dual boot

[f1kaminari]

hi i'm using mandriva 2007 i want to dual boot it. i want to use windows xp. what shall i do. i will install xp on different hard drive. what shall i put on lilo.

can any one help me

thanks
f1kaminari

[mechdave]

To dual boot your system win XP and Mandriva you need to add a line in your lilo.conf file such as this:

other=/dev/hdb1 (that is if your win XP drive is the primary slave)
label=winXP

After you do this you need to run lilo again (as root) to effect the changes. Also this will only work if the MBR of winXP is on the same drive as the rest of winXP

Try looking at http://www.control-escape.com/linux/lilo-cfg.html for more explanation.

[nounou]

hi,
actually the dual boot is done automatically when you install mandriva...
first you have to install winXP then install mandriva and choose installing the bootloader on mbr.
after install finishes, on reboot you'll see the possibility to boot your windows or mandriva (by default) if you want to put windows by default you can do it in the mandriva control center or editing the lilo config file.

[XTIGMA]

I have installed first winXP on HDA1, then Mandrake Linux 10.1 on HDB, but needed to reinstall XP on HDA, so the problem is that the boot loader was hda and when I reinstalled XP hda was formatted. I need to boot Linux. Because I have information on Linux partition I need. I'm reaaaally newbie on Linux.

I need help to 1) reinstall a bootloader or 2)copy the info to a FAT32 partition (hdb7) on hdb

thanks.

for the 2nd option tried KNOPPIX to see the info on hdb, but cannot copy to the partition, I can not edit the permissions, nor have the root password for KNOPPIX 3.7. dang.

[mechdave]

XTIGMA ,
First of all remove your win XP drive (hda) so you can't do any damage to it!! I assume you first installed Mandrake 10.1 from dvd or cd, what I did when this problem occured was to insert the install disk, tell the computer to boot from cdrom and when the linux install prompt comes up type in "linux rescue" (without the quotes of course), then select keyboard language etc. When you have made the required selections you should be presented with a command prompt. From there you can type "grub-install /dev/hdb" this should re install grub on the first sector of your partition on hdb. this is what it says on my system when a successful grub-install is carried out:

mechdave@localhost$] grub-install /dev/hda
Installation finished. No error reported.
This is the contents of the device map /boot/grub/device.map.
Check if this is correct or not. If any of the lines is incorrect,
fix it and re-run the script `grub-install'.

# this device map was generated by anaconda
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb

On my system I use /dev/hda, whereas you use /dev/hdb!
reboot your computer by typing "reboot" at the command prompt.
(edit) go into BIOS and change the first boot device to hdd 1 or this won't work!! (/edit)
after BIOS goes through POST, you should be presented with the grub boot!!
That should make your Mandriva bootable, and still keep your win XP guarnteed to boot again!!


To install grub on hda, just boot into rescue mode as explained with the windows drive still in the computer, run grub-install /dev/hda
and then boot into Mandriva and edit /boot/grub/menu.lst adding a new title for win xp
eg.
title winXP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

That should let you boot winXP and linux from /dev/hda!!
Let us know if you have any further problems...

mechdave...

[XTIGMA]

Thanks MechDave.
I was able to reboot my Linux now with the Boot Loader on my First partition (HDA1)
I am very thankful, no data lost. Everything was fine and I felt like a experienced programmer just by using the command. You were of great help!