Linux/XP Dual Boot Problem

Ricio · 10-16-2008, 03:18 PM

I have installed rocks cluster linux on one pc and transfer an image of winxp to the same pc on the second partition... I have configured grub to boot both of them... but when I try to start from win xp, it stays at chainloader +1 and then nothing...

what could be wrong?? how could I fix this?

Larry Webb · 10-16-2008, 04:24 PM

Windows wants to be on the first primary partition. It seems to work better if you put Windows first on the first primary partition and then linux on a logical partition.

Ricio · 10-16-2008, 04:36 PM

I know but I have to since when installing rocks cluster it forces / on first partition, deleting windows... so what I do, is move windows with gparted to the second partition, then make the image, and then transfer it... it has worked before, on another computer, but when I do it in another, win xp just stays blank...

Larry Webb · 10-16-2008, 05:12 PM

I did not say it could not be done, you have to hide the first partition and make windows think it is the first. I am not sure if it will work with grub in the first partition but here is a tutorial on dual booting by chainloading. It has a lot more than you need but explains hiding partitions.

http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147959

jay73 · 10-16-2008, 05:20 PM

If the original was installed on a computer that has a different chipset, you may need to run recovery from the xp install cd. It seems unlikely that XP would have trouble booting from second or even third primary. Just for certainty's sake, could you pust the output of fdisk -l and (the relevant parts of) your grub menu.lst?

CJS · 10-16-2008, 05:40 PM

I've helped others in another forum who have easily installed and booted Windows from any primary partition, not just the first one.

In fact, it is even possible to boot Windows from a logical partition with a little bit of work. But if you move Windows from one primary partition to another one, in the least you will have to change the C:\boot.ini file so that it specifies the correct Windows partition; that may be all you need to do. Your boot.ini file should look similar to:

Code:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

So "partition(2)" would mean windows is on hda2/sda2, but only if sda1 is not labeled as an extended partition; Windows only counts primary partitions and logical partitions, not the extended partition "container". Let me know if your boot.ini file is correct, and we can work from there if you want.