dual booting Win XP and Mandrake 8...

[Linux_N00bie]

I have looked around, and can't find any help... right now I have Windows XP and Linux-Mandrake 8 installed... Linux is the primary boot, b/c it always boots, but I want to be able to set-up a dual boot.... all the ones I find make you d/l Windows programs... Help! :confused:

[Dark Ninja]

If you are running Mandrake 8.0, go into the "Mandrake Control Center" (it is probably a link on your desktop) and go into Boot>Boot Config.

That's where you can configure your LILO boot file to select Windows XP or Mandrake. (NOTE: You have to know what the /dev/hda# value is for each partition.)

I'm suprised that Linux didn't set that up automatically. (Did you install Windows second? If so...that's your problem.)


Dark Ninja

[Linux_N00bie]

HOW DO I figure out the hda# ??? windows was installed first, and linux second, as well as when customizing partitions with Linux-Install, it was the first partition on the hard drive which showed up, linux was put on *after* the windows partition...

Yes, Linux was installed second... I'll try setting it up and report results, I know the partition and everything is still there b/c on my desktop there is a Windows Icon to open up the C:\ folder :) :D

[ 14 September 2001: Message edited by: Linux_N00bie ]

[Unruly]

alright ... I'm going to make wild stabs here

I'm assuming you have installed windows and linux on the same physical drive, but have partitioned it for each...

The location of windows on said configured drive would be like this

windows = /dev/hda1

let me explain that:

/dev/ <- ignore this...

/hda means that it's the FIRST (or master) drive on the IDE bus, subsequent letters (ie, /hdb, /hdc) would mean they are further along the IDE bus

/hda1 means that it is the first partition on that drive, all subsequent numbers mean that they are different partitions on the same drive...

now... since you've said that linux was installed second, i'm assuming that linux is on the second partition on that one physical drive (ie /hda)

the location is /dev/hda2 (through whatever ammount of partitions you have for linux)

to set up a boot back into windows using LILO, open whatever configuration tool (mentioned in the above post) and enter windows as /dev/hda1

PLEASE NOTE

when you reboot to check your changes, you will still get LILO and probably have to type windows or win to boot into windows, otherwise, the default operating system will boot up momentarily.

hope this helps

[DigitalDan]

During install with Mandrake 8.0 when doing the LIlo setup it says syntax error on line 6. I have win xp on my primary HD fisrst partition and am trying to install linux on my second hd. What would be the solutions to resolving that problem. Also is there other programs similar to System commander where i can setup up the boot selection myself.

[Unruly]

Originally posted by DigitalDan:
<STRONG>During install with Mandrake 8.0 when doing the LIlo setup it says syntax error on line 6. I have win xp on my primary HD fisrst partition and am trying to install linux on my second hd. What would be the solutions to resolving that problem. Also is there other programs similar to System commander where i can setup up the boot selection myself.</STRONG>

I dunno if there is a working resolution to that... win xp, being NT native, may take over and protect the MBR from further editing... as I've never used XP, nor will I, I have no idea...

[DigitalDan]

XP offers boot options similar to 2000. Would i be able to make hdb 1 which is my linux root partition bootable then in xp on my hda 1 i would modify the boot options code. This is what is currently displayed for the code:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

The boot up prompt is currently not displayed and the computer automatically boots to xp.

[Kenn Murrah]

okay, i'm VERY green at this ...

I installed XP on a new drive, using only 8G of the 20G available, then I booted from Mandrake 8.1 and installed that ... it appeared then that it had not seen my XP partition, but I went ahead anyway (thinking I could always redo it) ...

Now, it boots fine in Linux, but I can't find my XP partition, and I'm not sure it exists.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Kenn

[nfallon]

Originally posted by Kenn Murrah:
<STRONG>okay, i'm VERY green at this ...

I installed XP on a new drive, using only 8G of the 20G available, then I booted from Mandrake 8.1 and installed that ... it appeared then that it had not seen my XP partition, but I went ahead anyway (thinking I could always redo it) ...

Now, it boots fine in Linux, but I can't find my XP partition, and I'm not sure it exists.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Kenn</STRONG>

When it came up to the partitioning of the hard drive during setup, did you just click on the auto allocate? If you did after you pressed done di you tell it to format all of the partitions? If you selected all of the partitions chances are that you wiped XP off of the system. You can run XP as a dual boot system without problems. You just have to be carefull during installation that you don't wipe out the wrong partition.

When you boot with LILO if you have an option for booting from DOS then select that. That is how you boot XP. If you don't have the option then you probably wiped out the partition.

Neil