Can't boot into Windows XP
 

I cannot boot into Windows after I have installed Suse (I had Mandrake before)... I re-installed Mandrake and I still can't boot into Windows. How do I fix the GRUB or LILO? The error I get when I try to boot is:

root(hd0,1)
Filesystem type unknown
partition type 0x7
chainloader +1


My partitions are:

Device Type Size Mount Point
/dev/hda1 vfat 5.5 GB /mnt/win_c (this is recovery windows)
/dev/hda2 ntfs 132.5GB /mnt/win_d (this is main windows partition)
/dev/hda6 reiserfs 13.8GB / (this is where Mandrake is)


Hope I provided enough information and thank you very much!

title Windows XP Professional
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1


I think you are missing the rootnoverify line in your grub.conf

Thanks, I'll try it at work first thing tomorrow morning.

Any other possibilities, people? :)

Well, Windows boot loader has a problem, if
a. SuSE 9.1(.2?) is co-installed
b. Windows boot partition ends beyond cylinder 1024 (==8GB) - which apparently
it does on your machine.

(BTW in most cases it's helpful if you make clear which distribution and version
you are using).

There is a fix from SuSE for this, you should find it if you google for something
like SuSE 9.1 Windows boot problem. I've also heard that switching to LBA
addressing mode in bios setup may solve the problem in some cases.


HTH

To re-iterate, right now it's Windows and Mandrake, not Windows and Suse...

What does LRA mean - please explain in further detail if possible. Thanks.

P.S. I have done dual-boot many many times, it's only with this attempt to install SuSe that I have this problem! Very weird.

OK, I have just tried 'rootnoverify' line for GRUB, didn't work.

By the way, this is Mandrake 10.1 and WindowsXP Home edition (yes, I installed Mandrake where SuSe was hoping to fix the boot problem).

Any way I could do it with LILO, perhaps?

Thanks!

You should be able to boot into windows using the following:

title Windows XP Professional
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader +1
makeactive

Hmm, tried that, Ssba, didn't work. My guess is partition table has been ruined by Suse, so now only Linux partition can be booted, but not Windows. For better understanding, here is what my stuff looks like:

[USING FDISK -L]

[root@localhost yevgeny]# fdisk -l /dev/hda

Disk /dev/hda: 163.9 GB, 163928604672 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19929 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1 720 5783368+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda2 * 721 18015 138915000 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda3 18016 19928 15366172+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 18016 18126 891576 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda6 18127 19928 14474533+ 83 Linux

[USING SFDISK -L]
[root@localhost yevgeny]# sfdisk -l /dev/hda

Disk /dev/hda: 19929 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track

sfdisk: seek error: wanted 0x0000000000000000, got 0x0000000000000000
/dev/hda: unrecognized partition
No partitions found


As you can see, very different output by both!

Please advise, thanks.

OK, guys, I have fixed it!!! :) Simple (but also complex...) solution here:

http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...booting91.html

Directions may vary a bit depending on your Suse version (I used SuSe 10 installation CD to repair partition table, and then got out of installation so I still have my Mandrake).

Thank you and good luck to anyone having similar problem. Also, I should add that this is a big minus of Suse!!! I don't recommend it and also, Suse seems to have much less apps in their packages...