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Old 11-06-2006, 06:37 AM   #1
m3tal
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Booting windows with grub


Linux works fine, but when I try to boot windows with GRUB, the screen just goes black (The computers still on), and I have to restart and use linux. I use linux more often than windows, but I still have to do some things on it.

Thanks for any help.
 
Old 11-06-2006, 08:34 AM   #2
abisko00
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Please provide some details about your configuration. Where's Windows installed (1st or 2nd HDD)? Most helpful would be the output of fdisk -l, your menu.lst and grub.conf.
 
Old 11-06-2006, 08:42 AM   #3
pixellany
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abisko00
Please provide some details about your configuration. Where's Windows installed (1st or 2nd HDD)? Most helpful would be the output of fdisk -l, your menu.lst and grub.conf.
And tell us if it ever worked- if it stopped working after you changed something---etc.
 
Old 11-06-2006, 08:59 AM   #4
m3tal
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Linux and windows are on the same HD, just different partitions. I think that it stopped working because I deleted an empty partition that was before the windows one.

And abisko, where do I find those things you mentioned (menu, fdisk, etc)
 
Old 11-06-2006, 09:20 AM   #5
abisko00
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fdisk -l is a command that has to run with root permissions.
The location of menu.lst may depend on your distribution. Have a look in /boot/grub.
For grub.conf look in the same directory or /etc.

Most probably the partition number has changed. Once you locate menu.lst, you'll find that the partitions are addressed something like (hdx,y). x addresses the drive. hd0 is the first drive on the controller. y points to the partition. If you previously had 3 partitions (Linux, something, Windows), Windows would be on hd0,2. After deleting partition "something", Windows would change to hd0,1. Change this parameter below "title windows" accordingly. You need root permissions to be able to save the changes.
 
Old 11-06-2006, 09:20 AM   #6
pixellany
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m3tal
Linux and windows are on the same HD, just different partitions. I think that it stopped working because I deleted an empty partition that was before the windows one.

And abisko, where do I find those things you mentioned (menu, fdisk, etc)
Open a terminal and do this:
Code:
su  (to take on root powers)
fdisk -l   (to see how your drives are partitioned)
(on some systems, you might need to do /sbin/fdisk -l)
---copy and paste to put the output of fdisk into a post---
To edit the grub config file:
Code:
cd /boot/grub
ls     (look for a file named "menu.lst" or "grub.conf")
 Open with an editor, eg:
nano menu.lst   OR
gedit menu.lst   OR
kate menu.lst
GRUB manual here
 
Old 11-06-2006, 10:29 AM   #7
m3tal
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Results of fdisk:

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda2 * 9 9267 74372917+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 9269 9725 3670852+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 9726 9726 8032+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

This is what my windows part on the menu.lst file looks like:

title Windows NT/2000/XP (loader)
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot

And can someone with windows post what their menu.lst file (or similar) looks like?

Last edited by m3tal; 11-06-2006 at 03:17 PM.
 
Old 11-07-2006, 06:32 AM   #8
arubin
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My Pc came with a small hidden partition before the main Windows XP parition. This is apparently used for restoring Windows. Some Linux distributions would try and set this first partition sda1/hd0,0 as the Windows partition and the boot into Windows failed because what I needed was sda2/hd0,1. When I first installed Linux I made the mistake of thinking that my Windows installation had been trashed. I wonder whether this 'empty first partition' was important to your Windows boot.
 
Old 11-07-2006, 12:49 PM   #9
m3tal
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Maybe... But why would it? Its not really related to the window boot is it?
 
Old 11-07-2006, 12:57 PM   #10
Gethyn
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It's probably a vendor recovery partition.
 
Old 11-07-2006, 02:39 PM   #11
arubin
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I also wonder if the lack of an sda1 on your system is causing confusion. What happens if you try hd0,0 instaed of hd0,1

My menu.1st is below

Quote:
title SlackwareLinux-11.0 smp current(on /dev/sdb3)
root (hd1,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz061018 root=/dev/sdb3 ro
savedefault
boot

title SlackwareLinux-11.0 smp (on /dev/sdb3)
root (hd1,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.17.13 root=/dev/sdb3 ro #hda=ide-scsi
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
savedefault
boot

title SlackwareLinux-2.6 (old system) (on /dev/sdb1)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz060821_3 root=/dev/sdb1 ro
savedefault
boot


title SlackwareLinux-11.0 2.4 (on /dev/sdb3)
root (hd1,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-satai-2.4.33.3 root=/dev/sdb3 ro
savedefault
boot

title Slamd64 (on /dev/sdb10)
root (hd1,9)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sdb10 ro
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda2
title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
 
Old 11-07-2006, 03:43 PM   #12
syg00
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As suggested, use "(hd0,0)"
 
Old 11-07-2006, 03:56 PM   #13
m3tal
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I tried that and it said it wasn't there. I'll just check my partitions again and post if there is an update or something I haven't noticed before.

Any help..?

Last edited by m3tal; 11-08-2006 at 08:24 PM.
 
  


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