major problem -- linux swapped partitions around, won't boot windows!

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 08:36 PM

The problem will be boot.ini, (not grub) if the partition numbers have changed. The "repair" probably aligned them in cylinder order - Suse devs need their arse kicked if that happened unprompted.
You should be able to see the boot.ini from Linux - post it and we can have a look.

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 08:50 PM

ok, im transferring the boot file over from the computer now. itll only be a moment.

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 08:57 PM

No, just C:/boot.ini - in Windoze it's a hidden file by default, but Linux won't care.
May be something like /media/hda2/boot.ini or /mnt/windows/boot.ini depending on how Suse does the mount.

<EDIT> - minor typos

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 09:00 PM

here it is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 09:11 PM

You need to change that partition reference to 2.
Depending on kernel level you can update the file in-place - but I wouldn't trust Suse.

Best bet is to get into XP recovery console (boot the XP CD and hit "r") and try the "bootcfg /rebuild". See this M$oft knowledgebase article for the recovery console commands.

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 09:14 PM

i was about to say, that should probably do it, but my problem is, i do not have a windows xp CD, only the useless recovery partition. it will not let me save boot.ini in linux due to the file system being ntfs, so i guess my problem would be fixxed, if we can figure out a way to edit these two simple numbers.

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 09:54 PM

You will probably have that partition mounted read-only - "cat /etc/mtab".
What kernel level are you ??? "uname -a"

As an aside, I suspect it doesn't need to be *your* XP CD - go find a mate and try his.

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 10:01 PM

i got a winPE (windows live cd) and im going to run it, and edit my boot.ini file through there. so what i should do is change each 1 to 2, annd it should run fine?

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 10:08 PM

Yep - can't see any reason why not.

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 10:14 PM

ok, im 60% done burning the cd now...check back in 15 minutes or so and i should have a reply as to if it went smoothly or not.

iamzim · 06-11-2006, 10:49 PM

ok...i edited boot.ini to say partition 2, and when i boot windows, it goes into the little "windows xp" screen with the loading bar, and after about 5-10 seconds, comes up with a blue screen saying "autochk not found, skipping autochk", then skips to a blue screen of death-looking thing, and at the top it has some sort of hex code error that just flashes very very quickly, and then restarts the computer. what now?

syg00 · 06-11-2006, 11:53 PM

Almost sounds like a hidden partition - try adding "unhide (hd0,1)" to the windows stanza in your grub config (make sure that partition specification is correct).

iamzim · 06-12-2006, 12:11 AM

well, i stuck a windows install cd in (an iso that i came across), and it happened to be in german, and it is asking for some file that i cannot navigate to because im not sure what it is, so im looking for another iso that happens to be in ENGLISH...yay. and it has formatted my c drive so i cant really do anything to it now. yup.