Re: Dual boot issue: GRUB/NTLDR etc.

On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 20:18:00 +0000, BlueGecko wrote:

> Douglas Mayne wrote:
>> On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 11:18:39 +0000, BlueGecko wrote:
>>
>>>I'm deeeeply frustrated, guys... :o(
>>>
>>>I'm struggling to dual boot my Debian Sarge with a pre-existing Windoz
>>>XP. After seeking any good info all 'round the web, I'm begging your
>>>attention...
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>>My configuration is:
>>>Motherboard: ASUS P4P800-X;
>>>Primary IDE master: LG CD-ROM CRD;
>>>Primary IDE slave: Western Digital DVD-RW SOHW;
>>>Secondary IDE master (hdc): Maxtor 6B160P0 (PATA 160GB);
>>>Secondary IDE slave: (void);
>>>3rd IDE master (hde): Western Digital WD1200JD (SATA 120GB);
>>>4th IDE master: (void).
>>>
>>>Windoz XP is in 3rd IDE master (hde), while Debian Sarge is in Secondary
>>>IDE master (hdc) with 2 partitions (root and swap).
>>>
>>>This situation is dismaying me...
>>>
>>>Any suggestion?
>>>MANY THANKS
>>
>> Did you "move" drives around as part of your install? That is,
> > was Windows XP always the 3rd IDE (hde)?
>
> No, I didn't move anything: I read that such an operation can affect a
> proper booting installation, but (sadly!) that's not my case.
> Windows XP has ever been happily the 3rd IDE, and now continues to work
> side-by-side with the newly-installed (but unbootable!) debian disk:
> that's 'cause the hard disk containing Windows XP is a SATA one
> connected to an extended motherboard port, while the debian's is a PATA
> one connected to the traditional 40-pin socket.
>
>> I have only had success booting Windows from hda, or by using grub's "map"
>> command to swap drives.
>
> mh... actually I have no problem about Windows booting: my only trouble
> concerns GNU/Linux booting, so I believe that swapping the drive mapping
> won't work.
>
> What really puzzles me is that the debian installation just successfully
> completed its tasks, in spite of its boot!
>
I don't have a lot of experience with SATA, and I don't have any specific
experience with your board. To continue this trend of the blind
leading the blind, I am not running Debian. I looked at the manual for
the ASUS board, and you should look at page 2-13, "Onboard PCI IDE
Operate Mode", and page 2-14, "Enhanced Mode Support On." These pages are
at page 49-50 in the pdf version of the manual (E1718). There are
settings which may be required for linux. This information may not be
true if you are using a very recent 2.6.x kernel. There have been updates
to the kernel involving SATA, and the ata_piix module.

In any case, the problem is with the loader. Can you boot linux with a
floppy disc to determine what is going awry?

--
Douglas Mayne
.