How can I get back to XP after I installed Suse 10.1?
 

About 2 days ago I was playing with XP. Then I got the Linux Magazine which had the Suse 10.1 inside in. So I installed it on my computer and I am currently using it.

The problem that I have with my computer and Linux is that GRUB does not let me pick between Suse and XP. I know this because when the pc starts, GRUB starts up and directs me to Linux.

So, basically, how can I configure GRUB so I can pick between XP and SUSE?

And if you have some more time, how can I reach the 2 other partitions which I have on the drive? (In total I have 3 partition on one physical hard drive. One partition is XP, the other is SUSE and the third is nothing, just music and stuff).


Thank you very much in advance.

hi

i don't know much, but did you put your suse on a different partition to xp?

and normally, when the initial boot scan is up, it says press any key to change Operating System or something like that

Edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst Assuming XP is on your first partition, add a section likeUse the mount command. man mount will tell you more. Or your file manager (Konqueror or Nautilis) might have an icon in the tree for you to right click and select "Mount Drive". Be careful if it is NTFS, you only want to mount the drive read-only (linux can't write reliably to NTFS).

In the directory /boot/grub there is a file called "menu.lst" add this to it:

title Windows XP
root (hd0,0) #assuming that this is the partition windows is on
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

make sure you have the correct partition device id under the root field, or it'll boot you into one of the other partitions.

I found the file, but I can't open it. I double click on it. I don't know how to open it any other way. And it also has this "X" on it. When I double click, i get an error message which says "Couldn't display "/boot/grub/menu.lst"."

And, I know this may seem too much, but can you please tell me exactly what I have to write including any symbols. I have been using SUSE for 2 days, never before.


Thanks

are you root? try and find your way into a terminal and type su then open the file with gedit or kedit
kedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

You can't open it because you need to have root access. Try right clicking and selecting "Open as Super User" or something like that. Or if that fails, there should be a program somewhere on your start menu that says "Open program as root" or the like. With that you can open a normal text editor and then open the file.

maybe it's just a link to /boot/grub/grub.conf. do you have /boot/grub/grub.conf?

try cat-ing them in a terminal instead. like xterm or konsole.

This did something, but I dont know what. I think it just read the file "menu.lst".

WHat it says is exactly what i get to choose from in the beginning: Linux, Floppy, or Failsafe.

For linux it says:
"###Don't change this comment = YaST2 identifier: Original name: Linux###
title SUSE Linux 10.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=0*31a splash=silent showops
initrd /boot/initrd"

Then there is something similar for Floppy and Failsafe.

I think i get the fact that i have to write something similar to this in the "menu.lst" file and then save it, but I still can't open the file. When I open gedit and try to open it from there, it tells me "Could not open the file "/boot/grub/menu.lst" Access was denied."

When i tried "cat /boot/grub/grub.conf", i didnt get anything because i dont have that file.

It looks to me like you may have installed Suse right on top of your XP partition.

You might just HAVE to become a Linux user.

Okay, try from a command line typing su - which should prompt for your root password. Then type gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst. This should open the menu.lst file as the root user. After you modify the file, save it and close gedit. Then type exit to become your regular user again. Your prompt should change from a "#" to a "$" and should say your "username@machinename" at the front of your prompt.

Ouch! I just saw that too... :cry:

please post the whole file. i'm getting a feeling that you have a 3rd party software that's managing the grub config.

Thats what i thought at first, but then i went to Yast>Expert Partitioner and it shows me that I have the NTFS partition(XP), the Linux native and the extended.

/dev/hda1 11.7 GB - Linux
/dev/hda2 13.8 GB - HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda3 103.2 GB - Extended
/dev/hda5 102.3 GB - HPFS/NTFS

the last 2 are the same.

this is what i get when i write "cat /boot/grub/menu.lst"


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linux-afyb:/home/sashko # cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Thu Jul 27 02:17:36 UTC 2006

color white/blue black/light-gray
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/message

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title SUSE Linux 10.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=0x31a splash=silent showopts
initrd /boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: floppy###
title Floppy
chainloader (fd0)+1

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- SUSE Linux 10.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
initrd /boot/initrd
linux-afyb:/home/sashko #


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