Is Slackware 10.2 and WinXP Dual Boot Possible on a Thinkpad R40e
 

Hello

I have just brought a Thinkpad R40e and want to install slack 10.2 alongside WinXP (which I kinda need for work). Is this possible?? The reason I ask is due to the small recovery partion on the hard disk.

Has anyone had any luck with this??

Cheers

Gonzo!

Hi,

I did something similar for a family PC a year ago, so unless they have changed significantly it's possible without even touching the restore partition.

What you need to do is find a partitioner that runs under Windows XP, make your XP partition smaller and introduce a new partition for your Slackware system. Try putting the Slackware system first on your disk and move Windows somewhat back.

It's possible to have up to 4 primary partitions on a disk, so this should be no problem. Once you have completed installing Slackware, make sure to install LILO (the boot loader) and verify that it includes your XP partition in the config so that you can choose between XP and Slackware from the LILO boot menu.

-Y1

(Having said that, I got sick and tired of the wasted space associated with IBM's "recovery partition" after a couple of months and nuked it alltogether. Then, a couple of months later I progressed even further in my Linux knowledge, got wine working, and nuked all of XP, leaving me a clean Linux system that works all the time)

Slackware & XP
 

Cheers for that Yalla.

I did have a go at installing Suse 10 last night but that failed and I have obtained the slack discs today.

I will have a play tonight and report back.

Cheers

Gonzo

Best of luck! Just post back when/if you run into trouble :)

Yalla

I finally got round to installing Slack 10.2 last night. Well to be completly honest this is how the evening went (after much playing the weekend) : -

- went to the bios and made the recovery partion available to modify.

- Loaded Knoppix and run QTParted to nuked the whole drive. (Told you I'd had enough :D ).

- Loaded XP. During the instalation I limited the XP partion to 10gb

- Loaded Knoppix and run qt parted and created a 10 gb Fat32 partion so it could be accessed by Slack and windoz.

- Run the Slack install. Loaded LILO to the MBR and hey presto all was well.

Well..... Almost. My trackpoint is not working but that may be my falut for not selecting the correct item in the install. Same with the sound but I'm sure I'll work them out. Totally into slack now.

Thanks for your help.

Gonzo

There are many excellent slackware 10.2 install notes on the web for that thinkpad. You can run mouseconfig and pick PS/2 for the trackball until you get the trackpt driver. Google SW10.2 on thinkpad or look at linux on laptop site.
Marcin Wielgoszewski has SW10.2 on Thinkpad T42 article including kernel config xorg file,etc. Glad your install was so easy:)

Please be sure you have the latest BIOS for that lappy. Some of the Thinkpd BIOSes are buggy. Check Tuxmobile's Linux with Laptops for any notes for your lappy model. Good luck.

Maybe you selected to install test26.s kernel which doesn't includes modules with mouse and sound support by default. Make a quick search on the forum if you used it, you'll find how to install the modules (there's no need to reinstall Slackware).

gbonvehi

Thanks for the advice. I have since been told that the missing modules are my problem on my other thread in this forum.

Thing is that if I try to install slack with anything other then the test26.s kernal I get to the early part of the setup that asks gives you the options to select a keyboard map and thats where it freeze's.

I'm assuming in my noob position that it is to do with the ACPI on the laptop. Knoppix won't boot either unless I pass acpi=off at the boot prompt.

thanks for you advice once again.

gonzo