Trouble Dual Booting W2K On main drive and Linux Mandrake 10.1 on partitioned slave.
 

(I am running Windows 2000 pro on a primary in FAT32 (ntfs didn't seem to work with it)
Well i got Linux Mandrake 10.1 today from a friend who has T1 or sumthing (3 disks) eager to try my new os (yeah im not a windows newbie more a linux newbie) i reformat my 20 gig drive i did one half FAT32 (9.4... gigs) and the other i left unformatted (10.... gigs for linux) now this is my secondary drive and from googling around i found people could dual boot from seprate harddisks but it didn't work for me! i put the cd in, resarted, changed the bios start up thing so it looks for bootable cd-drive first, then hd, then floppy then the nice linux installation window came up i hit enter to install and it began, then stopped at a line and repeated it, coninusously every 7 seconds it repeated:

hda: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0xff

^ :scratch: whats that mean, i thought it meant sumthing about the hd^

*i noticed while using Seagate Disk Wizard to partiton and format that it said somthing about 2056 cylinders? is that a problem? if so what do i do about it, can i change it some how or what :confused: ?*

System Specs:
AMD Atholon 64 2800+ oc'd to 2ghz
2 20 gig seagate hds (diffrent models)
ATI Radeon x300 256mb PCIe
Asus K8NE-8 Deluxe mobo (the numbers not exact it's sumthing like that)
640mb ram
sony dvd-rom drive (which gives me alot of trouble :mad: (not recognizing there is a cd in there or that theres a dvd in there)

*****---EDIT 9/8/05 4:16PM EST----*****
well i tryed cleaning disk 1 which is what a friend told me to do and it still has the same prob, then i tryed unformatting the entire second HD, same prob, then i switched the slave drive with the master and put the jumper on the primary for cable select, same problem!!! :mad: but when i switched the drives and the jumper back to the same way as before, windows won't load now!! it just says Error Loading OS at the top of a black screen!! :( that looks bad. (im editing this post via my sisters windows xp computer) [the excat problem installing Linux is when you boot from the cd the screen comes up, then says hit F1 for more options and hit enter to install/upgrade, i hit enter and it begins with some text stuff then stops for a little, then the next line is:

hda: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0xff

Im not sure if it helps but the line before is similar but a 4 and i think a 10 some where in that, then it repeats the same line above continously every 7 seconds or so, the HD light is on, not the cd drive.]
HELP PLEASE!!!
*****---EDIT 9/8/05 4:16PM EST----*****

You need two partitions to install Mandrake. One for its the Linux own residence and another as a swap. About 8 and 1 Gb should it.

If you have formatted a FAT partition Mandrake will have to re-format it to Ext2 or Ext3 filing system.

You Windows should be in hda1 and the Linux in hdb (or hdc if they are not on the same ribbon cable). So instruct Mandrake to install in hdb1 and use hdb2 as swap.

You need a bit of understanding how Linux names the partitions in order to get things done properly.

---------------edited----------------------------

Don't swap the drives. You Windows was installed as the first bootable disk. Putting it in a slave will not boot.

Stick with Windows as the primary and the slave for Linux and understand or partition the slave to have hdb1 as about 8Gb and hdb2 as 1Gb for Mandrake to get in.

I have Madrake 9.2, 10.0 and the new Mandriva, all in 5Gb partition each and none of your problem. I did have the partition done first and instructed the Linux to get inside.

So when you reset the windows harddrive to master, windows won't boot? Try to completely remove the secondary hard drive and only have the windows one conneted to boot. That seems more hardware related, not sure about that one.

As for the install, check the cd's to make sure they were burnt ok. Will the install procedure begin on another computer?

i thought i didn't need a swap (from googleing around) but i'll make one, but i can't get windows to load up now (dumb unreliable windows) im goin to try booting from my windows disk to get windows back then try getting that swap partition and retry the installation (reply 1)

Your Windows should be bootable once it is a master disk!, as it was originally installed.

yeah it wont boot with the drive with windows on it back on primary and the unformatted one as a slave (from goin to teh setup it DOES find both drives correctly)

okay i got it going with the windows disk in there, what partition software should i get for it (the one i have won't let me make a partiton which is unformatted) partition magic?

If you got Partition Magic it will do.

Just partition one primary about 8 Gb and one 1Gb in Ext2 or Ext3. No need to format. Come out of XP. Reboot with Linux CD in and watch like a hawk.

Remeber tell Linux the 1 Gb hdb1 is for swap. Let Linux format your 8Gb hdb1 and mount it as "/" the root of the filing structure.

You need the Linux bootloader into MBR for the first time you install a Linux. Either Grub or Lilo can be specified but the format is easier to work with. It is no problem of losing the MBR because you can restore it anything you want.

it still DIDN'T WORK! linux dosen't like my copmuter but it loves my sisters, it booted up nicely and i finally saw that menu where u choose ur laguage and partition and install it and everything! and it worked, my sisters has a 40 gig drive (mfg by HP) partitioned 5 for recovery and 35 for the rest and it actually loaded everything nicely! my idea is i can put my secondary from mine on hers and install it on hers into my secondary then put it back on my computer, it whould work right? oh and whats grub and lilo exactly? does it come with Linux Mandrake Offical 10.1? or do i have to get it seprately?

No harm in giving it a try.

Lilo and Grub are the two boot loaders used by Linux. It is these two fellows that dual-boot you PC! They are standard items inside Mandrake.

ugh, well it installed nicely but when i restarted and took the 3rd cd out it booted windows automaticlly, no menu or any thing, then i tryed cd 1 in the drive still xp, then whent to boot and recovery in the control panel and checked display operating systems for 30 seconds, STILL no os menu, just boots xp, then i took a look at the boot file and it only states there is windows installed! (i noticed it use to be "fast detect" after windows xp in the pull down window of the boot and recovery menu but now it changed a little to somthing a little longer and weird) when i installed linux it showed me what was going to be in the menu but there isn't one (there was this thing tho, i wanted to boot off a floppy but it said :fatal: ..... will destroy the file system.... it was like /.../do or /.../oo (... = sumthing i can't remember) so i changed it to /hdb1 or just /hdb not sure but sumthing like that)
What should i do now to get it to work on my sisters computer so it whould possibly work on mine?

this is what my boot thing says:

[boot loader]
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
timeout=30
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

No the Linux has been installed but unbootable because you have not arranged it to be done.

You now have a XP in the primary installed originally in your box and a Linux in the slave installed elsewhere but moved into your box.

Booting is controlled by whatever you put into the MBR (Master Boot Record or the first 512 bytes of your primary disk). Currently its has Windows' code in it.

You can make Windows to boot Linux by changing its boot.ini file you have just showed us but Windows also need the Linux's boot code inside the "C" drive to dual boot. The last part could be beyond your reach if you can't even get the Linux running.

So here is the fix because your sister has the same Linux for you to use.

Go and make a Grub bootable floppy that can boot your two systems. Do it manually. When you are happy with it then do the change to the Linux in the hdd.

The work you need to do is to create a bootable Grub floppy by Mandrake. You need to find the location of two files called stage1 and stage2. If that Manddrake uses Grub as the boot loader then the required two files will be in directory "/boot/grub" otherwise you can find it out by the "find" command at Mandrake terminal mode, typing

find / -name stage1

Keep a note on the directory names (stage2 will be inside too)

pop a floppy into the drive and type

dd if=/boot/grub/stage1 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1
dd if=/boot/grub/stage2 of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 seek=1

The above means you want Linux to write out the binary pattern (dd command) using the input file /boot/grub/stage1 to the output file device floppy drive 0, in blocks of 512 bytes and just one block for stage1 and the paste stage2 thereafter.

If from your "find" command you discover stage1/2 stored elsewhere just substitute that directory name with "/boot/grub" in the above dd commands. Mandrake supports Grub and so these two files will be inside.

The bootable Grub floppy is the most powerful booting tool in this planet and I have been using it to boot 45+ systems.

To boot a system in your box, boot this floppy to Grub prompt first. Only 3 lines are needed and they are applicable to every DOS, Win3x, Win9x, 2k/XP, Linux, BSD and Solaris. They are

root (hdi,j)
chainloader +1
boot

i is the disk No. and j is the partition No of the system you want to boot. Grub is different from others that it count everything from 0.

My estimate of your Win2k the primary disk is hda1 in Linux term and (hd0,0) in Grub term. For the Mandrake in the slave it would be hdb1 and (hd1,0) respectively. So give it a try.

The Grub floppy only work if the system has its boot code stored in the boot sector of its own partition. It is possible that during Mandrake's installation you may not have arranged it. In which case the Mandrake will still bootable if you have chosen Grub for the bootloader(during install). You can pull your Mandrake (assumed in hdb1 or (hd1,0) out by typint at Grub prompt

configfile (hd1,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst

If you still fail then you must have specified Lilo as your bootloader. The Mandrake can still be rescued but you need a Live CD from a Linux distro.

Let us know if the above works first.

As long as you do not re-partition and reformat the partitions the two systems can be booted eventually.

"Go and make a Grub bootable floppy that can boot your two systems. Do it manually. When you are happy with it then do the change to the Linux in the hdd."

how do i go about doing that, linux never booted all it did was install alot of files into my slave, im not sure how to enter the commands you told me without linux. thank you for giving me those instructions but im a :newbie: and i don't know how to get into Grub from windows, (in my computer an F: drive shows up but it's unformatted, in the Linux installation i made a 1.6 gig swap, an 800mb journal thing, 9gig EXT2, and the rest windows FAT32.) [i didn't answer this thred for a while because i got frustrated with linux, but im trying again]

eager to see the linux desktop i just took the secondary off on my sisters and put it as the only harddrive on my copmuter, the dualboot screen thats SAPOSE to come up on my sisters comes on mine, then i hit linux all excited it will work... WRONG! the text starts scrooling and loading up nicly, then stop, then it repeats the line yes that notirous line we all know except the hda is now hdb:

hdb: dma_timer_expiry: dma status == 0xff

so thiking it might need a slave (with windows on it) to look at i shut off, stick my windows 2000 on the slave of the drive with linux on it and guess what boots up? WINDOWS 2000! :mad: WHAT? no dual boot screen? why'd it boot 2000? from a slave? i even picked cable select on my primary!!!, so im goin to put the linux drive back on my ssters XP (as slave like before) and wait for a nice person to tell me how to get it working or amybe explain the error that linux has on my Win2k computer.

You have not successfully installed a Linux in your slave. THus even if you put it up as a master there is boot loader working there. The BIOS then called the second disk in the queue and your Win2k came up.

You do have a workable Linux. It is the one in your sister's machine. My tips were for you to prepare the tools to help your booting.

You should pull off your Windows master disk and just install the Linux on its own. Get it working before considering dual boot.

I have told you the method to make a Grub bootable floppy. That seems to be nothing to you but the same floppy boots 45+ systems in my box. It is up to the user to use it.