http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux...w2k-HOWTO.html

What exactly do I do to make linux.bin file?

"What exactly do I do to make linux.bin file?"

I read the link that you put in your post and here is my explanation for what the author is describing:

Normally you put your grub bootloader on the MBR. The author is saying, suppose you want to leave the Windows bootloader on the MBR and put the grub bootloader someplace else. So in the section, "Dual Boot Setup", he describes an elaborate procedure to put grub in three other possible places.

The first thing that you do is put grub at the beginning of the /boot partition, assuming that /boot is on a separate partition which not all people do. The grub bootloader is a single 512 byte block.

Then he describes how to copy that single block to either a floppy or to a Windows file. He names this single block as linux.bin which is the first time that I have ever heard this term used. In this description he picks arbitrary names for the Windows file, floppy mount point, Windows partition, /boot partition and so forth. Then he intersperses explanations of how to find out what all these things are actually called on your system so that you can substitute your names for his names in the example commands. He also simultaneously interleaves instructions for putting grub on a floppy, FAT32, and NTFS

I find this somewhat confusing. I can imagine that this is very confusing for you if you are not even sure what these things are, much less what they are named on your system.

Here a simplified version of his instructions for putting grub on a Windows FAT32 partition:

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If you are performing the Red Hat installation, for the "Boot Loader Installation" screen:
* Select "Use GRUB as the boot loader"
* Select Install Boot Loader record on "...First sector of boot partition".
* After finishing the Red Hat installation:

boot into Linux.

Then run the following commands:

grub-install /dev/hda2

dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/osshare/linux.bin bs=512 count=1

boot into Windows

copy linux.bin file to C:\

Run notepad and edit C:\boot.ini

Add the following line at the end: c:\linux.bin="Linux"

Boot

You should have a choice of Windows or Linux. Selecting Linux will start GRUB

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In order to make these instructions work on your computer you will have to find out which partition your /boot is on and substitute that parttion name for /dev/hda2; which directory your Windows FAT32 partition is mounted on and substitute that for /osshare.

If you want to put grub on a Windows NTFS partition or on a floppy then the instructions are somewhat different.


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Be prepared. Create a LifeBoat CD.
http://users.rcn.com/srstites/LifeBo...home.page.html

Steve Stites

Thanks! I finally got it all to work, but not exactly what I wanted the way I wanted it to work. I modified grub so it automatically boots linux, but, like many others, I really dont' like how Microsoft has taken over everything. So I endevered to boot to GRUB, then boot my xp partition, but i only got the same boot loading screen from XP [which is rather boring]. I found out the whole mapping thing and chainloader /bootsect.dos thing, and then when I told it to boot that, it brought up the Windows 98 Safe boot menu (I had upgraded from 98 to XP). Which reminds me can I [going to go search] download the xp bootsect.dos file and replace my origonal one with that? I've got my dosc partition [vfat] mounted so that has helped a ton in finding lots of hidden files and experimenting. Thanks for the super long response, that must've taken forever to type out.

"Which reminds me can I [going to go search] download the xp bootsect.dos file and replace my origonal one with that?"

I don't know. I have never run XP. Somebody else will have to answer that one.