Re: FC2 & dual boot.. problem still there :(

From: Radu Cornea (ccradu_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 05/19/04

  • Next message: Christopher Chan: "Re: Opinion: NVIDIA drivers are a Good Thing [tm]" 
    Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 23:18:47 -0700
To: For users of Fedora Core releases <fedora-list@redhat.com>

    Cormac Long wrote:
    > Folks,
    > I can confirm that the official FC2 does indeed have the same problem
    > as previously reported with the test releases.
    >
    > I got the ISOs yesterday from a Swiss mirror and installed on my dual
    > boot Acer Aspire 1300 laptop.. I did a fresh install, preserving my
    > existing home partition and leaving my existing XP partition for a dual
    > boot.. same thing I've done for ages right back to the first RH usage of
    > Grub... I have the real thing and not one of the older test releases.
    >
    > During the initial install stages, if I recall as the disk druid bit was
    > kicking in.. I was prompted regarding the LBA mode.. so I rebooted the
    > laptop to force enable it.. my bios has no such option.. all it lets me
    > do is set the time and boot order. So I rebooted and just ignored the
    > warning.
    >
    > It installed fine.. worked a treat.. but then when I tried to boot XP,
    > it just hung on the grub console.. I tried the variations of suggested
    > configurations for /etc/grub.conf.. adding makeactive etc.. made no
    > difference, even after grub-install attempts.
    >
    > I also used the XP cd to get a Windows recovery console prompt and ran
    > fixmbr and fixboot and also tried BOOTCFG /rebuild.. but still a reboot
    > just hung the XP boot... this was odd, because usually these commands
    > overwrite grub, making the system a windows only boot, requiring a linux
    > rescue from RH/FC CD to re-install grub in the MBR.
    >
    > So it appears the issue is still there and will be the cause of much
    > flame.. fearing I might have had a test release, I confirmed with the
    > MD5SUMS again.. it is the official release that I got... the issue still
    > exists!
    >
    > On the recovery front, I booted from Knoppix as it has native NTFS
    > enabled and was able to mount the existing windows NTFS partition.. its
    > still there and seems intact.. so I was able to copy off files and FTP
    > to another machine etc in prep for a new Windows install.. trouble is
    > that I think if I do a clean install of Windows and then a linux rescue
    > to restore grub, that the problem will still be there... I'll end up
    > unable to boot the XP partition.
    >
    > So it was a downer!.. and I realise that windows is bad and evil.. but I
    > need to to have dual boots and I'm sure that many others out there are
    > also in this boat.
    >
    > Below are outputs from the fdisk -l command and the existing grub.conf
    > file for anyone who is interested.
    >
    > title Fedora Core (2.6.5-1.358)
    > root (hd0,0)
    > kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.5-1.358 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
    > initrd /initrd-2.6.5-1.358.img
    > title Windows XP
    > rootnoverify (hd0,1)
    > makeactive
    > chainloader +1
    >
    >
    > [root@dhcp-145 cormac]# fdisk -l
    >
    > Disk /dev/hda: 30.0 GB, 30005821440 bytes
    > 16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 58140 cylinders
    > Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes
    >
    > Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    > /dev/hda1 1 210 105808+ 83 Linux
    > /dev/hda2 * 211 31425 15732360 7 HPFS/NTFS
    > /dev/hda3 31426 39750 4195800 83 Linux
    > /dev/hda4 39751 58140 9268560 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
    > /dev/hda5 39751 41835 1050808+ 82 Linux swap
    > /dev/hda6 41836 58140 8217688+ 83 Linux
    >
    >
    > Regards,
    > Cormac
    >

    I had the same problem and found a way to restore the original partition
    table using fdisk. In short, I completely wiped out the mbr and
    recreated it from scratch using the original disk geometry. I posted
    more detailed information on fedora-test-list:

    http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-test-list/2004-May/msg02114.html

    I hope it helps, 

    --
Radu
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