn't work.

seems like the two are competing for the mbr as far as i can tell, and fedora ruins both.

i've googled and googled, and the best i can get is making a floppy image from lilo which isn't even a freaking bootloader option for core2 ( i only have grub for an option)...i can't even get into linux at this point anyways so that is irrelevent.

CAN these two OS's even get along? would having two hd's even make a difference? i don't like the idea of overwritting xp's mbr in favor of grub (even if it worked). what can i do? remember i'm new to linux so be patient.

[tchung]

I happend to bookmark this site the other day and I hope this is helpful to you:

http://lwn.net/Articles/86835/

Thomas

[imdeemvp]

if you are using a third party software.....are you able to see your windows partitions?

1. mandrake and fedora seems to share a bug in messing ntfs partitions....sometimes you have to make some changes to your bios

2. enter you bios and in the hd area instead of having AUTO change it to LBA and save....[f10]

3. go to the redhat panel to >System Tools >Hardware Browser enter password and go to > Hard Drives this will show your partitons

4. also make sure your mbr is not damaged because when it gets damaged your only way out it is to fix it by doing a low lever format to your hd and reinstall everything again....starting with xp and then fc2 or mandrake and if you are going to install xp, fc2 and mandrake ONLY ONE bootloader to be isntalled in the mbr..... and it will be from the last linux distro you installed....and if you are new to linux i dont recommend it this will be for advanced users !

this is what my grub.conf looks like:
# 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 (hd0,5)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda7
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,5)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Fedora Core (2.6.6-1.435.2.3)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.6-1.435.2.3 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.6-1.435.2.3.img
title Win2KPro
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
title WinsXP
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1


XP is on a second hd...................well i hope this helps

[mohelgamal]

if you have win modem it is very hard to get internet it need a very complicated process if you are using dsl through network it worked with me automatically on all linuxs i have tried ( Xandros oce. resala linux ( fedora based ). knoppix 3.4
the boot problem can be solved as follows

1- install xp or if you want to triple boot with win 9x install that 1st then xp or w2k so you have a functioning nt loader

2- install any linux you want (it work for lilo and grub) but avoid writing to MBR but write it to the linux 1ry boot partition in fedora /redhat or the root in other linux

3-use either a boot disk to enter linux or better use a linux live cd ( you can download an iso less than 50mb and up to 700mb eg mandrake move and burn it to cd using windows-the bigger the version usually the easier it is also very useful in other aspects )

4- in linux of the live cd write the following command after changing the partition names( use the root account)

dd if=/dev/hdb1 of=/mnt/hda1/linux.bin bs=1024 count=1

( where hdb1 the partition that contain lilo or grub and the hda1 is your C: partition. the file must be present on C: or the partition windows it self use to boot)

5- under windows open a file on your C: partition called boot.ini (hidden system file so clear both marks in folder option window also remove the read only tag)

6- add the following line to its end

C:\linux.bin ="linux"

save the file and reboot the system

next time you will find a new item called linux clicking it will make you enter to lilo or grub where you select again bet windows and linux

for honesty this is not my invention it is a howto i found in many sites

have fun with linux i hope they add an option to do this in next releases of linux that automatically use the nt loader