GoNoles
Hello All,
I've read the other threads and can't seem to get this to work.
My System:
Gateway Computer
Keystone motherboard
AMD Athlon 1400
512 MB Ram
Master HDD: 40 GB WD Caviar
Windows XP Home
Slave HDD: 120 GB Seagate
1st Partition: 30GB FAT32
2nd Partition: Fedora Core 5
I recently reformatted my master hdd and installed XP from scratch with the NFTS file system. I then installed a Second HDD and partitioned the first 30 GB or so to be FAT32 using
the Windows XP partition program on the installation cd. Then
I installed FC 5 on the unformatted portion of the Second HDD.
I know that I installed Grub, but I do not know any of the details(I should have paid more attention I know). Upon rebooting my computer, I have no option to choose an OS, it automatically boots to Windows.
I tried to fix this by booting with the rescue cd. At the prompt I typed:
"chroot /mnt/sysimage"
then I entered the command, "df", and I saw one large partition with "/" beside it and one small partition with "/boot" to the right of it.
As a result I entered the following:
"dd if=/dev/hdb2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1"
the result was:
"1+0 records in
1+0 records out"
I then copied boot.lnx to a floppy. Upon rebooting, I copied the boot.lnx file to the c drive and added the following line to my boot.ini file:
"c:\boot.lnx="Fedora Core 5"
Now when I boot up, I get the windows boot manager with the option of choosing between xp and fc 5. When I select fc 5, the computer does nothing except display a flashing "_".
I then tried to change the boot order to boot my slave drive first and upon startup I got a message saying something to the effect of:
"Problem Loading OS"
As you can see I know nothing about linux, and from looking at it, this appears to have already been covered in other posts. For some reason I must be missing a step or something. Is it possible that my having a fat32 partition on the beginning of the linux hdd is causing a problem? All help is greatly appreciated.
GoNoles
I've read the other threads and can't seem to get this to work.
My System:
Gateway Computer
Keystone motherboard
AMD Athlon 1400
512 MB Ram
Master HDD: 40 GB WD Caviar
Windows XP Home
Slave HDD: 120 GB Seagate
1st Partition: 30GB FAT32
2nd Partition: Fedora Core 5
I recently reformatted my master hdd and installed XP from scratch with the NFTS file system. I then installed a Second HDD and partitioned the first 30 GB or so to be FAT32 using
the Windows XP partition program on the installation cd. Then
I installed FC 5 on the unformatted portion of the Second HDD.
I know that I installed Grub, but I do not know any of the details(I should have paid more attention I know). Upon rebooting my computer, I have no option to choose an OS, it automatically boots to Windows.
I tried to fix this by booting with the rescue cd. At the prompt I typed:
"chroot /mnt/sysimage"
then I entered the command, "df", and I saw one large partition with "/" beside it and one small partition with "/boot" to the right of it.
As a result I entered the following:
"dd if=/dev/hdb2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1"
the result was:
"1+0 records in
1+0 records out"
I then copied boot.lnx to a floppy. Upon rebooting, I copied the boot.lnx file to the c drive and added the following line to my boot.ini file:
"c:\boot.lnx="Fedora Core 5"
Now when I boot up, I get the windows boot manager with the option of choosing between xp and fc 5. When I select fc 5, the computer does nothing except display a flashing "_".
I then tried to change the boot order to boot my slave drive first and upon startup I got a message saying something to the effect of:
"Problem Loading OS"
As you can see I know nothing about linux, and from looking at it, this appears to have already been covered in other posts. For some reason I must be missing a step or something. Is it possible that my having a fat32 partition on the beginning of the linux hdd is causing a problem? All help is greatly appreciated.
GoNoles
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Responses to this topic
danleff
The problem with reading other posts, is that folks tend to make the same mistakes that the original post thread author did in setting up their system.
Let's take this one step at a time.
I gather from your post, that you have a primary partition (FAT32) on the slave drive. Without knowing how you set up Grub makes it a little difficult, but I think that I see the problem.
When you do the df command, you should have seen the Linux partitions. It;s important to know their locations, but i will guess;
hdb2 = /boot
hdb3 = /
This command only shows what partitions are mounted, not all your partitons. In Fedora, I think the command should be;
/sbin/fdisk -l (that's the letter small case "L")
This will show you all the partitions on the drive, which I guess will be;
hda1 = FAT32
hdb2 = linux boot partition
hdb3 = "/" the root partition
Fedora, if you select the default partitioning option, will make a small boot partition and a large root partition.
Switching the boot order in the bios does nothing, as the first partition should be the FAT32 one, with no boot data on it. hence, the no OS boot problem message.
Grub is installed on the second partition, which is not set active, not the first partiton that the computer finds booting from the slave drive.
Doing the command dd if=/dev/hdb2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1 copies the first 512 byres of data from the Linux partition. but, if the Grub reference files are not on that partition, then you likely will get a boot.ini file that is not 512 bytes. If I remember correctly, ths command assumes that grub is on the root filesystem of the linux drive. You have one boot partition (with grub bootloader data on it - hdb2) and hdb3 is the root partition. Not all the data is there. I bet your boot.lnx file is not 512 bytes in size, correct?
One question about your Windows installation. Was this from a full Windows XP retail disk, or the recovery software for the Gateway system?
How to fix this depends on your response.
My solution? Some will argue with me on this point, but Fedora, with the default installation, assumes that it will boot from the MBR of the primary master drive, or that the first partition with a /boot partition is in fact the first partition on the drive that Fedora is installed on.
I never accept the default installation partitioning scheme and always install Grub to the MBR of the primary master drive. You most likely chose the /boot partition of the slave drive.
If the windows installation is truely new, with no programs and settings added, then I would reinstall Fedora, choose custom partitioning, pick the large Linux root partition to reinstall to and tell grub to be installed to the MBR (hda) of the primary master drive. This way, all the grub files (the bootloader ones form the current /boot partition and the reference files for grub) are on the same partition, the root, or / partition.
The best way to do this is to delete the Linux partitions on the slave drive in Windows, then allow Fedora to make one large partition that you will mark as / on the slave drive, using the custom partitioning choice at the Fedora partitioning utility menu during the Fedora installation.
You keep the FAT32 partition this way for storing files to be read and edited in both Fedora and Windows (to share files needed using both operating systems).
Let's take this one step at a time.
I gather from your post, that you have a primary partition (FAT32) on the slave drive. Without knowing how you set up Grub makes it a little difficult, but I think that I see the problem.
When you do the df command, you should have seen the Linux partitions. It;s important to know their locations, but i will guess;
hdb2 = /boot
hdb3 = /
This command only shows what partitions are mounted, not all your partitons. In Fedora, I think the command should be;
/sbin/fdisk -l (that's the letter small case "L")
This will show you all the partitions on the drive, which I guess will be;
hda1 = FAT32
hdb2 = linux boot partition
hdb3 = "/" the root partition
Fedora, if you select the default partitioning option, will make a small boot partition and a large root partition.
Switching the boot order in the bios does nothing, as the first partition should be the FAT32 one, with no boot data on it. hence, the no OS boot problem message.
Grub is installed on the second partition, which is not set active, not the first partiton that the computer finds booting from the slave drive.
Doing the command dd if=/dev/hdb2 of=boot.lnx bs=512 count=1 copies the first 512 byres of data from the Linux partition. but, if the Grub reference files are not on that partition, then you likely will get a boot.ini file that is not 512 bytes. If I remember correctly, ths command assumes that grub is on the root filesystem of the linux drive. You have one boot partition (with grub bootloader data on it - hdb2) and hdb3 is the root partition. Not all the data is there. I bet your boot.lnx file is not 512 bytes in size, correct?
One question about your Windows installation. Was this from a full Windows XP retail disk, or the recovery software for the Gateway system?
How to fix this depends on your response.
My solution? Some will argue with me on this point, but Fedora, with the default installation, assumes that it will boot from the MBR of the primary master drive, or that the first partition with a /boot partition is in fact the first partition on the drive that Fedora is installed on.
I never accept the default installation partitioning scheme and always install Grub to the MBR of the primary master drive. You most likely chose the /boot partition of the slave drive.
If the windows installation is truely new, with no programs and settings added, then I would reinstall Fedora, choose custom partitioning, pick the large Linux root partition to reinstall to and tell grub to be installed to the MBR (hda) of the primary master drive. This way, all the grub files (the bootloader ones form the current /boot partition and the reference files for grub) are on the same partition, the root, or / partition.
The best way to do this is to delete the Linux partitions on the slave drive in Windows, then allow Fedora to make one large partition that you will mark as / on the slave drive, using the custom partitioning choice at the Fedora partitioning utility menu during the Fedora installation.
You keep the FAT32 partition this way for storing files to be read and edited in both Fedora and Windows (to share files needed using both operating systems).
GoNoles
OP
danleff,
Thanks for the quick reply!
To answer your questions:
1. my boot.lnx file IS 512kb
2. The XP Home istallation was a full installation
from a Windows installation cd, NOT a Gateway
restoration cd.
I am on campus all day, so I will have an opportunity to
try your suggestions this evening. I'll keep you posted.
Noles
Thanks for the quick reply!
To answer your questions:
1. my boot.lnx file IS 512kb
2. The XP Home istallation was a full installation
from a Windows installation cd, NOT a Gateway
restoration cd.
I am on campus all day, so I will have an opportunity to
try your suggestions this evening. I'll keep you posted.
Noles
GoNoles
OP
Thanks alot, danleff for president!!!
