dual booting windows and linux [Archive]

Fox2k

08-08-2001, 02:45 PM

which OS should i install first, and what steps should i take first? i was thinking of running scandisk, then defragging, then making my partitions with partition magic. i was going to install linux first then windows after that. is there another way i should do it?

MrMoray

08-08-2001, 02:58 PM

I haven't done this myself...but from what I understand, you must install Windows first.

yard21

08-08-2001, 03:01 PM

First Windows, second Linux.

Windows overwrites your MBR, so you won't be able to boot into Linux after installing it.

I didn't read them, but maybe they help, too:

OS-Booting NHF's (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/osbooting/index.html)

MrMoray

08-08-2001, 03:12 PM

I haven't done this myself...but from what I understand, you must install Windows first.

Deltad

08-08-2001, 03:29 PM

The best way to do this is to get a second drive, If you can find a small 1 gig drive would work fine.

Load windows on to the second drive as master like you would with a normal install.

Then change your windows drive to a slave config and install linux as master.

This works really well and if either OS needs re-installation then you can do it with out the worry of the other OS being trashed.
;)

Zoltrix

08-08-2001, 03:55 PM

stupid question...
no way of running linux and windows at same time?

yard21

08-08-2001, 04:21 PM

What do mean by "at the same time"?
If you want to use windows OR linux, but on the same pc, then you can dual boot.
If you want to use them really at the SAME time, then you may use VMWare.It emulates a whole computer.

Nick Wilson

08-08-2001, 05:18 PM

I had a nightmare with this when I was working on RH7.1 and Win98, if I remember rightly I couldn't get it to work right by installing Win then RH and eventually ended up partitioning for RH, installing, then Win, then Re-installing RH.
Sound bizzare? It was! try like the other guys said with Win first and if it doesn't work try this. I know it's non-sensical but I now have a great duall boot system!

Good luck

Nick Wilson

j.harrison

08-08-2001, 08:20 PM

Originally posted by Zoltrix:
<STRONG>stupid question...
no way of running linux and windows at same time?</STRONG>

Sort of...

Mandrake 8 creates /mnt/windows when it installs, from which you could access your windows files while in Linux, and run many of them with Wine (the app, not the beverage).

:cool: Mandrake :cool:

Cri

08-08-2001, 10:23 PM

Another way to run Windows under Linux is with win4lin...it looks pretty cool.
http://www.netraverse.com/

And yes, you have to install Windows first and then Linux if you want to set up a dual boot system. Furthermore, most Linux distros (all?) allow you to access your Windoze drive/partition.

j.harrison

08-08-2001, 10:54 PM

Originally posted by beatMiner:
<STRONG>most Linux distros (all?) allow you to access your Windoze drive/partition.</STRONG>

True enough, but I believe Mandrake is the only one that creates the mount point for you. For a newbie, this is a plus...

BTW, another Mandrake note. For a dual boot, you won't need any 3rd party software, just install Windows, then boot Drake 8 from the CD. DrakX will do all of the partitioning for you; all you have to do is tell it to install Linux on the free space of the Windows partition.I've dual booted Mandrake a few times, and it's easier than most Windows installs (and faster).

Good Luck!
:)

[ 08 August 2001: Message edited by: j.harrison ]

cabu1966

08-08-2001, 11:21 PM

Fox2k

08-09-2001, 11:51 AM

Thanks for all of your help. i installed windows and linux, and now i'm attempting to use loadlin. i created the boot menu but there seems to be a problem reading teh linux kernel image. i copied vmlinuz from the installation cd, is this not what i was supposed to copy?

dvdnut

08-09-2001, 12:17 PM

if you want to run linux while you are using windows use vmware

if you want to run both on same pc, it doesnt matter about which hard drive to put linux on, as long as windows gets to be on first, i think it sulks if you dont.

linux isnt bothered.

Fox2k

08-09-2001, 10:02 PM

*bump*.still haven't got linux working.. =(
something about my kernel image not being right i think!

Linuxcool

08-09-2001, 11:28 PM

I believe that you have to run the command rdev.exe to set the root partition in the kernel image.

This commmand should be on your cdrom. The syntax is rdev imagefilename majordevicenumber minordevicenumber.

The imagefilename will be the path to where you copied your kernel. The majordevicenumber is determined by which hard drive linux is on. Example: hda and hdb would be 3. hdc and hdd would be 22. The minordevicenumber is the partition its on. hda1 would be 1. hda5 would be 5. hdb1 would be 65. hdc1 would be 1. hdd1 would be 65. So, if the linux root file system is on hda3 and the kernel is in c:\kernel, the command would be redev.exe c:\kernel\vmlinuz 3 3 . I hope. I never have used this command before. I'm getting this info from my TurboLinux manual. Good luck.

Fox2k

08-09-2001, 11:45 PM

wow, im confused noow..i can run this command from the installation cd using dos?
my kernel image is at c:\vmlinuz, and linux is loaded on partition hda5. thats all the info i know, so what exactly would i do? would i type the lines you mentioned into dos, or edit my autoexec.bat file to include that line?
thanks for your help by the way..if this works you'll be my savior :D

Linuxcool

08-09-2001, 11:54 PM

Yes, you run the command from dos. Locate the command on your cdrom disk then cd into the directory and run the command rdev.exe c:\vmlinuz 3 5. Now when you say that your kernel is in c:\vmlinuz is that a directory or that it is located in the root directory of the c: drive? If it's a directory then the command would be rdev.exe c:\vmlinuz\vmlinuz 3 5. I hope this works. Good luck.
*Edit: changed redev to rdev.*

[ 10 August 2001: Message edited by: Linuxcool ]

Fox2k

08-09-2001, 11:57 PM

nope c:\vmlinuz if the file path (the file is called vmlinuz). thanks for your help i'll try it and let you know what happens. would you mind further explaining where you got the 2 ending numbers form? i dont understand why you got 3 instead of 5

Fox2k

08-10-2001, 12:13 AM

F:\DOSUTILS>rdev c:\vmlinuz 3 5
cdr101: Not ready reading drive F
(damn cdrom driver...)

f:\DOSUTILS>rdev.exe c:\vmlinuz 3 5
bad command or file name

=(

Linuxcool

08-10-2001, 12:29 AM

OK. Did you find the redev command? If I understand what you said, you said that the kernel is in a directory called c:\vmlinuz. If that's the case, the command would be rdev c:\vmlinuz\vmlinuz 3 5.

The 3 specifies /dev/hda and the 5 is the partition number.

[ 10 August 2001: Message edited by: Linuxcool ]

Fox2k

08-10-2001, 12:33 AM

actually the file is called vmlinuz (it has no extension), and is in the root folder. and the rdev program was in the folder dosutils on the installation cd :)

[ 10 August 2001: Message edited by: Fox2k ]

Linuxcool

08-10-2001, 12:43 AM

It seems to me that the command rdev c:\vmlinuz 3 5 should work. Do you have any other linux partitions on your hard drive?

[ 10 August 2001: Message edited by: Linuxcool ]

Fox2k

08-10-2001, 12:47 AM

my hard drive is partitioned into 2 fat32 partitions, a linux partition, and a linux swap partition. otherthan that, no, there aren't any other partitions.

Fox2k

08-10-2001, 12:49 AM

...of course this oculd also be a problemw ith ym cdrom drivers even though i *did* install it..correctly..i think (it installed the dvd capability, sound card, and dvdrom all at once apparantly..) but since i've been having problems reading some CDs, this oculd be the problem. if so, i have no clue how to fix that either...lol
*collapses to the ground in defeat*

Linuxcool

08-10-2001, 05:47 PM

When you installed linux, did you make a boot disk? If you did, use this to boot into linux. You then can get a copy of the kernel from the /boot directory instead of using the one off of the cdrom.

Also, did you find any ' README ' files on the cdrom about using loadlin? There are a number of ' NHF ' on Linuxnewbie.org about setting up loadlin.

If you can't boot up using a boot floppy, maybe you can use the install floppy or the cdrom disk the distro came on.

Right now, I can't think of anything else to try.