Booting into WinXP from GRUB

manuelkuhs · 09-29-2005, 01:04 PM

I have a really annoying problem. I've reinstalled my whole system, starting with WinXP on the first partition. Then a FAT32 partition #2. Then I installed SuSE 9.3 on the third partition. Unfortunately, YaST did not configure WinXP as a boot option, so now I can't get into WinXP.

I have tried, from information gathered in this forum, to manually edit the grub boot file thing. This is what it looks like:

Quote:

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Thu Sep 29 20:00:26 BST 2005

color white/blue black/light-gray
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,2)/boot/message

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title SUSE LINUX 9.3
kernel (hd0,2)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3 vga=0x317 selinux=0 splash=silent resume=/dev/hda4 showopts
initrd (hd0,2)/boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- SUSE LINUX 9.3
kernel (hd0,2)/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda3 showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off vga=normal noresume selinux=0 barrier=off nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 3
initrd (hd0,2)/boot/initrd

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: memtest86###
title Memory Test
kernel (hd0,2)/boot/memtest.bin

title windows
chainloader (hd0,0)+1

As you can see, I added the last two lines myself. Unfortunately, when I try to boot into windows, an error message comes up about NTLDR.exe missing, or something like that. I then went to check for the boot.ini file on BOTH the WinXP partition and the FAT32 partition. Using Konqueror, I selected "show hidden files/folders", but boot.ini is not there!
e.

So, I was wondering could anybody tell me what I need to put into the grub file for grub to directly load WinXP without using the windows bootloader, if that makes sens

Thanks in advance for any help!

WhatsHisName · 09-29-2005, 03:07 PM

It’s probably the absence of rootnoverify.

Try this, which may be an overkill, but it covers all the bases:

title windows
unhide (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive
boot

If that doesn’t work, run linux “fdisk -l” and confirm which partition contains windows.

AwesomeMachine · 09-30-2005, 02:04 AM

GRUB is supposed to relocate NTLDR and NTDETECT.com. GRUB replaces BOOT.ini with itself. Boot from the SuSE 9.3 CD, or DVD and select "Install". When it asks you, select "Repair Installed System". Install the bootloader, GRUB, again. That's in expert tools. But first configure the entry:

title MS Windows XP
root(hd0,0)
chainloader<space>+1

in the configuration files

You'll see how to do it.

There is an edit button on the lower left of the reinstall bootloader screen. Install the bootloader to the MBR, and replace MBR code.

WhatsHisName · 09-30-2005, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AwesomeMachine
GRUB is supposed to relocate NTLDR and NTDETECT.com. GRUB replaces BOOT.ini with itself...

To the best of my knowledge, neither comment is true. The grub commands I listed above do not modify anything in the windows partition and neither does installing grub to the Master Boot Record (MBR).

You may be confusing how grub functions when written to “the first sector of the boot partition” in a linux partition, with how it functions when grub stage-1 is written to the MBR.

The critical things that the grub commands do when booting windows is (1) to load the first sector of the windows partition (i.e., the boot sector) and (2) to start the execution of the code contained in the boot sector. Windows is responsible for creating the boot sector contents of a windows partition, not grub.

Grub’s job in booting windows is to substitute for the process normally carried out on a windows-based system after the Master Boot Code is loaded from the MBR and is executed.

manuelkuhs · 10-05-2005, 05:13 PM

Ok, thanks for the help, I got it sorted!