I am missing an NTFS partition with Suse10.2. 2 drives, 1st with XP/NTFS .... dualboot, 2nd drive with FAT32 & linux swap on it. (PROBLEM 1) After unsuccessfully trying to add an XP entry for boot into XP (several attempts), (PROBLEM 2) OpenSuse is now not seeing any "items" on the NTFS partition and reports it as a linux partition. The install DVD does correctly recognize it as NTFS however. My goal here is to either fix it so I can dual boot into XP or at least be able to access my data so I can backup and banish XP for GOOD. Thank you!

Here is what my XP entry looks like in my menu.lst file:
When you boot, escape to the grub shell and see if grub can locate the main XP partition. You can do so using tab completion. If it can, enter similar lines manually and then enter boot. The device numbers will be different for your situation. The rootnoverify value is due to my linux root device being /dev/sda6.

I did have a problem with my desktop where bios says one disk is hd0 when booting and the kernel says another. I fixed this problem by editing /etc/grub/device.map

I can boot into install DVD, however now the following happens..

loading edd, fan/loading djbd, mbcache, ext3
waiting for device /dev/hda1 to appear: ok
mounting root /dev/hda1
mount unknown fs type 'ntfs'
unmount: /dev: device is busy
unmount: /dev: device is busy
unmount: /dev/pts: device is busy
unmount: /dev/pts: device is busy

kernal panic -not syncing: attemped to kill init!

...and thats it!

On the install DVD, when trying to repair file system it reports: /dev/hda1 contains non-linux NTFS FS

When auto repairing: partitions found
/dev/hda1 /dev/hda2 /dev/hda3 /dev/hda4 /dev/hdb1
File system check /dev/hda1 contains valid NTFS file system
/dev/hda4 unknown file system: error
check fstab entry: skipped/omitted
mounting all partitions /dev/hda1: problematic
minimum packages: error
installing packages: omitted
verify base package: failed
asking about boot loader: error
repair: omitted

The errors seem to be multiplying, if you could walk me through 'tab completion' thank you!

Forget about trying to repair the ntfs filesystem. You don't have the ntfs kernel module loaded.

Boot into the rescue mode or enter "init=/bin/bash" as a boot option or use a live distro. Next mount your linux root partition and comment out any entries for your ntfs filesytems. Then try rebooting.
It looks like /dev/hda4 is your root partition, so try to mount it using:
mount -t ext3 /dev/hda4 /mnt
Then you can cd to /mnt/etc/. Edit the fstab file by adding '# ' before any line with 'ntfs' as the file type. Now cross your fingers and try rebooting.

There are two ways to mount an ntfs partition. Read-only with the "ntfs" kernel module loaded. or "read-write" with both the "fuse" and "ntfs" kernel modules loaded. Using the latter, your entry in /etc/fstab should use the "ntfs-3g" filesystem. You will need to make sure that the "fuse" and "ntfs-3g" packages are installed first. Then modprobe the modules.
sudo /sbin/modprobe ntfs
sudo /sbin/modprobe fuse

Now to make sure these modules are loaded when you boot:
If you look in /etc/sysconfig/kernel, you can add modules to load just after the filesystem becomes active.
You could add either "ntfs" or "ntfs fuse" to the MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT variable. Then you would need to run "sudo /sbin/mkinitrd" to update the startup script in the /boot/initrd file.

Now you can try uncommenting the entries for the ntfs partitions.

---

For reference, here I just manually mounted my main XP partition.
----

Another option is to remove the lines in /etc/fstab for the ntfs partitions and rely on the automounting system to access them. You will still need the ntfs module loaded.

Didnt seem to work out. Didn't locate /etc/grub. Added ntfs fuse to modules, then mkinitrd. Looks like root is hda2.

/var/log/messages
Feb 16 00:19:00 linux-ogye smpppd[6024]: smpppd version 1.59 started
Feb 16 00:19:01 linux-ogye kernel: hdb: drive_cmd: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
Feb 16 00:19:01 linux-ogye kernel: hdb: drive_cmd: error=0x04 { DriveStatusError }
Feb 16 00:19:01 linux-ogye kernel: ide: failed opcode was: 0xef
Feb 16 00:19:01 linux-ogye powersave-set_disk_settings[6035]: WARNING: hdparm returned error '5'
Feb 16 00:19:02 linux-ogye sshd[6105]: Server listening on :: port 22.
Feb 16 00:44:12 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/etc/sysconfig ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/mkinitrd
Feb 16 00:49:05 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/etc/sysconfig ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/modprobe ntfs
Feb 16 00:49:05 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS driver 2.1.27 [Flags: R/W MODULE].
Feb 16 00:49:16 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/etc/sysconfig ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/modprobe fuse
Feb 16 00:49:16 linux-ogye kernel: fuse init (API version 7.7)
Feb 16 00:49:58 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/etc/sysconfig ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/mkinitrd
Feb 16 00:50:43 linux-ogye gconfd (root-7347): Exiting
Feb 16 01:02:58 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/modprobe ntfs
Feb 16 01:02:58 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS driver 2.1.27 [Flags: R/W MODULE].
Feb 16 01:03:02 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/modprobe fuse
Feb 16 01:03:02 linux-ogye kernel: fuse init (API version 7.7)
Feb 16 01:03:46 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/mkinitrd
Feb 16 01:04:49 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows/ -o rw
Feb 16 01:04:55 linux-ogye sudo: root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/etc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows/ -o rw
Feb 16 01:04:55 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS-fs warning (device hda1): is_boot_sector_ntfs(): Invalid boot sector checksum.
Feb 16 01:04:55 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Primary boot sector is invalid.
Feb 16 01:04:55 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Mount option errors=recover not used. Aborting without trying to recover.
Feb 16 01:04:55 linux-ogye kernel: NTFS-fs error (device hda1): ntfs_fill_super(): Not an NTFS volume.
Feb 16 01:09:56 linux-ogye su: (to root) root on /dev/pts/1
Feb 16 01:26:09 linux-ogye gconfd (root-7062): Exiting

/var/log/boot.msg
Inspecting /boot/System.map-2.6.18.2-34-default
Loaded 23374 symbols from /boot/System.map-2.6.18.2-34-default.
Symbols match kernel version 2.6.18.
No module symbols loaded - kernel modules not enabled.
<6>EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
<6>EXT3 FS on hda2, internal journal
<6>EXT3 FS on hda3, internal journal
<6>EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
<6>NTFS driver 2.1.27 [Flags: R/W MODULE].
<3>NTFS-fs warning (device hda1): is_boot_sector_ntfs(): Invalid boot sector checksum.
<3>NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Primary boot sector is invalid.
<3>NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Mount option errors=recover not used. Aborting without trying to recover.
<3>NTFS-fs error (device hda1): ntfs_fill_super(): Not an NTFS volume.
/dev/hdb1 on /windows/D type vfat

(rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,gid=100,umask=0002,utf8=true)
failed<notice>'boot.localfs start' exits with status 0
Failed features: boot.open-iscsi

The grub directory is under /boot. The grub boot menu is from /boot/grub/menu.lst. It does look like the ntfs partition may be corrupt. With the menu.lst file edited to add a windows boot entry, see if it will boot. It it does, it might repair the filesystem. Before doing that, you might want to try booting up with a live distro and see if you can backup any important files in XP.

edited menu.1st in /boot/grub
title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader (hd0,0)+1

with a 'invalid' error

Shouldn't the below "root=hda1" say hda2? (Looks like failsafe is hda2) Since linux is on hda2?

With the live distro it displays the usual opensuse or opensuse failsafe.

I'm unable to backup XP as linux simply says 0 items in "C" ext3 (should be NTFS), whereas I 3500 items in "D"

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Thu Feb 14 14:43:24 EST 2008
default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 10.2
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda1 vga=0x31a resume=/dev/hdb2 splash=silent showopts
initrd /boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.2
root (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off 3
initrd /boot/initrd

title Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader (hd0, 0) +1

Yes, it should be "rootnoverify (hd0,1)"

edited to:

rootnoverify (hd0,1)
chainloader (hd0,0) +1


Error 11: Unrecognized device string

Boot yields: kernal panic - not synching: Attempting to kill init!

..at which point it locks up. Thank you.

I didn't look at your messages close enough on the earlier posts. It looks like you may have repartitioned. So the second partition isn't a the linux root partition anymore. That is the one that need to be referred to in "root(0,X)" where X is the partition number starting with 0. With grub, you can escape into the grub shell and use autocompletion to locate the kernel and initrd files. Then enter the "boot" command to boot up. Do this and make a note on which partition is root and if there is a separate /boot partition make a note on what it is as well. If you can boot up then, enter:
sudo /sbin/fdisk -l
It would be a good idea to print out the results. If you ever muck up your mbr partition table, this info can help you rebuild it.

I did try a repair earlier on. I can esc to shell, but trying to figure out autocompletion rite now.

Just type in part of the line and type the TAB key.
You need to lines to boot. One for the kernel and the other for initrd.

kernel (hd[TAB]
will list the drives available. Suppose you decide on hd0,
kernel (hd0,[TAB]
Now the partitions are listed. (The second step was just adding a 0, and not retyping the entire line)
Suppose when you type
kernel (hd0,4)/[TAB]
that you see a list of directories like /boot /home /etc etc.
You found the root directory. If /boot is a subdirectory of home, then enter:
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmli[TAB]
If you have only one kernel, the entire kernel will be selected and you can hit the [ENTER] key.

On the next line:
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd[TAB]

After the kernel and initrd lines are complete enter:
boot

Hopefully your system will boot up.

If you have a separate /boot partition, then find that partition instead. You may need to add a "root (hdX,X)" line then.

First attempt resulted in not enough memory error
2nd attempt:
grub
(using tab completion)
kernel (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz
[Linux-bzImage,setup=0x1e00,size=0x166e82]
initrd (hd0,1)/boot/vmlinuz
[Linux-initrd@0x28700, 0x168e82 bytes]
however when "boot" it simply exits grub
from looking at the kernels available looks like the options are vmlinuz
vmlinuz-2.6.18.2-34-default.gz
&
vmlinuz-2.6.18.2-34-default

When rebooting, it has same result. I can still boot via install DVD.

When booting, the DVD loads and prompts to boot from HD (resulting in kernel panic), using second option, I load installaion. I can then select to boot installed system from the GUI. I then log out to root. At this point, I can use terminal to start grub.