I have a Windows ME and FC4 dual boot system. Now I decided to install win xp. Problem is, that win xp cd doesn't boot, it hangs after "inspecting hardware" with black screen. After searching some forums I have found that I have some disk geometry problem with LBA and CHS values. I have found some solution at lwn.net/Articles/86835/. When I run the sfdisk command, it gave me this:

[root@vlado ~]# cat partitions.txt | sfdisk --no-reread -H255 /dev/hda --force
Warning: HDIO_GETGEO says that there are 16 heads

Disk /dev/hda: 38792 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Old situation:
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

Device Boot Start End #cyls #blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 0+ 637 638- 5124703+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda2 638 2433 1796 14426370 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 0 - 0 0 0 Empty
/dev/hda4 0 - 0 0 0 Empty
/dev/hda5 638+ 765 128- 1028128+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6 1536+ 2433 898- 7213153+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda7 766+ 778 13- 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda8 779+ 1535 757- 6080571 8e Linux LVM
New situation:
Units = sectors of 512 bytes, counting from 0

Device Boot Start End #sectors Id System
/dev/hda1 * 63 10249469 10249407 b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda2 10249470 39102209 28852740 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 0 - 0 0 Empty
/dev/hda4 0 - 0 0 Empty
/dev/hda5 10249533 12305789 2056257 b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6 24675903 39102209 14426307 b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda7 12305853 12514634 208782 83 Linux
/dev/hda8 12514698 24675839 12161142 8e Linux LVM
Warning: partition 6 does not start at a cylinder boundary
Successfully wrote the new partition table

Re-reading the partition table ...
BLKRRPART: Device or other source is used
The command to re-read the partition table failed
Reboot your system now, before using mkfs

If you created or changed a DOS partition, /dev/foo7, say, then use dd(1)
to zero the first 512 bytes: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/foo7 bs=512 count=1
(See fdisk(8).)

And nothing changed, even after restart. I did this from my fedora system, with mounted filesystems, so I expect, that is reason, why it didn't work. I tried the same from "linux rescue" mode with fedora CD 1, but it gave me some memory dump, I think it is because not updated sfdisk (linux-util package).
Next thing what I noticed is, when I turn off LBA mode in BIOS, the win xp cd boots with no problem, but grub gave me "Error 5" message at Stage 1.5. I guess, I can install win xp with LBA switched off, but I want my fedora working.
So can someone give me advice, how to install stupid windows and left my fedora intact?

If you install Windows XP now, your boot loader (probably GRUB), is gonna be taken over by NTLDR (Windows XP BOot loader)

So, install Win XP, then reinstall GRUB (Using the Fedora Core Rescue CD)

I know that, I even know how to get it back, that's not the problem.
Problem is with installing win xp itself, In my opinion it checks LBA and CHS values, and if they are not equal, the cd doesn't boot (and I fear the same with installed system). So I guess I have to fix CHS values back to 255 heads, but the solution I found somehow didn't work

Why worry about LBA and CHS values...?

Why not set it to auto in the BIOS?

using commandline:

chroot /mnt/sysimage
grub-install /dev/hda [or /dev/hdb]

to BongHongXanh: As I wrote before, I know that

to duffmckagan: Because probably during installation fedora altered CHS values to 16 heads, and probably LBA detects 255 heads (+corresponding number of cylinders and sectors). I need to get it back, because the win xp cd checks LBA and CHS values, if they aren't equal, the cd will not boot (as I also wrote before). I could switch off LBA in BIOS (BIOS by the way detects 16 heads), install xp (this way the cd boots, I think because it has nothing to compare), but what after that? If I reinstall grub, and leave LBA turned off, grub will not find my /boot partition, because it will be reading wrong geometry (I get error 5 now, if I switch LBA off and try booting with grub).
If I turn it on, grub will work ok, but win xp will not I think. I 've read about the same problem with comparing LBA and CHS values when XP boots as I have with it's cd.
By the way, I tried the same command (sfdisk -H255 ... ) with bootable Knoppix cd (no partitions mounted). It was without error when rereading partitions, but it have done absolutely nothing - the xp cd doesn't boot.

I'm thankfull for all replies, but still I like to get it work (install xp, and have fedora).
So there is still question, how to get it work together

I wonder why you worried so much about CHS and LBA.

What is the make and the model of your HDD(s)?

Setting the BIOS to Auto should take care of the LBA and CHS Values.

I don't think Fedora can alter the BIOS settings.

I have A Maxtor 80GB. I installed FC2; FC2 showed messagebox "
Warning
Unable to align partition properly. This probably means that another partitioning tool generated an incorrect partition table, because it didn't have the correct BIOS geometry. It is safe to ignore,but ignoring may cause (fixable) problems with some boot loaders."

http://img142.imageshack.us/my.php?i...eenshot4wj.png
but I was continuing installation it and when i have finished it i dont boot WinXP.
Although, I have a Grub boot;

Try this.

Google helps.

Fedora's Core 4 works well with XP Home edition on a second hard drive with the auto setting in the bios. An initial setup of XP would require assigning the first boot device to cd drive with all others disabled. That is one method to force the load of the XP installation cd. XP will then ask which partition to install on.
It can preserve the ME FAT32 partition while wiping out the ME Windows directory for the XP replacement. You are better off planning a conversion of the primary partition to NTFS however since XP favors a new one to go on. That's Microsoft's new and wonderful product activation profile of your current hardware.

Once XP is running on a brand new primary partition you can proceed with choosing the manual option for the
creation of the needed partitions for Core 4. By setting XP as the default OS you can adjust the length of a
onscreen option to load Fedora before having the Legacy grub loader installed into the XP mbr. Upon finish of
the installation Fedora's own splash screen will appear immediately after the system post tests where you now
have a predefined amount of seconds to simply press "ANY KEY" to have Core 4 boot instead of XP. Presently XP
sits on the 54.6gb primary with Fedora utilizing the remainder of the drive. While 98SE was originally the OS
that would have resided with Core 4 only to be replaced with XP, the updated fdisk did see 54.6gb instead of
the entire drive becoming MS by manually specifying a smaller size for the primary.