LILO, MDK 9.2 dualboot with highpoint raid ... problems
 

Hi all !!!,

Than god for good ppl with knowledge... heh

IMy problem is a bit complicated...but I'll try to explain it and the measures that I have taken to solve it:

My distro is MDK 9.2, freshly installed on a machine that has windows xp previously installed on highpoint RAID 0 array (that includes 2 seagate st14xxx 40 gig disks). Stating back the day I installed MDK 9.2 on standard ide channel 3 (not on hpt374 channel) the root became /dev/hdk... windows raid was on hda and hdc, respectively.

At that time I was able to compile new kernels and make lilo configurations, where i could boot from hdk (linux root disk) and add en entry in lilo.conf for Windows XP, just by placing there:

#other=/dev/hda1
# label="windows"
# table=/dev/hda
# map-drive=0x80
# to=0x81
# map-drive=0x81
# to=0x80

This configuration worked even after I made the windows partitions from basic to DYNAMIC (for speed and reliability), but when I tried to run lilo sometime after that.. it didnt install bootloader anymore, complaining about missing entry "/dev/hda1" (see lilo.conf snippet above).

I tried EVERYTHING to make linux see the winxp dynamic partitons (compiled hpt374 v.211 module, kernel modules scsi.do, sd.mod and Windows LDM on in kernel etc etc.) Still not working... the linux does add 1 sda volume with 2 partitons (should be 3, 2 Ntfs and 1 fat32) which are unreadable, even if correctly mounted.


I think I have given up trying to get access to windows partitions, but there is one thing i just need to get working: LILO dualboot from root /dev/hdk to Windows, because no matter how good MDK is i need winxp sometimes hehe.

Now I presume i could fool lilo by making a false device in to /dev pointing to a nonexistent disk partition. There is already hda device, which points to "ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/disc..... how about making a block-device called:
(symlinked hda1) ---->ide/..../lun0/part1 in this location to fool lilo? I presume its done with mknod, but the way its done.... im afraid I too something stupid and maybe harm my win partitions...

Now am I off the tracks altogether here or?

anyway.. thx good ppl!

I forgot to mention: please do not suggest making dualboot working from windows xp .... I have to have access to my lilo boot menu, because of the many different kernels to choose from there...

And excuse my ignorance about linux.... Im trying to learn howto make different hardware to function with it. Mknod info page just doesnt help.....

ok, i won't suggest installing lilo just in your root partition and having the nt boot loader going there for you, where you can still select which kernel you wish to boot, like my setup.

HeeHeee!!!

Are you supposingly british? Just came to my mind with all that sarcasm...

:)

Welll.. I though about that too, but it seems too complicated as there has to be a simpler way
to cope with this problem. First u would had to boot win, then select linux.......
And I have doubts about Windows handling dual boots... because its famous of not taking account other OS:s like linux:>

not british, just tired and bitchy, though my last name is hansard, which i believe is very british. if my name isn't british, i wish someone would tell me.

every day until you get a good answer to your booting question, add another post with the word "bump" in it, to keep it visible until someone answers it.

bump