Re: Any way to write to an NTFS partition?
From: Dan Ganek (degspam_at_comcast.net)
Date: 03/03/04
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Date: Wed, 03 Mar 2004 03:14:58 GMT
P Gentry wrote:
> Daniel Ganek <ganek@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<c20508$p7f$1@pcls4.std.com>...
>
>>Our salesforce uses laptops with Win2000 or XP installed (Dell).
>>We currently add RH 7.3 and GRUB to the MBR for demos. IT would
>>be a lot happier if we didn't muck with the MBR. I know how to
>>modify boot.ini to boot Linux. The problem is that we would have
>>to manually modify the NTFS partition after installing RH7.3.
>
>
> Assume you mean writing boot.ini back to the ntfs disk.
>
>
>>I'd like to use a script during the kickstart process to copy a
>>file to the NTFS partition and add a line to boot.ini. But, RH
>>doesn't support NTFS. Anyone know of a way to do this? ...
>
>
> You could not pay me enough $ to try this! Reasons below.
>
>
>>...Is there
>>a 3rd party module I can install during kickstart that'll let me
>>mount the NTFS partition and write to it?
>>
>>/dan
>
>
> If you're the one (or you trust those) who are installing RH, the best
> you can do is come up with a Win script to copy the linux.bin copy of
> the /boot partition boot sector, edit boot.ini, etc. Here's why.
>
> In an attempt to "harden" the Win OS, MS decided to keep close tabs on
> access to key system files, eg., boot.ini (and a host of others). It
> stores things like file size, modification/access(?) times, and a guid
> in several _different_ registry keys. Thus, only the target OS
> installation should write the needed changes, or at boot the OS will
> choke when its keys don't match the changes. YUK!
>
> This is _even_if_ you trusted a linux module to safely handle writes
> to an ntfs partition -- which for your situation I would not do.
>
> Another problem with "automating" this process is that the _whole_
> process would have to be duplicated step-for-step in code. Any
> differences in disk layout, size, or even CHS calculations could cause
> trouble (a Win thing) -- you can't be sure that the /boot "dd if=..."
> copy will produce a consistent/accurate boot code or partition table
> from one laptop to the next. (Yes, I'm being somewhat paranoid, but
> experience with MS filesystems teaches you that.)
>
> You might try leaving ntldr in the MBR and using a boot floppy for
> Linux -- even place grub on a floppy. This, of course, means happy
> sailing till someone leaves behind their boot floppy.
>
> If you are confident (after trying on a test-top) you could get by
> with a bash script that would make the linux.bin floppy and use a Win
> script to copy it and edit boot.ini. You might even be able to do
> this on/from the file server that you're using to do your RH kickstart
> install -- big "if" here, of course.
>
> BTW -- if you re-run "grub-install" to place grub in /boot partition's
> boot sector, be sure to use the --recheck option to rebuild
> device.map.
>
> hth,
> prg
> email above disabled
Thanks for all the info on hardening Windoze.
1) We're a very small group in a very large multi-national company.
Corporate IT has let us install GRUB in the MBR but someone may
just decide to say no later on. IT wants nothing to do with
Linux - they're MS through and through. So I just want a backup
plan.
2) I'd like to automate the installation of Linux as much as possible.
But I'm really not hot about writing scripts for Windoze. (It only
took me 25 years to succumb to UNIX :-)
3) My latest install protocol does write the /boot boot code (aka
linux.bin) to the my kickstart floppy. But I was manually copying the
boot code C: and editing boot.ini. So I guess I could include a Win
script on the floppy and have the tech run the script when laptop
reboots.
Again thanks for the info it was very enlightening.
/dan
- Next message: Jim Miller: "Re: 12 and 24 hour clock timings -- arggh!"
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