"Disc not bootable' is the message i get while trying to boot off a partition i formatted from linux as Dos partition. How do i make that partition bootable into dos. I dont have a floppy drive..so bootup disks dont help. ALl i need to do has to be done from linux.

ITs usually part of the partition software you use.

on parted:
Thats if its the first partition on the primary slave.

please use some user friendliness and tell me in detail what i need to type where...

Sorry, im a newb

Thanx again

Okay you need to get into a console.

Press ctrl-alt-f1.
Then Login in as root. Now type the following
press ctrl-alt-f7 to return to X. (Thats IF hda1 is the dos partition.)

(also you may note I've changed true too on, my bad.)

parted /dev/hda

command not found

however the set command executed alright..
Is there anything wrong?

Try installing parted for your system, or someome might be able to tell you how to do it with a diffrent program.

tried rebooting into hda1 and it shows the following message again,

root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is fat partition type 0x4

makeactive
chainloader +1

This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key to try again.

Any idea what else needs to be changed to make this disk bootable?

Change root too rootnoverify, for a start.

DOS is installed? Its not just a blank DOS partition?

how do i change root to rootnoverify?

and dos is not installed...im trying to do that...this is just a blank dos partition

look in /boot/grub/menu.lst

Go down the list to look for root (hd0, 0) followed by makeactive and chainloader +1, change root too rootnoverify.

You can't boot an empty partition by the way. You need a OS to boot.
If you've got a dos disk you can boot using that to install your dos.

But you'll need to reinstall grub, as it will replace the MBR. so have a linux boot disk handy.

I installed parted and I after i ran the commands you gave me, I didn't get anymore root notifications. Now it plainly says that the disk isn't bootable.

I dont have a Dos installation disk. I dont even have a floppy drive. I do have a windows 98 startup files on some cd..can i simply copy files off this cd into hda1 to make it bootable? Or can I dare ask if something like sys d: c: can be done from linux. ( asystem transfer off a cd into an empty partition)

The cd doesn't boot for some reason on its own. Can i do anything in this situation?

Thanx for all the help so far.

p.s. I use LILO now instead of grub.

Have you reset the boot order in your bios. So the CD Boots?

boot order is ok..that's how i installed my linux, booting off a CD. I just don't think i have a bootable win cd.... just cd's that i could use to instal the Win OS.

Lemme ask this again:

I do have a windows 98 startup files on some cd..can i simply copy files off this cd into hda1 to make it bootable? Or can I dare ask if something like sys d: c: can be done from linux. ( a system transfer off a cd into an empty partition)

thanx

sys d: c: won't work in linux-- for one, because *nix doesn't use drive letters, all drives are under one directory tree starting at /

To answer the first question, you shouldbe able to copy from CD to that partition with linux, and if you have what's required to boot windows/dos, it'll work.

I ghosted a harddrive this way very easily. (Win98)

you'll find this command handy:

the -r switch makes it work recursively, so it'll copy everything within a directory if you use the * wildcard.

Good luck

-Shade

i know there's no drive letters. I gave the sys d: c: example to help me in asking if there's a similar concept in windows. I found something, the program parted which has a utility (cp) that lets u copy a filesystem from a device or source unto a partition. I was not successful in copying anything from my Win 98 Startup CD..getting 'Wrong Label' errors.

Thanx anyways
still tryin