LinuxQuestions.org - grub problem in dual boot

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grub problem in dual boot

Hello everyone

I have found others posts for dual booting so i am posting mine as well.

I recently changed my seagate (40Gb) hard disk from a Compaq Presario 5410US machine to a
Dell Optiplex Gx1 machine as the former's motherboard is malfunctioning. The hard disk contains
windows Xp and Redhat9 installed on it. I was not having any problems with the dual boot on Compaq box.
But after migration, I am not able to boot into Windows XP.

It displays the familiar message and starts blinking after that.

rootnoverify
chainloader +1

I observe that my GRUB is not able to find the Windows boot.ini file. After seeing some forums, i tried some options but none worked.

1. Used the windows Xp boot disks to copy the ntldr and ntdetect.com. Fixboot did not activate the boot on windows.
2. Recreated the partition table from linux rescue but to no gain.
3. Tried to change the boot.ini from linux mount, but it did not allow me to write into the file.
4. Got a succesful acknowledgement when i gave grub-install --recheck /dev/hda. Problem persists.

The following are my system configuration:
Dell Optiplex GX1 Pentium III,
Ram -256MB SDRam, Hard disk 40Gb.

Can you help me in accessing my windows Xp again?

Thanks
kkishor3

I have two suggestions:

1) try booting from an dos fat32 boot disk and type 'fdisk /mbr' - this almost always works in my experience.

2) NT,2000 & XP always fail to boot if it cannot find the original hard disk controller that it was installed on. usually it just blue screens and moans. this normally occurs if the mainboard is different.

I have had the same problem when changing the motherboard in Win 2000 and XP.I tried a number of things also,but none worked. You may find a re-install is the only solution.

I'm not sure if I can help you but ...
Please post the results of these useful commands (as root):
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
fdisk -l

AFAIK , there is a command which fixes MBR but you need to boot with a bootable disc of windows XP and then come to repair option and then at command prompt type -> FIXMBR .

But before the prompt it will ask you for the real Administrator password .This password had been set by you during installing Windows.

I think this will solve your problem..

Hello
I booted using the FAT32 boot disk and it gave me that it cannot find any FAT 32 file system in the hard disk. It listed that a thrid party partition tool has made partitions due to which it is not able to recognise the partitions. It didnt ignite the XP boot process after that. Are there any steps i have to follow?

It is true that i used a partition tool. I was initially using GRUB as the bootloader to get into WIN Xp & Redhat9. Later to make additional partitions i used Partition Magic to make a partition in Windows. But the GRUB was working fine after that.

Is there any way that i can use another boot loader and recognise the two OSs?

Another option:
Used Xp boot disks to enter into the recovery console. Gave FIXMBR, it gave a message that it fixed the MBR but the cursor blinks after reboot.

Is there any way I can fix the boot?

Thanks

Hi,

This is a link where you can troubleshoot your problem a little further:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=403311

It's a dualboot problem just like yours, only thing is that it's windowsxp/suse. That wont make a whole lot of difference. The problem ends up [solved]

sincerely, Jørgen

hello,

I thank each one of you for addressing my problem. I tried all the suggestions but wasnt lucky enough to get it working.

1. Used Fixmbr and Fdisk /mbr but the cursor blinks after restart.
2. Edited grub.conf, menu.lst and even the partition table but was left with not much sucess.

My menu.lst

Quote:

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You do not have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
# root (hd0,2)
# kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda3
# initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=1
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,2)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Linux (2.4.20-8bigmem)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-8bigmem ro root=LABEL=LINUX hdd=ide-scsi
initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.20-8bigmem.img
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Output for Fdisk -l

Quote:

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 3273 26286088+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 3273 3336 506520 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 3336 4865 12285000 83 Linux
/dev/hda5 3273 3336 506488+ 82 Linux swap

/etc/fstab file

Quote:

LABEL=LINUX / ext3 defaults 1 1
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom1 /mnt/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0

device.map file

Quote:

(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda

Do suggest if any idea strikes you!!

I tried to reinstall the grub bootloader but i am missing disc 2 of redhat9. Can you suggest any location where i can get an download of an iso image?

Is there any way of editing the boot.ini either from DOS or linux?

thanks

How about booting with your XP CD, do a repair installation and then boot with RedHat disc 1, type 'linux rescue' and then 'chroot /mnt/sysimage' and issue 'grub-install /dev/hda1'.

I still think that your problem is caused by the hardware change.

Another suggestion is to use a LiveCD with ntfs kernel support (e.g. knoppix) and try browsing your C: drive to make sure that it's still readable.

If you just want to re-install Grub, just boot to RH9 and type 'grub' to enter the interactive program and the type 'setup (hd0,0)'. There should be no need to reinstall the program from the CD's.

But as I said, personally, I think it's an XP issue.

Hello Dudyoo
Can you be more specific with the windows repair installation. Do you want me to use any specific commands to change the boot?

thanks

My menu.lst has the makeactive at the end (and i don't know if that is significant)
(try adding this to your menu.lst):

Code:

title Windows XP nr2

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

chainloader +1

makeactive

This is the Post #12 and something should be said along this line

Some if not all OEM versions of XP cannot be migrated from amchine to machine

It has nothing to do with the boot loader Grub.

Restoring Windows MBR will not help. As a rule the XP should be re-installed if it is permitted to do so as some OEM versions of XP are supposed to die with the machine. A careful preparation may be able to effect a partial reinstallation saving most of the existing data but a re-activation is always necessary from a legal copy of XP.

I got a feeling a XP sold with a Compaq PC could be one of the most restricted vesrions around.

yups, i agree with saikee. I missed that you migrated from another machine ...

Hello
I installed windows from a Windows XP CD that is not associated with Compaq PC. Is there a way that i can reinstall Windows Xp without formatting the drive? I meant reinstalling the boot without changing the applications.

Fixboot and fixmbr did not help as these result in a blinking cursor.

Is there any way out?

thanks

If you boot with the XP CD and start the installation, you can do a new install of XP on the C: drive as long as you answer no when it asks if you want to format the drive. This way a fresh install of XP will be made, and all your existing data/files will still be there, but you will have to reinstall any applications and hardware drivers.

I also agree with 'saikee'. I did state this in post #2 in an around sort of way :)