wanna install linux dual boot

T

i know this topic has been covered
but ive tried everything .. and nuthin works .. also im very new to linux and its partitions etc .... so plz just follow me here
ok i have 2*160gb sata in raid 0 ... with winxp
i have an extra 60 gb hdd and i wanna install linux on it
i already installed suse in it ...
but it wont boot up .. it gives some lba error
i tried changin the boot sequence as well

its installed on ext2 file system
and everything is on the 60gb hdd
i havent overwritten the mbr on the sata or anythign

so here it is :
i read somewhere in this case ... and to boot from the windows boot loader
u need to copy the bootsect.lin or something from the linux drive to the windows drive
and add the line c:\bootsect.lin=Linux or something in the boot.ini
my problem is i dun have a floppy drive ... and ofcourse neither can i boot into linux from this config
so how do i get that file and dual boot it ..??
apart form the fact i have no idea abt linux directory structures .. so i wouldnt even know where to look

i tried gettin this software explore2fs ... which supposedly accesses linux drives on windows .... but i couldnt get the proper download link anywhere ..

this isnt important .. but i really do wanna try linux

o and the last time i checked ... disabling sata .. i could boot from the linux drive .. which is quite obvious ...

ive tried searching the forum and GOOGLED it ....
if anyone can find a solution already posted plz go ahead and lock/delete this ...
but any kinda of help is appreciated

u hav already installed it and it doesn't boot up,
but can u boot into windows normally??

did u partioned the hard disk while installing manually or automatic?

K

ok i'm guessing ur using the suse version from digit dvd . if u boot from that cd , u have an option to boot to the suse partition already installed . see if it works .

if u got ic chip check page 127 oct 04 issue

if u dont , will post it later

T

aa sorry i forgot to mention
yes windows works fine ... everything is normal ...
and no i dun partition .. i use folder groupin .. i hate partitioning
so my 60gb is linux
and the sata is completely windows @ntfs
in linux settings i just selected the 60gb and said use whole hdd ...
BTW i think it loaded GRUB by default ...

T

@klinux i shall try that and let u knwo ...
i didnt notice that option ...
there was an option to boot from hdd ..
but that boots windows ( default boot device)
and like i said changing default boot device doesnt work....
it gives that LBA error ...
i guess the only way is to extract that linux bootsect file ...
i shall try it tho ... thanx again

K

*jaeger.morpheus.net/linux/ntldr.php

I have tried with Fedora. Installed Win XP in C: and Fedora in D: When booted, it showed whether I need Fedora or DOS. If Dos the it executes Autoexe.bat and run Win XP. Was working fine for me.

O

hi theraven.

i read your post, and tell me do you have the suse boot loader coming up when you restart or winxp. If i read you correctly, if you select linux from your boot menu, you get that LBA error.

Can you try setting the hdd to LBA mode in the bios? Right now its probably in 'auto'.

I dont understand how you select the os to boot. you say you have not overwritten the mbr of the sata disks. So youre trying to boot the suse linux from a boot loader on the mbr of your 60 gb drive??

If thats the case then the LBA setting option may work for you. without disabling the raid.

The latest hardware is always a problem with linux. Thats why i save so much money buying older hardware

O

can you post the contants of your /etc/fstab here?

For this youll have to boot your suse.

T

the thing is it booted in linux only after the installation
that is the first boot ...
and ofcoruse then i get the lba error
after that no menu and no linux option ...
and since i cant access linux i cant post contents of any file

i shall try settin lba in bios

Ah .. Raven ..
Goto bios and change the access settings for the IDE in which you have plugged this hard disk .. and Set it to CHS ..
It happened to me too ...

K

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7695&highlight=

what happened to this option is suse linux ?

"- suse has an option for booting from the cd directly to partition , which is GR8 "

i remember using it to go into suse after installation koz i dont use bootloader . now the option seems to be missing . any ideas why

T

thanx @klinux ..... but the option wasnt there for me either

@batty that didnt work either
actuall on carefully noticing the error is not lba ...
since ther error and the LBA line are one after the other and scroll fast i couldnt see properly

anyways... what the problem is .. even on bootin from the IDE ... while bootin ... linux is tryin to access/load/seek my sata raid..
which it detects as hde and hdg ...
so the problem is comin when its detecting hde itself .... it says device read .. seekinfo error
something ...
so the basic thing is its gonna boot only if i disable sata ...

i read somewhere in this case ... and to boot from the windows boot loader
u need to copy the bootsect.lin or something from the linux drive to the windows drive
and add the line c:\bootsect.lin=Linux or something in the boot.ini

but i dindt do that and my win98,winXP and some linux( redhat,mandrake,suse ) all 3 boots up

WHY?[/quote]

O

you can post the eror messages....

Just use shift-pgup to scroll up so you can read all the message.

What type of raid controller do you have? In Case its promise fasttrack 37* then you can doenload it from promise website - but only for kernel 2.4.

If you want to use the new kernel 2.6 then you will have better luck with the latest 2.6.8 kernel or newer. i believe these have gpod support for sata. But to get this to work properly with suse, its a big job. Because youll have to recompile and install on your linux ditro and then run and configure it. But anyway suse and other distros like this have heavily patched kernels that are dificult to replace with a vanilla kernel. Or search for latest suse kernel RPM from rpmfind.com etc. download and rpm install.

So your best bet is to use a distro with the 2.4 kernel like mdk 10 or suse 9. I dont recommend mdk because its quite buggy. You can get ready to install drivers for these kernels and these distros.

Or if you want to try linux, get hold of vmware 30 day trial license nad then install and run on that. Its good for trying out stuff without too much risk of loosing data.

I am glad to offer any help you need to try linux although i dont use suse.

oldmonk said:
...
...
Or search for latest suse kernel RPM from rpmfind.com etc. download and rpm install.

@oldmonk, its rpmfind.net .... or better stilll click here.
*rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/

O

right.....
i stand corrected rpmfind.net!!!!!

thanks gnurag.

T

thanx a lot guys ..
i couldnt solve it ...
maybe a different distro a different time

thanx again