Boot Loader needed for Windows x64 / RHEL 4 WS/ S-ATA Hard Disk
 

HELP!

I currently have two computers, both of which have a dual-boot scenario with RHEL 4 WS:

1st computer:
Dual Opteron 250 peocessors - 120Gb SATA Hard drive (Single drive, non-RAID) - 4Gb PC3200 REG ECC DDR-RAM, partitioned as follows:

75Gb hda1 - WNNT - Windows x64 installation
2Gb hda2 - Swap partition
Remainder of the drive is Ext3 (hda3) - RHEL 4 WS x64

All three partitions set to forced primary.
My Linux installation (with bootloader) was working flawlessly before I installed Windows XP 64.

2nd computer (for school use):
P-III 500Mhz LapTop 256 Mb PC-100 SD-RAM 40Gb Hard drive, partitioned as follows:

8Gb hda1 - FAT32 - Windows ME
256Mb hda2 - Linux Swap
Remainder of the drive is Ext3 (hda3) - RHEL 4 WS x86

All three partitions set to forced primary.
My Linux installation (with bootloader) was working flawlessly with both OS prior to reinstalling Windows ME.

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The following info applies to both systems:

I have attempted multiple times to use rescue/update/ etc in an attempt to reinstall the bootloaders. During the installation/update process, I get a prompt that no boot-loader exists. After configuring the new bootloader, it goes through the motions, then at the end, it says "no new packages installed; bootloader has not been changed"

For my LapTop, this HD bootloader configuration previously worked flawlessly, however due to the fact that my WorkStation is WNNT formatted, I may need to use a floppy, which is probably safer anyway (if a bit slower) since I can always recopy the disk image if the disk wears out, or use it as a backup if the HD bootloader gets corrupted.

For my Workstation, I MUST have a disk with the drivers nessesary to load a S-ATA hard drive; however for my LapTop, that is not an issue.

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Thanks, and preferably I need to use some type windows-based app to create the disk, since I cannot currently run Linux without a loader.

You have not indicated which bootloader you are using (OK I'm ignorant, and not sure which bootloader RHEL4 uses by default).

It sounds like what has happened is that your win installs have overwritten your mbr (and wiped out your stage1 bootloader!).
For lilo, you need to issue something like:
#lilo -M
For grub, the equivalent could be
#grub-install /dev/hda

By the way, it was grub.

And how/where do I excecute the comand:

#grub-install /dev/hda

Should I use the Red Hat installer disk and input it at the parameter command line???

I also have an old Knoppix boot CD laying around (it's at home and I'm at school, by the way), would there be some type of options in that perhaps?

Please forgive me for being a :newbie:

grub-install needs to be executed in a terminal
'#' indicates you need to be root to execute it

You should be able to boot your installer disk into rescue mode,
login as root, and execute grub-install.

I have tried rescue mode, and it just pulls up and stops at a little prompt, and I don't know any of the commands to use except "exit" which shuts down the computer.

I have some working knowledge of dos, but none of linux code.

I've got to get some sleep for class tommoro morning; can't do anything right now.

instead of typing 'exit'
try 'grub-install /dev/hda' !!!