suggestions for tripple boot(linux,98se,2k)

[darrylzero]

hey guys,

Hope you guys can provide me with some suggestions on install options for
Mandrake 7.2. well first off i guess i should list off system spec ect:

Pentium III-650E
Asus P2B-F BIOS rev. 1013
192MB pc100 sdram
Primary master IBM Deskstar DTLA 45GB
Primary slave IBM Deskstar 8.4 GB
Secondary master Mitsumi 32x cd-rom
secondary slave none
Creative labs Geforce DDR 32MB
SB live value
SOHO 10/100 NIC PCI

now as for partitions, well when i transferred my data from old HD to new, i
was lazy and just switched the drives, leaving the old Deskstar as being
bootable. so my drive letters are as follows, PM=primary master PS=primary
slave:

(all partitions FAT32)

C: PM 1.16 GB (win98se)
D: PS 3.92 GB (empty)
E: PM 3.25 GB (win2k)
F: PM 2.32 GB (empty)
G: PM 2.32 GB (empty)
H: PM 4.65 GB (apps for win2k and 98se)
I: PM 13GB (games for win2k and 98se)
J: PM 13GB (games two-empty)
K:PM 1.86GB(backup partition for downloads and storrage)
L: PM 1.32GB (Images drive used for .iso-empty)
M:PS 3.32GB (empty)

so there it is, now i wish i had made the PS non bootable before installs,
but was rushed at time, didn't fully think it through, my mistake. so
anyways
now i have the problem that i cannot have any of my drive letters change,
and what i was wondering was if i use say E or F for my Linux partition will
windows still identify it with a drive letter of will it not show because it
cannot read linux partitions. also was wondering if things go wrong can i
just re-write the MBR with fdisk/mbr? also if i wanted to re-install windows
98 could i re-install, then replace:

NTDLR
NTDETECT.COM
BOOT.INI

now to access Linux partition i would have to Re-write MBR with Grub right?
or is this possible.

also just want to verify drive assignment for drives, now my PM is set up
with c: being primary partition, then extented for rest of drive, then
broken up in logical drives and PS is d: primary partition and m: for
extended partion.
so would my drives be like this
c: /dev/hda1
d:/dev/hdb1
e:/dev/hda5
f:/dev/hda6
g:/dev/hda7
h:/dev/hda8
i:/dev/hda9
j:/dev/hda10
k:/dev/hda11
l:/dev/hda12
m:/dev/hdb2

and cd-rom being: /dev/hdc

just wanted to verify this.

also reading through the user guide of mandrake, or at a website can't
remember, but they said, make a partition for linux to reside, then when
they talk about the partitioning within linux setup, to make a \ partition
and use all available space, then they say make a swap partition and use
double the amount of ram, while using no more than 128mb, now do they mean
that u steal a little back from the partition that you made for \?

well i think i've asked enough question for one post, thanks for any
responses, and for your time answering my question, it's very much
appreciated

thanks,

darrylzero :)

also u can e-mail @ darrylzero00@hotmail.com

[augur]

Greetings,

You can use the win2k menu to boot the 3 OS's up. You'll have to do a little trick with lilo, but you'll be able to reinstall win98 or win2k without fear of them "forgetting" about your linux. Here's what you do:

1) Boot linux up;
2) type: "dd -if /dev/hda -of /mount/windows/linux.bs -count=1 -size=512"
3) type: "lilo -u"
4) reboot into win98 and edit the boot.ini, adding the following line: "c:\linux.bs="Linux Mandrake""

This should do it.
Please note that you should read the man pages on the "dd" command, cause i'm not sure the parameters are correct. What i can say is that i've tried this and it works. For some reason win98 doesn't overwrite the winNT/win2k mbr, so this should do the trick.

Hope this helps.