Solved - Dual boot - Am I doing this right?

...I used the Live CD to repair the boot. To my considerable surprise, I could get into SM from Grub. So that is working nicely. Not XP, though. The problem that remains is an odd one.

I have an XP partition and a data partition (both NTFS) on the same hard disk with SM. GParted showed me that Grub was trying to boot XP from the data partition, which shows as sda1, relegating XP to sda3. (SM is on sda2, the extended partition.) So I changed the boot to the XP partition from the data partition and rebooted.

My BartPE boot disk includes Partition Magic 8, so I brought up all the partitions and everything was in order. XP was on the C drive and the data partition was the D drive. Then I rebooted into SM and opened GParted. The XP partition was designated as the boot but it was still sda3. The data partition, while no longer the boot, remains sda1. Why does Linux see this differently from Windows? Is there anything I can do about this?

Now...the data drive--sda1--is a primary partition, and if I try to change it to a logical partition, Windows will put it in the extended partition--sda2--that has all the SM partitions. I don't think that will work, will it? If I could do that, Linux would not see it as a primary partition and should make the XP partition sda1.

Any ideas? Things are getting better. At least I know where the problem is. Not where I expected it to be, though.

[mepnoob2005]

Originally Posted by dusty2u

...I used the Live CD to repair the boot. To my considerable surprise, I could get into SM from Grub. So that is working nicely. Not XP, though. The problem that remains is an odd one.

I have an XP partition and a data partition (both NTFS) on the same hard disk with SM. GParted showed me that Grub was trying to boot XP from the data partition, which shows as sda1, relegating XP to sda3. (SM is on sda2, the extended partition.) So I changed the boot to the XP partition from the data partition and rebooted.

My BartPE boot disk includes Partition Magic 8, so I brought up all the partitions and everything was in order. XP was on the C drive and the data partition was the D drive. Then I rebooted into SM and opened GParted. The XP partition was designated as the boot but it was still sda3. The data partition, while no longer the boot, remains sda1. Why does Linux see this differently from Windows? Is there anything I can do about this?

Now...the data drive--sda1--is a primary partition, and if I try to change it to a logical partition, Windows will put it in the extended partition--sda2--that has all the SM partitions. I don't think that will work, will it? If I could do that, Linux would not see it as a primary partition and should make the XP partition sda1.

Any ideas? Things are getting better. At least I know where the problem is. Not where I expected it to be, though.

Every time you rename one of the partitions or divide a partition into two you change all of the names of all the partitions. It messes up grub. Then you have to edit each menu.lst entry to show the changes.

If you post you entire menu.lst the way it is now I 'may' be able to figure it out. Maybe this time re-mapping will work but I have a sneaking suspicion that there is no xp boot record on sda1 so re-mapping might fail.

The advice Brooko gave was good. The only thing I would do different is to not create the partitions that you are going to install MEPIS to until the xp install is done and boots without any boot disc helpers.

If it were me, or if I had the computer here in the shop for repairs, I would've wiped everything off and started over long ago. That may still be the quickest way out of this. Just use the live MEPIS cd and gparted to create and format the partition that you want to install xp to. Put xp on the first partition. But you know that one now. If you don't use xp much then don't give it a lot of space. Figure out much space xp uses now and give xp an extra 5 or 10 gb of free space. Format the xp partition as ntfs. . Then install xp from scratch. Do it at meal time so you can eat while xp does the install. Then use gparted to create your MEPIS partitions. Make a root partition of at least 7 or 8 gb. Format it as etx3. Next make your linux/swap partition. Make it about 1 gb and format it as linux/swap. The fourth partition must be an 'extended' partition that takes up ALL the remaining space on the drive. From this extended partition you will create your home partition. It will be a logical partition and should be as big as possible. I usually use all the rest of the space for home. Depends on the size of the drive. Format the home partition as ext3.

Notice I didn't say to make a windows storage partition? You can make one if you like but you shouldn't need it. You'll soon lose interest in booting xp at all. If you think that you really need a windows storage partition then you can make one easily from the extended partition, before you make the MEPIS home partition. From the extended fourth partition you can make up as many partitions as you think you may need in the future.
Do this and when you install MEPIS be sure to install grub to the Mbr of sda. And it will work.

Another thing you may want to consider is leaving enough un-formatted space at the end of the drive to install future releases of MEPIS to. That way you can test the new ones without wrecking the one that you use now. A minimal install needs about 3-4 gb for root, no swap as you have some already, and 10 to 15 gb for home. That way you have enough room so you can do dvd backing up on the newly installed test version.



One last thing....if you do leave some space for a test version of MEPIS or any linux that can install grub to root. Be sure to install grub to root on any extra installs of MEPIS. I'll show you how to edit grub to make it work when the time comes or you can probably figure it out from the links I have here. Have fun.

Good evening!

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

Every time you rename one of the partitions or divide a partition into two you change all of the names of all the partitions. It messes up grub. Then you have to edit each menu.lst entry to show the changes.

If you post your entire menu.lst the way it is now I 'may' be able to figure it out. Maybe this time re-mapping will work but I have a sneaking suspicion that there is no xp boot record on sda1 so re-mapping might fail.

Here it is. This was previous to the discovery that the XP Partition was on sda3. By the way, there really have been virtually no instances of renaming or dividing partitions. Moving, yes. Resizing, yes. Both in areas of the hard disk that were at the end of a very large partition and had nothing on them to begin with.

timeout 15
color cyan/blue white/blue
foreground ffffff
background 0639a1

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message

title MEPIS at sda5, newest kernel
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at sda5, previous kernel (if any)
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz.old root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at sda5, kernel 2.6.15-27-desktop
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-desktop root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title Windows at sda2
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
grub> map (hd0) (hd1)
grub> map (hd1) (hd0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title MEMTEST
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

(major snip)

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

Notice I didn't say to make a windows storage partition? You can make one if you like but you shouldn't need it. You'll soon lose interest in booting xp at all. If you think that you really need a windows storage partition then you can make one easily from the extended partition, before you make the MEPIS home partition. From the extended fourth partition you can make up as many partitions as you think you may need in the future. Do this and when you install MEPIS be sure to install grub to the Mbr of sda. And it will work.

Well, I should clear something up here. I don't use XP very much because it will be optimized for audio recording purposes as soon as I get this dual boot situation straightened out. That means that my day to day applications are not installed on it. The software and the hardware I will be using all require XP. That is the only reason I bought it. All the tracks will be recorded on a mega hard drive that I haven't gotten around to installing yet.

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

Another thing you may want to consider is leaving enough un-formatted space at the end of the drive to install future releases of MEPIS to. That way you can test the new ones without wrecking the one that you use now. A minimal install needs about 3-4 gb for root, no swap as you have some already, and 10 to 15 gb for home. That way you have enough room so you can do dvd backing up on the newly installed test version.

That is already done. Incidentally, I have another computer here that is ancient and I am going to install Puppy Linux on it because that is the only distro that will run on it.

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

One last thing....if you do leave some space for a test version of MEPIS or any linux that can install grub to root. Be sure to install grub to root on any extra installs of MEPIS. I'll show you how to edit grub to make it work when the time comes or you can probably figure it out from the links I have here. Have fun.

Oh, I know who to contact if I want to multiboot! I think you have ten on your Grub list, if I remember correctly. I would still like to get two on mine without wiping everything off and starting again. What would happen if I hid the data partition? I might try that next.

[mepnoob2005]

Originally Posted by dusty2u

Good evening!



Here it is. This was previous to the discovery that the XP Partition was on sda3. By the way, there really have been virtually no instances of renaming or dividing partitions. Moving, yes. Resizing, yes. Both in areas of the hard disk that were at the end of a very large partition and had nothing on them to begin with.

timeout 15
color cyan/blue white/blue
foreground ffffff
background 0639a1

gfxmenu /boot/grub/message

title MEPIS at sda5, newest kernel
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at sda5, previous kernel (if any)
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz.old root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title MEPIS at sda5, kernel 2.6.15-27-desktop
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15-27-desktop root=/dev/sda5 nomce quiet vga=791
boot

title Windows at sda2
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
grub> map (hd0) (hd1)
grub> map (hd1) (hd0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title MEMTEST
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

One more thing I need to know. Where is xp really installed? You said in this post that it was on sda3 but your menu says sda2 . I have your menu list. Just tell me what is really where and I will give it a go. I need to know what's on the partitions that are in front of MEPIS. I see MEPIS is on sda5. What's on sda1,2,3, and 4?
Which one is the extended partition?
How about a gparted screen shot?
If you still had win 2000 installed and booting I would say try the list below. It still may work. You can copy this to your menu.lst and see if it lets you boot to windows.
title win 2000 at hda1
unhide (hd0,0)
hide (hd0,1)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot
title Windows at hda2
unhide (hd0,1)
hide (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot


I have some more ideas but lets try these ones first. The above menu should work if xp is on hda2

The map command accepts two GRUB drive identifiers as parameters: the to-drive and the from-drive. Typically, you'll use this parameter to swap the first two physical disks, so you'll use two map commands, one to map the first physical disk as the second physical disk and the second to map the second physical disk to the first physical disk.

For instance, the following menu.lst or grub.conf entry boots Windows stored on the second partition on the second physical disk:
title Windows
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot


So if windows was on hda3 or sda3 you might get it going using this menu
title windows
map (hd0) (hd0,2)
map (hd0,2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot

Remember....this is new territory for me as I have never had to do any remapping.
Talk about a brain freezer. LOL
Ok try these things and let me know as I can't hold my breath as long as I used to be able to.

[lshone]

This isn't a solution to the posted problem, but this is something that worked for me. I used EasyBCD from Neosmart. The following is specific to my machine.

Machine is a Dell 1501 Laptop with 120 gig drive.
It came from Dell with a 'recovery partition'. I'm not sure if this is part of Vista or just something from Dell.

I went through the Vista install, played with it for an hour or so. It's pretty awesome. I got it setup just perfectly then I got bored.

I rebooted the machine with a live Mepis CD (6.5 final) and ran Gparted.
Found 3 existing partitions. Vista Preloaded on sda3, recovery 'disk' on sda2.

I resized sda3 from approx 100G to 60G. (Warning.. This killed my perfectly setup Vista installation)

I created an extended partition in the 40G of free space now on the disk. (sda4)
I created a 10G ext3 partion in extended partition. (sda5)
I created a 4G Linux Swap partition in extended partition. (sda6)
I created a 25G ext3 partition in the extended partition(whatever space was left). (sda7)

I installed Mepis selecting sda5 for /root, sda6 for the swap and sda7 for /home.

At the end of the install I selected the option to install GRUB on /root, I did NOT take the default install in MBR.

I rebooted while pressing F8 a few times. This brought up a menu of options. One of the options was to 'recover' Vista to the factory state. I choose that option and put Vista back on the new smaller sda3 partition. Yup, got back everything, all the trialware and everything that I spent the last hour cleaning up.

Tuned up Vista again and downloaded EasyBCD (using Vista, not Mepis) and used it to modify the Vista Bootloader to add a second entry for Mepis.

Now when I reboot the Vista bootloader comes up with 2 entries, one for Vista and one for Mepis. The default is Vista after 30 seconds. If I select option 2, the bootloader will load GRUB and GRUB will load Mepis.

I've attached a screen shot of the partitions and a screen shot from the Mepis install.

I don't if EasyBCD is an option in this case but it was easy for me to use.

Laurie....

[mepnoob2005]

Originally Posted by lshone

This isn't a solution to the posted problem, but this is something that worked for me. I used EasyBCD from Neosmart. The following is specific to my machine.

Machine is a Dell 1501 Laptop with 120 gig drive.
It came from Dell with a 'recovery partition'. I'm not sure if this is part of Vista or just something from Dell.

I went through the Vista install, played with it for an hour or so. It's pretty awesome. I got it setup just perfectly then I got bored.

I rebooted the machine with a live Mepis CD (6.5 final) and ran Gparted.
Found 3 existing partitions. Vista Preloaded on sda3, recovery 'disk' on sda2.

I resized sda3 from approx 100G to 60G. (Warning.. This killed my perfectly setup Vista installation)

I created an extended partition in the 40G of free space now on the disk. (sda4)
I created a 10G ext3 partion in extended partition. (sda5)
I created a 4G Linux Swap partition in extended partition. (sda6)
I created a 25G ext3 partition in the extended partition(whatever space was left). (sda7)

I installed Mepis selecting sda5 for /root, sda6 for the swap and sda7 for /home.

At the end of the install I selected the option to install GRUB on /root, I did NOT take the default install in MBR.

I rebooted while pressing F8 a few times. This brought up a menu of options. One of the options was to 'recover' Vista to the factory state. I choose that option and put Vista back on the new smaller sda3 partition. Yup, got back everything, all the trialware and everything that I spent the last hour cleaning up.

Tuned up Vista again and downloaded EasyBCD (using Vista, not Mepis) and used it to modify the Vista Bootloader to add a second entry for Mepis.

Now when I reboot the Vista bootloader comes up with 2 entries, one for Vista and one for Mepis. The default is Vista after 30 seconds. If I select option 2, the bootloader will load GRUB and GRUB will load Mepis.

I've attached a screen shot of the partitions and a screen shot from the Mepis install.

I don't if EasyBCD is an option in this case but it was easy for me to use.

Laurie....

Nice. That sounds like a pretty good tutorial for a vista user to be able to dual boot with MEPIS. Nice recovery from the 'killed' vista. This post should be helpful to a lot of new users.

Hey...guess what???

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

So if windows was on hda3 or sda3 you might get it going using this menu
title windows
map (hd0) (hd0,2)
map (hd0,2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot

This Grub menu WORKED! I am writing this from Windows XP. I have yet to recover from the shock.

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

Remember....this is new territory for me as I have never had to do any remapping.
Talk about a brain freezer. LOL

I am at an age where I have to deal with that myself. What a learning experience this has been for me, and...welcome to the world of remapping!

Originally Posted by mepnoob2005

Ok try these things and let me know as I can't hold my breath as long as I used to be able to.

Well, you won't have to. I think you got it. I will confirm that after I boot up in the morning. I really believe this episode is over, though, and I owe you big time. Thank you.

[mepnoob2005]

You are very welcome. I'm relieved and pretty glad that the re-mapping worked too. I haven't ever done that before but I have read about it a few times. It did take some thought. More than the usual anyways. Thanks for the opportunity to try some re-mapping. Now I know that I can do it. I think I could put at least two windows operating systems and maybe more on the same drive and make it work thanks to you.

Hello, Laurie!

Originally Posted by lshone

This isn't a solution to the posted problem, but this is something that worked for me. I used EasyBCD from Neosmart.

EasyBCD was created to deal with Vista's new bootloading scheme and I am sure that it will assist many users of the new OS. Thanks for posting the complete scenario of how you used it and how it worked for you.

The link for EasyBCD is here: http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1. Check it out if you have Vista and are experiencing dual or multi boot problems. I wish there was an XP version.