dual boot install
 

Hi Folks,

Just got Redhat 9 and tried unsuccessfully to set up a dual boot system (win2Kpro) on a single drive. The next thing I tried was to install on two separate drives.

I have two issues. I'm using, or hoping to use Bootmagic. When I choose Redhat it goes nowhere. I'm assuming this has something to do with Grub. Do I need to reinstall in a particular way, or am I able to overcome this challenge in a different manner?

My second problem has to do with the follow message when I boot Redhat directly from the drive its on:

activating swap partition: swapon: /dev/hda3: invalid argument Failed

I get to the desktop but have trouble launching some applications. Would a failure like this cause that kind of problem?

I look forward to your response.

Thanks!

Just got Redhat 9 and tried unsuccessfully to set up a dual boot system (win2Kpro) on a single drive. The next thing I tried was to install on two separate drives.

What were the errors? Did these installs leave any pieces around, or you removed them?

I have two issues. I'm using, or hoping to use Bootmagic. When I choose Redhat it goes nowhere. I'm assuming this has something to do with Grub.

Well, Grub is a bootloader, BootMagic either, as you say. If you're gonna use Bootmagic, I guess it is safe to remove grub. But if I were you, I would stick to grub.

Do I need to reinstall in a particular way, or am I able to overcome this challenge in a different manner?

Can't Bootmagic boot the systems alone?

My second problem has to do with the follow message when I boot Redhat directly from the drive its on:

activating swap partition: swapon: /dev/hda3: invalid argument Failed

I get to the desktop but have trouble launching some applications. Would a failure like this cause that kind of problem?

Did you check to see if this is really your swap partition?
Causing problems depends on the amount of ram you have. Most distros I saw use to say that swap is necessary unless you have 512MB or more. Answering the question: Yes, it is possible.

Post again, if you wish.

I will assume you have two harddrives on the first one is win2k on the second RH9. If this is the case then your swap pasrtition is pointing to the wrong disk, unless you created a Linux swap partition on your first hard drive. you need to map it to your linux hard drive. check your swap location by

fdisk /dev/hdb
p (for print)

then look for the partition that says 'linux swap' record the location

/dev/hdb3 <--- most likely something like that

quit fdisk then edit your fstab file and change the device on the swap line

/dev/hda3 swap <-- change to
/dev/hdb3

Again all of this is an assumpttion since I don't know your exact config on your drives.

Mapping to the correct drive seems to have solved the swap partition failure on bootup and apps are launching properly.

Any thoughts on the BootMagic/Grub problem. When I boot my machine the default loader is BootMagic. When I choose RH9 the screen changes and a message says something like "loading red hat 9 ..." and then it stops. I am assuming that this is a conflict between BootMagic and Grub. I would prefer to stick with Bootmagic since the default drive is the Win2K drive. If I do so does that mean that I need to turn Grub off? How do I do that? Are there any issues with doing that? I look forward to your response.

Where did you install GRUB? make sure its installed onto the partition boot sector.