Re: Adding FC5 to an XP computer -

Rick Stevens wrote:
On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 19:29 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
Rick Stevens wrote:
On Fri, 2006-09-01 at 17:13 -0400, Bob Goodwin wrote:
Bob Goodwin wrote:
Tim wrote:
Just quoting the salient points:

Bob Goodwin wrote:
XP Home is already installed and I have no way to reinstall it, no o/s
CD's are provided.
Tim:
If you want to keep the XP installation as-is, and the Linux completely
separate, I'd consider:
2. Modifying the XP bootloader menu so that *it* is used to boot
itself, or Linux.
3. Copying a file copy of the Linux bootblock onto the XP drive for
that XP bootloader to work with.
Aaron Konstam:
Thhis used to be the wqay to do it in the RedHat Linux days. But for a
long time under Fedora grub does the job without any extra effort.
Ordinarily, I'd use GRUB to handle booting, too. But the original
poster mentioned not having any Windows install discs. It seems prudent
to avoid altering the Windows installation in that situation.
Especially if one isn't familiar with fixing things up, after a problem,
the hard way.
Prudent or not, the installation is now running with Grub and boot on the mbr.

If I break something I'll have to fix it somehow?

So far things have gone smoothly, there was physical space for the drive
and I was able to set bios to recognize the new second drive. Hopefully
the rest will go as uneventfully ...

Bob Goodwin
I have installed fc5 from the dvd twice now to be certain I've done things correctly. I believe I have.

The fc5 install is on the second drive, /dev/sdb. XP is factory [Dell] installed and I have no install disk. XP is of little importance to me but I would like to retain it is possible. Both drives are 80G.

It should boot Linux from the mbr, /dev/sda on which XP resides, grub is installed with FC5 designated as the default, but I never see a grub display at turn on, it simply boots XP right off without offering any alternative.

What am I doing wrong?
grub should be installed in the MBR of the first SCSI disk (aka
/dev/sda). That can be done by getting in to Linux and doing
"grub-install /dev/sda" as the root user.

We need to know how you laid out the Linux stuff. Is it all in one
partition or did you divvy it up? Assuming you put it in separate
partitions, with /boot as partition 0 and / as partition 1,
this /boot/grub/grub.conf should work:

#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd1,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.17-1.2174_FC5)
root (hd1,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-1.2174_FC5 ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb
quiet max_luns=256
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.17-1.2174_FC5.img
title Windows XP
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

If Linux is all on a single partition, change the references above
that say "(hd1,1)" to "(hd1,0)"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -
- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
- -
- Life: That which happens while you search for the remote control. -
----------------------------------------------------------------------

XP is installed on the original 80G h.d., untouched, still as Dell
set it up.

I installed a second 80G SATA drive and installed FC5 to that with
the DVD, all pretty much as Fedora intended except where I told it to
use the mbr and default to FC5 Linux.

Grub looks pretty much as you specify.:

sh-3.1# cat /boot/grub/grub.conf

#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.15-1.2054_FC5smp)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5smp.img
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1

[I typed this manually but it looks identical to the display
on the Dell display.]

It looks to me like Dell has somehow set aside about 3 gigs of
the 80 apparently to provide a means of reinstalling Windows? I don't know it that has any effect on this problem?

If you are CERTAIN you did a "grub-install /dev/sda", then it may be
that the BIOS virus checker keeps overwriting grub with the Winblows
boot loader (it considers grub to be a virus). You'll need to disable
that in the BIOS.
I can't find anything that resembles a "BIOS virus checker" in
the system setup screens.

I'm beginning to think I'll pull the plug on the Windows drive and
just put it back when I want to boot Windows! Whatever, I've spent
too much time with this today. Tomorrow ...

Thanks for your help.

Bob Goodwin

----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer rstevens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -
- VitalStream, Inc. http://www.vitalstream.com -
- -
- "The bogosity meter just pegged." -
----------------------------------------------------------------------


--
fedora-list mailing list
fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Start Menu, Icons Not Appearing
    ... Also, make sure your system has no malware, download, install and run Ad ... Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, ... To Setup Windows XP now, ... To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.accessibility)
  • Re: Cannot Boot Into any Option for Safe Mode
    ... NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the original XP CD maybe help? ... How To Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP ... An upgrade will probably not fix anything where a clean install might. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers)
  • fixing grub : mbr fix when windows install after linux
    ... "There is not a boot manager screen at all, ... windows but GRUB boot window does not appear. ... "I forgot to install GRUB, I didn't install GRUB in the MBR, I chose ... Fedora but that was not an active primary partition". ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: WINDOWS XP WONT BOOT
    ... you can to a repair install but you cannot do it ... Now, if a retail disk doesn't work, you could install XP to a different ... When I rebooted, it told me to hit> any key to start CD ROM boot and then it went back into> the same old screen as I originally described. ... The disc I was using> was the Windows XP disc that came with my Dell but since I> bought it, the hard drive had to be changed and I now have ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.accessibility)
  • Re: PLEASE HELP: 2 ERROR MESSAGES
    ... The advice to do a repair install, turned out to be a grievous and expensive ... The repair install caused a corruption and windows became ... It seems as though it would not boot from the CD ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)