Hello, I am currently using Windows XP on a single 200 GB hard disk. What I aim to achieve is format my entire hard disk and then install Windows Vista and afterwards install OpenSuSe, Fedora Core 6, and Ubuntu. I know this may sound crazy especially for a beginner but I would like to try all of them. However, I don't want to have something fancy like virtualization. I just want to be able to pick the OS I want to boot each time I turn on my PC (multiboot). I would like some help performing this setup. From my experience thus far (which is barely anything) I figure the best way to implement this would be to start with Vista since it overwrites the MBR. What I would like to exactly know is how much space should I allocate for Ubuntu, OpenSuSe, and FC6? I need to allocate most of the hard disk for Vista since I need some extra applications and games to run on Vista. As for the Linux distributions, I will probably only install the full operating systems without any additional programs since they will be mainly used for programming purposes and an introduction to Linux. I am thinking of allocating 150 GB for a single partition and installing Vista on it. This leaves me with about 36 GB (186 GB actual HD capacity) for the Linux distributions. If I go with the automatic installers (I.E. let them configure everything including the partitioning) can I share the same /swap and /home directories for all three Linux distributions? In which order should I install the distributions? Most importantly, how can I configure GRUB to recognize all of these Operating Systems?

Thank you.

I gave Vista only 20Gb and installed it as the 5th Windows booted from hdc3 in this thread

It is among

3 Suse 9.1 to 10.1 x86_64 in hdc59, hda43 and sdb11

5 Fedora 6 in sdb16 (FC2 to FC5 in hdc14, hda59, hda32 and hdc56)

5 Ubuntu (5.04 to 7.04) in hda31, hdc38, hda34, hdc54 and hdc46

Typically I installed each distro in a 5Gb single partition and never let a Linux to automatically partition my disks. I created all the partitions first, installed Grub before installing any of the Linux.

i would suggesting reading up on how to use EasyBCD. That program manages the new Vista bootloader. Basically, you'll have all the OS loaded on their partitions, then use EasyBCD to set the list of OS. It's easy to use, and the best part is...you won't have to miss with GRUB too much. With EasyBCD, you'll have the list of OS, pick the the one you want to boot to, then it goes into that OS bootloader. In essence, if one distro uses GRUB and another LILO, it won't matter EasyBCD has support for both.

Thanks demck85, I will look into EasyBCD since it seems to help in my exact situation. Wow saikee, 145 operating systems!! The problem is I do not know anything about the hdaXX terminology. In other words, I never tried tinkering with GRUB and I have no idea how to locate the bootloaders for each OS. I found this while searching for some help http://apcmag.com/5046/how_to_dual_b...nstalled_first . However this only handles the Vista and Ubuntu situation. What I am trying to figure out is which OSes can recognize the other ones. For example, I heard that SuSe can recognize a Windows installation and it automatically configures it. Does SuSe recognize other Linux Oses or if I modify GRUB as suggested in the link previously, and then install SuSe can it detect the modified MBR and work around it?

Thank you.

The biggest secret in booting is go with the flow.

If you look at my Grub menu booting 145 systems the majority, except the 8 MS systems, of them are repeats of
The first line is just the title, hda52 is the 52th partition of hda which is the 1st Pata disk connected as the primary master disk hda (primary slave is hdb, secondary master is hdc and secondary slave is hdd). Grub counts from zero so hda52 is (hd0,51) in its convention.

The 2nd line tells Grub which partition to boot.

The 3rd line is always the same, literally means Grub cut and paste itself with the boot loader residing in the specified root partition starting at the +1 position or the 2nd sector. In other word the system is booted with

1st Sector using Grub and the rest using the OS's own boot loader. This is the standard method using by every boot loader.

You can then repeat it for every OS by changing only the red bits and Grub will boot them all.

The only essential step to make it work is during installation of every distro you tell the installer to keep its boot loader, which can either be Grub or Lilo, inside the root partition. That is all. If a Linux user thnik about it then everything will become clear because there is only one MBR but every partition created (except the weird xfs filing type) will have a boot sector permanently assigned for residence by the boot loader. Where else can a boot loader goes if the MBR is occupied?

A MS system always put its boot loader inside the root partition and that is why every Linux can boot it and with commands identical to the above. It is a duty of every Linux installer to check every partition for a boot loader and include it for booting when one is found. That is how a Linux can automatically dual boot Windows.

Most Linux users are igornat that the same technique a Linux used to boot Windows can be used equally well on fellow Linux.

People can make it as complicated as they want but there is nothing to it!

I really appreciate your help saikee. I just want to run down this scenario with you to ensure that everything is correct. First I will resize my current single partition to 150 GB, this will leave me with 36 GB of unpartitioned and unallocated space. Then using partition magic 8, I will create 2 FAT 32 partitions for the /swap and /home directories used for all the Linux OSs. The swap partition will be 2 GB (same size as my total system ram), as for the home directory I am thinking of allocating 15 GB for it. Would that be enough considering I will be mainly using Vista for now until I can transition to Linux? What exactly does the home directory usually contain (is it like "program files" in windows or more like "my documents" and "application settings")? Or better yet, do you know what would be best allocation of the remaining space for SuSe, FC6, and Ubuntu and /home after creating the /swap?

Just to make sure my GRUB menu.1st should look something like:

-----------------------------

title Windows Vista
root(hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

// Since partition 1 and 2 are used for /swap and /home respectively, I will continue from 3...

title Fedora Core 6
root(hd0,3)
chainloader +1

title OpenSuSe 10
root(hd0,4)
chainloader +1

title Ubuntu 6
root (hd0,5)
chainloader +1

------------------------------

is that right?

Thank you.

Edit: Is there anything else I should know about when installing other than telling the installers to keep their boot loaders inside their respective root partitions?

/swap must be partition type 82. I think /home can be fat32. I don't use /home separately as my data is in a data-only partition in EXT3. WHile in Windows it can be read and written if you load "Ext2ifs" drivers. I switch from fat32 to it because Ext3 supports large files whereas in fat32 the maximum file size is 4Gb.

I advise putting all Linux in the logical partitions which always start at the 5th.

Try using a Live CD like Ubuntu to carry out the partitioning, no need to format

hda5 for swap, partition ID 82
hda6 for FC6, partition ID 83
hda7 for Suse 10, partition ID 83
hda8 for Ubuntu 6, partition ID 83

You then installl Vista first and make sure it go into hda1

Make sure Vista boots satisfactorily before installing the Linux.

You can install the Linux in any order the first I would choose is FC6 because (1) you can manual boot with its Grub (Suse's gfxmenu need to be disabled first if you want to use it to boot manually) If you have a problem in booting Fedora can give you a Grub prompt which is extremely useful for rescue a Linux (2) You can log in as root in Fedora desktop but can't with Suse or Ubuntu. That makes amending system files a lot easier.

Since you are green I recommend you use Select Fedora Grub to occupy the MBR and let Grub boot Fedora "directly" like this (my FC6 is in sdb15)
The reason for this is because you need a data-only to host Grub whereas using one of the Linux is simpler because its installer sets it up for you automatically. You could try the data-only partition Grub later. Only with Grub in a data-only partition you can chainload everything. The above scheme is you use Fedora's Grub to boot Fedora directly (which involves the "kernel" and "initrd" commands) and chainload all the others.

Your Fedora will be different to mine and will be fully installed by Fedora installer without your interference. In so doing it nukes the Vista's MBR making it temporarily unboootable.

At this point you can change the Fedora's grub.conf (or menu.lst) to the menu you have just posted, adding entries. for Vista, Suse, and Ubuntu, with the correct partition references. On completion you can try boot Vista as it will work from this point onward.

Suse and Ubuntu will boot if you install them into the specified partitions and specify the boot loaders inside their root partitions.

Lastly if you install Fedora into a single partition it will prevent it to create a separate /boot partition and to create a LVM, both of which I would not recommend for new comers not using the system to run server for a multi users environment.

Hi,
I installed two different linux distributions in a hd using manual partitions to customize the installation to my needs. I selected to use GRUB in both installation, and tested the first one which was working fine. However, when installing the 2nd one I selected to write the 2nd GRUM in the MBS, and I think that was the reason why the original entry in GRUB was erased. Is there any way to fix
GRUB loader so I do not need to do the first installation again?
thanks

roreru,

You need to restore Grub for the 1st Linux in its root partition and use the 2nd Linux's Grub to chainload it like a MS Windows.

Take a look at the last link of my signature Task D1 and D2 for restoring Grub in its root partition and follow Task E2 for incorporate the 1st Linux in the booting menu of the 2nd Linux's menu.lst

I decided to just install Vista and OpenSuSe for now. So for now OpenSuSe will take over the boot record and hopefully it will automatically add a Windows entry. Now If I decide to add FC6 later on, I just have to install its boot record in its own partition and then add its entry to the OpenSuSe GRUB menu by chainloading. Is that correct?

Thank you very much saikee for your help and bearing with my persistent questions.

Saikee,
I read your posted mail on the subject and the GRUB user guide so I was able first to write scripts in the grub command-line, and then edit the conf file in vi to make changes as needed.

many thanks,
roreru

roreru,

That is the right way to do it.

If you know how to edit menu.lst that means you can use the "same" commands to boot any system manually in a Grub prompt.

You grab Grub by its horns !

It is only a matter of time you can boot the unbootables.