linux installation help
 

i recently installed redhat linux on my pc which already had Windows Me and Windows xp installed. The installation completed successfully. When the computer starts i get 2 options through grub for DOS and Linux. On selecting Dos i again get two options for windows xp and ME .when i run windows me or linux they run fine but when i select xp from OS list it shows an error stating that hall.dll is missing or corrupt.Can anybody of u help me.
arun

Check this out
 

I did a google search and found several links to the exact problem. Here's the google link: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&i...=Google+Search

Here's one that caught my eye, read it first:
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000490.htm

NOTE: you may can read NTFS with your Redhat however, do NOT try to write unless you are VERY certain it supports it. You can really hose your XP badly. Like dead, reinstall type bad.
I think the above link has a fix. Sorry to send you to google but I have to go to town and I don't use XP, see sig below.

Hope this help though. Back later.

:D :D :D

There is nothing really wrong with LILO. Really. You just have to hold your lips right when you do anything. LILO even has a command to restore the MBR to original. Pretty cool actually. How did I learn that? By screwing everything up a whole bunch of times. The main thing is that only one boot-loader can be present, at least that has been my experience. You need an entry for each O.S.. What you have is a boot loader pointing to a boot loader. Yikes! GRUB is a boot-loader just like LILO.
I would have to have it in front of me to straighten it out. I am sure there is a way to back out of the MBR with GRUB also. XP and 2000 take over a machine. The file in ME is the one which needs to be edited--it was changed by XP. Since you have ME working, I suggest you image everything so you can get back to where you are, and make boot disks for linux and ME. Look up how to back out of GRUB. I have seen successfull usage of the XP bootloader to fire up linux--and I believe I have made it work in the past. I have managed to melt down my system so many times that I can restore with images in about 30 minutes.
By the way, since SP1 there is no need for any other MS operating system other than XP (Provided that you have a "legit" copy.). If your equipment is relatively current, you have more than enough horsepower to do whatever you want, including games. The VDM (virtual dos machine) will run programs from windows 3.11 on up. You also can make the Desktop emulate just about anything you want. To do it right, you don't upgrade. It takes a few hours. Turn off auto play on the cdrom. You have to dink with it a bit. Explore the cdrom; right-click on the install program; set the "run-as" to the correct O.S. for the program; Install. To save yourself headaches, google visual basic runtimes for XP and install them first. If the programs require JAVA you'll have to get that also. My machine happily runs everything from pinball to "Donkey Kong". It also runs all of the old labelling and print programs--although I don't have any of the speadsheet programs or other database stuff. The joystick may not work for you though. (There is a fix, but since I don't use a joystick, I didn't bother with it.)
There is a bunch of stuff on the web and in the MSKB (microsoft knowledge base) on dual-booting XP with linux. Most will tell you far more clearly than I can on how to do it. One thing to remember, read as many articles by different people as it takes to understand what you are doing. (I have learned this from bitter experience.) Everybody thinks a little different from everybody else. Keep looking until the understanding comes, there is no better feeling than that "Oh, I get it!" moment.

lilo?
 

I don't think lilo is the problem. It may be that when he/she resized the partition the file got corrupted. According to what I read the file, hall.dll, needs to be replaced. Where I sent him gave the details on how to do it. Lilo appears to be working since it lets him choose the OS and then sends him there.

BTW arun07, did you get it fixed?

:D :D :D :D

this isn't seems the problem with dll file but actually windows lost the bootable partition when linux partition is added and when i delete those linux partition everything becomes all rights. Now again after installing it gives the same problem. Pls help as i don't want to format my pc again. also all my partition of windows r in fat32 file system.

You may want to try this?
 

If you reinstall Linux try grub instead of lilo. You should get the option somewhere for the boot loader. It may work better. I don't know of anything else at the moment.

:D :D :study: :jawa:

can i know abt the difference between lilo and grub. i think they both r boot loaders. so tht will not make any difference but i will ty. and r u from mississippi. my brother is also studying at olemiss doing his phd in chemical eng.. may be u know him.

Not really sure
 

They are both boot loaders. I don't know the difference though. A lot of people recommend grub though. I have not ever used grub so not sure. I hear that when you have trouble with lilo, switch to grub and it usually works better. Not sure why?

I live a long ways from ole miss. Doubtful that I know him. Probably my lose though. Nice guy huh? :cool:

:D :D :D

When you install XP as a second Microsoft O.S. it installs some files on the first partition where the first (MS) O.S. resides. These files are what make up the MS bootloader. If you have been playing around with the different versions of windows you should be familiar with them.

I am not all that familiar with ME, but I have had: DOS, Win98se, XP and linux all as separate system partitions in a multiple boot environment. It took quite a bit of time to figure out how to do it.

The specifics on how to do multi-boot setups are dependent upon the physical hardware you have. The easiest way to do it is to have a bunch of hard drives. Things start to get pretty technical if you are trying to do it all on one drive with a bunch of partitions.

There is a fairly cheap way out with software. PowerQuest(the people who gave you partition magic) has a software solution which works. There are other aftermarket bootloaders available which are reasonable in price as well.

The alternative is spending a whole bunch of time reading about bios limititations, ARC loading concepts in the MSKB, and how the different loaders work. There is a pretty solid limit on the locations of the partitions for Microsoft products (the 1024 cylinder limit.) All sorts of stuff to learn. The learning curve is very steep.

There is no need to keep reformatting your hard drive(s). Just take the time to read the documentation on the Red Hat website. Plan it out on paper first. Make notes on how to back out of anything you do--like the command for restoring the MBR after finding that the install nuked XP. Those things apply to MS products as well.

P.S. I always hated posters like me when I first started out. I wanted to have a simple fix _right_now_. By far the easiest way to get linux up and running is by contacting the nearest LUG (Linux User Group) and going to an "install fest".

Okay, I feel guilty now.

Step 1a: Give me the details on the number of hard drives you have and the specific location and size of each partition.

Step 1b: I also need to know about the types of software you have and whether you have it in a separate partition. (For each Microsoft O.S.

Step 1c: The type of linux install--i.e. Minimal, Desktop, Workstation, "The whole shootin' match".

Step 1d: I also need to know the usage/performance needs you have (this also is important for proper layout of the partitions).

Step 1e: Do you have a CD burner? I need to know--if you don't we have to approach it in a different way than what I have in mind.

Step 2: Have available to you a copy of partition magic--a very recent one (older ones can produce faulty partition entries). Have a good (I prefer Acronis) imaging program. A pad of paper. Copies of ME & XP. Download and install EDXOR and OpenExpert.

the following r the details:

1. i have got only one hard disk 20 gb samsung.

2. this harddisk had 3 fat32 partitons


c:\ drive is 6 gb and in this windows me is loaded(primary partiton) .Than 8 gb is for extended dos partiton. The extended dos is further partitoned into the following logical partitons.
d:\ drive is 4 gb and in this windows XP is loaded
e:\ drive is 5 gb for data storage.

Rest of 4 gb space contains linux. out of which 160 mb is 'swap' partiton and rest is '/root' partiton. both of them r in ext3 format.


summary:

/dev/hdc1 fat32
/dev/hdc2 extended
/dev/hdc3 ext3
/dev/hdc4 ext3(swap)
/dev/hdc5 fat32(d:)
/dev/hdc6 fat32(e:)

the type of linux install is 'desktop'. i want to use linux for learning purpose and running web server like 'apache' and database 'mysql'. i want to practise the office work at home and also some r&d. i am going to run php script on linux. i know it can be run on windows but the administrative part require linux because php running servers r mostly linux servers. also want to access internet from linux . gotta hsp56 micromodem(internal) but can u tell me from where can i get the drivers. yes i have a gotta a cd-writer and that too is not detected by linux. regarding softwares i have got all of them but partiton magic is of version 6. i think i don't require imaging program now becuase i have completely formatted my harddisk and no useful data is there. it only contains all the 3 OS. please be sure that i will work as i am trying it for past 3 days without any luck.

GNU GRUB, the GRand Unified Bootloader, a flexible and powerful boot loader program for PCs

you'll need to chain-load the windows. May be you should have the option to boot "windows me" & XP from LILO itself. what does your /etc/lilo.conf look like ?

would recommend grub though ( as it says it is flexible and powerful ;-) )

I have been searching the forums--like I hope you have been doing--and it appears that I have consistently done things the hard way.

GRUB is way more powerful than it used to be. Apparently it can hide and unhide partitions on the fly and all sorts of things. Cool.

You did not mention whether you put all of the non-core programs in a separate partition (for each MS O.S.). You never mentioned whether you have the CDs for the respective operating systems. Nor did you mention whether you have a high speed connection to the internet (Although I did not ask for that.).

You also didn't mention whether you have an Imaging program--like Ghost or Acronis. You never mentioned whether you have: A full copy of Partition Magic, and a CD burner.

This information is important, it determines exactly how you go about doing the multiple boot scenario, how effectively you can utilize the hard drive, and how efficient the end product will be.

The programs you use in your two different windows environments can also make a difference ( most won't, but Office XP and Norton products can).

What I did in the past was "kludge" it all on to the hard drive and make it work. Not only was it a kludge, but I have had problems with occasional file and partition corruption as a result. You, on the other hand, can learn from everybody else's mistakes and have none of the headaches--that is the reason for these newsgroups in the first place.

Go up to the search button at the top of the page. Search terms:
User name: danny_kurniawan
Phrase: For those who wants to dual boot

Other Search Items: Partitioning Dual boot with XP Dual boot

The danny_kurniawan solution is elegant and if implemented properly would give you the most robust and speedy system. It needs a little tweaking though--a few more details about size and placement of the different partitions on the disk. I also need to look up the number of partitions which can be hidden/unhidden at boot time.

If GRUB is capable processing a string of commands of that nature I am going to redo my home network (yet again) using a variation of his technique. If I use images (from Acronis) this would take me about the time it takes to install a single copy of windows + drivers and updates. My home network currently has two towers, and two laptops--a total of 11 hard drives, each having multiple partitions. Now you know the power of image software.

why are you running win ME again? If you have XP, there should be no need for ME...ME was quite possibly the most problematic OS Microsoft has ever released.

Whoops! I didn't read the whole post again. My bad.

Your modem is a software modem. Check the hardware forum--look for the internal vs. external modem reader poll. It has all of the links for winmodems and more information. . .

I had a bogus version 6 of PM and without relevant updates I found that it make partition table mistakes. I have since purchased a real copy of version 7--your experience may differ.

ME may not like more than one Primary and One extended partition (with as many logical drives as you may want) Windows does not like more than one active (boot) partition.

If you have linux and ME working, and linux is on a primary partition, edit boot.ini in ME.

Primary partitions are numbered first. So the entry for XP has to be adjusted by adding the number of added primaries to the last number. (in the phrase defining where the \windows directory resides).

Also, if XP is on a logical drive--as it should be I think, it must be the first logical drive. So move everything around until it is. That is unless you installed XP first, then vice versa.