triple boot fedora xp 98
 

Hi, I'm installing a new 250 gig hd in my machine and figured to try out Fedora core 6. I was told once that if I wanted to run xp (and I would like to) I had to partition a certain way for it to work.

So figuring if 2 os is good 3 must be better right?

Anyway, I have the fedora installation screen up on my other machine, and was wondering how to set the partitions proper so I can do an xp pro and win 98, and be able to boot into any one I want. I will most likely use the xp pro the most, but don't know, I may like the linux also.

So anybody want to give a slug a hand?

Hey snailrider,
twas wee early in the am you were looking at install screens. How did it go. I see the problem basically as having to partition one area as ntfs, one as fat32 and leave one for fedora (which can take care of itself). Doesnt xp want to slurp up the whole hard drive if installed first? I used 'partition magic' after installing windows server 2003 to shrink the partition and give something back for Linux. Then I would create a fat32 partition for win 98. Fedora goes in last and will set up its own disk management in the 'free space.' During the fedora install I have a chance to mark the xp as the default to boot to. Seems a shame though. FC6 rocks for me, but I don't get much streaming media.

Hey snailrider,

I truly fancy this boot manager I have, I have 6 operating systems on a 30GB HDD, and a second 80GB HDD for data. The 30GB has 8 primary partitions with a /home and swap partition. At the moment, that computer has Windows XP Pro, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows ME, Windows 98, Mandrake 10.2, Debian Sarge. The Linux / partitions are all the same size and I have an Image of Red Hat 9, and Fedora 3 that were also installed once but there is not enough room for them, if I want, I can wipe a Linux partition and load one of those other two images in 25 minutes on a 850mghz pentium 3, boot it up and go.

On my larger newer computer with a 250GB sata drive, I have two copies of Windows XP (Pro & Media Center), one for casual use, one for testing as I download applications through shareware programs and test them first before installing in casual use copy (Media). I have Mandrake 10.2, and usually 2 copies of Fedora 6, again one for casual use, the other for trials. And a 100GB partition for data in fat32 accessible by all. With /home and swap, I still have free space.

To see how I use it and where to get it, read my post in this thread:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=519444

Just giving you another option to consider.

1st primary partion : Win98
2nd primary partion: Win XP
3rd primary partion : Fedora <-- Make this partion active after installing all OS

1st install win98 than winXP and in last install Fedora (do not install Fedora on MBR)

1st primary partion : Win98
2nd primary partion: Win XP
3rd primary partion : Fedora <-- Don't Make this partion active after installing all OS

1st install win98 then winXP and in last install Fedora (install Fedora on MBR)

Good Morning! I was pleasantly surprised to see responses to my post. In past episodes with other software on other boards, I would be lucky to get a reply after a week. Thanks!

Anyway, I heard in the past for dual boot windows 98/xp that the 98 had to go on first. When I set up a different machine of mine with xp, I just partitioned using the install process.

And then there are my macs. :)

But all this mbr etc is all foriegn language to me. I get the instal screen in fedora, and I am not sure what to click to make the correct formated partitions.

It looks as if I can set all partitions using the fedora core I recently downloaded. But making one acive, heck even properly labeling them is elusive to me.

I did a google search last night, I searched the forum, and still be so confused, or rather not sure, the proper way to go about this.

I need to go get some coffee and wake up a bit, then I will fire up the other machine and go at it in earnest.

I hear that linux is a wonderful OS and is stable and secure like my mac is. But I do need to have xp and 98 for testing and a few select applications. I had my mac set up for triple boot, and when I upgraded the os 9, it wiped the partions for some reason, so I just want to be careful at the start.

I will be back in a bit, see ya then.

So here is where I am at. I booted the computer and at prompt entered linux i686 and now at this window:
http://freehelpings.com/images/fedor...apartition.jpg

So for a tripple boot using fedora xp pro and 98, where should I start? at the mount point I have 8 choices.
/
/boot
/home
/temp
/usr
/var
/usr/local
/opt

And then there is the start/end cylinder what is that for?

So I think I want about 30 gig for xp pro 20gig for 98 I want a separate storage area that can be used for graphics, pictures, etc (flash, blender, corel etc).

So then I also need the partition for the fedora, and have no idea what a recoommended size should be?

When I am all done partitioning, how many partitions should I have, and what would that look like?

I am the only user, so that does keep it a little simple.

I am not sure how the boot process would display for the choice of OS, but whichever is easer to work from is what I want the first boot to be.

On my mac, all I had to do is hold a key at boot up and then I could select the drive, is this how the boot selection works on these machines?

Excuse me for being so uneducated on the pc, but I want to make the instal correct so as not to complicate life later.

I might be blowing smoke, but I just don't have enough to do today.
So are you trying to install FC first and then 2 windows oses?
I imagine the guys above say it right, install linux last. But I know that I tried to install win server 2003 first on a brand new 120 Gig drive and told it to take say 20 gigs, but when it was done, it had taken the whole drive! Good thing I had this program 'partition magic,' I was able to immediately shrink it down (the ntfs partition).
About 20% of your drive would finish somewhere around cylinder 7000 according to my paltry math skills. (total cylinders X .20) That could be your first cylinder, and the mount point in linux is simply '/' (the forward slash is like C: in windows).
Somewhere around 3500 cylinders later, you would have covered around 25 Gb, so you could have an end cylinder of 10500. You need to have but one more partition for sure and that has no name or mount point I believe, but it is a different type than say 'ext3', you select swap. 1.5 to 2 times the amount of RAM on your computer for the swap partition. After making those two partitions (1 Big 'ext3' and one 1.5 times the amount of RAM 'swap') FC should be able to install. But, I think you are going about it all wrong.
One thing I believe (and someone please me correct if I am wrong), basically, you can only have 4 partitions on a drive and two are going to Linux. That leaves you with one fat32 for win 98, and 1 ntfs for xp. (My hypothetical plan will leave you with more than half of your Gigs unused and unformatted).
This leads me to believe that 'junior hacker's boot manager must enable first, the dividing up of the hard drive into more than the usual number of partitions. Would be worth waiting to allow more time to think about what you are doing I think, as 250 Gb hard drive would be a horrible thing to fry.
Once you have Win 98 and Xp in their places, FC offers an automatic partitioning option that should work real nicely and you can go on to try the OS for yourself.
One last thought, I realized after a while that making another partition or two was a great thing, as I learned I could swap out the OS in its partition (to upgrade for instance), and merely mount the other partitions without formatting them during the new install, and voila, my old data was still there accessible to my newest Linux upgrade. (FC 7 coming in April!)

rdwinders

The only strong message you got across in your post is in the first sentence, "I might be blowing smoke"

http://bootitng.com/

Junior Hacker

O.K
Thanks for the input. I'm new to the whole Forum thing, and I write about the way I talk.

Hey RD, thanks for giving it a shot.

When I got this emac, I wanted to run suse, osx and os9. I had to take the drive out and put it in my old Imac to format the partitions. It would boot in os 9 and os x, but I never got around to installing suse.

Then I did an upgrade on my 9 to 9.2, and all my drives and boot got messed up. I can still run os 9 apps in osx but not boot into os 9.

That said, I would think that the same partition and installs could be done with the windows os and fedora.

I have also heard that it would be easier to just install the fedora and use a partition manager after the fact to install the windows os.

But alas, I am hard headed and I really want to partition, as I set out to, just because I am stubborn that way.

I have bought so much software in the past, I am tired of buying software that doesn't always perform as stated. Thus the draw to linux. I am setting up a website that focuses on just this principle, open source software, free ware and free help. (freehelpings).

So if I can't set up fedora, how can I help the next guy? I don't want to purchase a partition software. I think that this fedora is designed to work without any other software, although I may be wrong, or it just may be easier to do it the other way.

How can I recommend a software if I can't make work? And how can this open source software be better? I kindof feel it my duty to beat my head against the rocks, and get this sorted out.

I want to thank you for your try at explaining how it works. I hope that others may step in and elaborate on your take of partitioning a hard drive to work with all these os's using the fedora right as it was downloaded.

I really don't think I am the first person to want to dual boot a machine. And unfortunately, I cannot find a decent tutorial that covers this.

But as I sit and type, the fedora is still in that same screen as pictured. Shouldn't really be that hard to set it up, I just don't have a clear understanding of how the 98 xp and fedora play with eachother at boot time. And I also have not seen these options as they are different than partitioning a mac.

u have a new harddisk

now first put win98 bootable cd in cdrom
them run fdisk
u will find some options
enter 1 to create primary partition
enter the size in MB for win98 OS and press enter
your primary partition for win98 will be created
now again enter 1 to create another primary partion for winXP OS
now restart the computer and boot with win98 cd only
at command prompt type "format c:"
it will format your c drive
now again type "format d:"
it will create your d drive

now restart your system with fedora CD
after clicking next next next
u will see options like
automatically partition
manual partition

select manual partion
as u will enter u will find the screen same as u have posted
but u will find fat32 partion already there as we have created them using win98 cd
now select "new"
a window will appear, in that
select / in mount point
select ext3 in file system type
select the size in MB u want to have for / partition
click ok
than again select new
select swap in mount point ,and its size the file system type will get disabled
click ok
click next to continue

some where in between it will ask u to select the bootloader
in that window there is one advanced option
in that select a field "do not install on MBR"(MBR master boot record)
click next and first install fedora with minimal configuration

after your installation is complete
restart your computer with win98 cd
and make logical and extended partition as desired

now install win98 on c:
than install winXP on d:
now again install fedora

but now when u reach "manually partition disk"
select the ext3 partition of / it will probably be hda3(i think)
than select edit button and in that click to format the partion (just format)
same for swap partion

now again while selecting bootloader u can choose your default OS which will be started automatically at reboot (within some seconds bootloader automatically selects the default OS to boot from)
go to advance option and select not to install on MBR
click next to install all your application u want
after installation of fedora

again boot from win98 CD
type "fdisk" at command line
enter 2(i think) to change the active partition
select 3 (as your fedora is installed there in primary partion 3)
restart your system and u will find all your OS list at fedora bootloader page

u can boot from any OS by selecting them with arrow keys


why i asked u not to install fedora on MBR is because
if u have installed it there
than in future if u repaired or reinstalled your any of the windows OS your
linux boot info is lost as windows removes that info from MBR

once u reinstalled or repaired your windows in future
u have to again make your partition 3 as active

your disk info will look like this

hda1 vfat win98 primary partion1
hda2 vfat (or NTFS) winXP primary partion2
hda3 ext3 linux primary partition3
hda4 swap swapspace
hda-- your extended vfat partition


for securing your linux data
while partitioning linux partition
u can create a partition with mount point as /home for other user or /root for administrator
and file system type as ext3

this is required because if u want to upgrade or install new linux distribution
your saved data in /home or /root will be there safe

Hey snailrider,
varun_shrivastava has laid out a plan pretty much step by step. I just might save his plan for myself.
Will look for your report of success.

Thanks VS! I will give it a try a little later. I need to commit to it and probably will take a few hours to load everything.

This seems to be what is said for what to load first (win 98) And the boot selection screen sounds like what I am looking for.

It just seems odd that with the fedora instal screen I get the options to partition, and not really be able to set them active etc.

One other suggestion I got from another site was to get gpartedlive and partition with that. But I like what was mentioned above for install using what I have on hand.

I may try this other method with my old clunker machine, as I will have an extra 30 gig to play with.

Thanks, I will take pictures of the screen as I go for future reference

hi snailrider

did u got your partions right
and OS installed

Snailrider - Parted is a great, handy opensource tool, you can get it via the Knoppix livecd. It's a GUI partition management tool which can be used by booting from the livecd, negating any need for a hard disk with OSes already setup properly.

RDWinders - Partitions are not limited to 4. With the use of an extended partition, you can now have as many partitions as you want.

Varun - Instead of installing OSes repeatedly, you might want to consider just editing the bootloader config files. The difference in time required would be minutes (editing conf file) and hours (reinstalling the OSes). Also, it's always beneficial to learn how things work instead of reinstalling.

Dude stop kidding your self and back up all of your partitions and wipe your disks and deep six the Redmond devil and open your mind to the free soft ware world and Linux.

No, not yet, when I went to partition using 98, I only showed 40gigs, and so I set a primary partition to 20, but I never got a prompt to set a second partition. Now I don't know if this had anything to do with the initial attempt with the fedora core 6, but I am discouraged.

I was going to see if I could get that partition software, but it really seems foolish, as when I boot with fedora, it give options to partition many ways, so it would stand to reason that the fedora software is more than capable of setting partitions and then installing the other os in the same mentioned appropriate partions, with a boot sequence and boot partition that could be functional and practical.

Some mention as to the boot partition etc, not really clear on it, but logically makes sense. That is, if I were to have trouble with one OS, I would like them (os's) all stand alone so as not to have to reconfigure in case one craps out in the future.

Anyway, I won't be able to devote any significant time to the install until later.

I can easily get to that fedora screen (pic), and still haven't heard a logical reason as to why I cannot partition using that platform and attain reasonable the same desired partition results. Although now after setting one partition with 98, I am not sure what that will look like when I boot up again.

I'd say that your best bet is to aqyire your self a decent sized hardrive ie anthing from oh I'd say 120 to 500 gigabytes. An parttiotin it as you desire and in stall each of your desired opperating systems.

Here is my suggestion as to a minimu linux partioting scheeme.

the following scheeme is recomend for your situation only if you have a minimum of a 250gb harddrive.

40gb root patition

37.71 gig extended partiton all of which should be use as you /home partiton

8Gb swap partition