i am having windows xp prof and 2k server installed on an 80 gb hdd. 5 gb for 2k server and 10 gb for xp prof. i hav formatted these and all other hdd space with fat 32.

now i install rh9 with evrything option. i install the boot loader on the boot parttion n after the installation id finished tried to create a boot disk so that i can boot in linux thro floppy.

but the installation gives me error msg thatsays "the size of the kernel modules needed for ur machine make it impossible to create a boot disk that will fit on a floppy diskette"

then i made a boot disk from other PC which has rh9. but the boot disk gave me boot failde eror and that floppy on other pc is working fine.

my configuration is p4 2.4gigs, 80gb hdd, 512 mb ddr, intel 865gbf.
my partitions are
10gb xp prof fat32
5gb 2k server fat 32
10 gb rh9 ext3
20 gb empty fat 32
20 gb empty fat 32
12 gb empty fat 32

can u pls tell me a solution to this?

I've never boot from floppy disk but I guess what it means is the driver modules for your hardware is too big (bigger than 1.4MB) therefore it can not be fitted in 1 floppy disk. The reason why the boot disk worked find in another computer and not your computer is because the hardware of 2 computer are different. All of this are just guess.

I wonder why do you need to boot from floppy when you have already installed the boot loader to your boot partition, why not make the boot partition active & boot directly from the boot partition??

Also it looks like you doesn't have a swap partition for rh9?? I would recommend 1 double the size of your RAM.

The size of your kernel (it is a bzImage, I hope) is too big. The best thing to do would be to rebuild the kernel with as many modules as possible (modules are loaded only when needed). This will reduce the size of the kernel, at least enough to fit into a floppy. Alternatively, you can use your RH9 disk to boot.

hi hieudt,
i want to boot xp, 2k server n rh 9 on the same pc. if i'd hav loaded grub on mbr then it'd have wiped out my ntloader which is used by windows. thats why i have installed grub on boot partition n by booting in linux thro' floppy i wanted to create a linux kernel image n directed ntloader to boot thro that image.

for more info follow this link,

http://www.geocities.com/epark/linux...w2k-HOWTO.html

n i have created a swap partition. i dont think linux installation goes ahead without having a swap partition.

cincindie
how do u go into previously installed rh9 thro' rh9 disc?
n how do i compile kernel with reqd modules if i am not able to boot into it?

zatka,

I'm sorry. I misunderstood. I was under the impression that you wanted to create a boot disk. In your case, that is not required. For the most part, you needn't compile the kernel either. All you need to do is copy your linux bootsector into Windows, and reference the file in the boot.ini file in Windows. In that case, the file that you create should not be more than 512 bytes in size. Also, you won't need a floppy to boot. The Windows bootloader should give you the option of booting into either XP, Win2k or Linux (as long as they are referenced properly in the boot.ini file).

Boot from the RH9 disk, choose rescue mode, mount your linux partition (under /mnt/sysimage, I think - it'll tell you the location). Then, do the dd command (in the link you provided): dd if=/dev/xxxx of=/mnt/sysimage/somename bs=512 count=1 (xxxx is the partition for your system). A file called somename (you can choose any name you wish) will be created that should be less than 512 bytes in size (will easily fit into a floppy). Copy the file to your C:\ drive in Windows. The rest of the steps are in the link you provided.

If this doesn't work, there are other options (more later - if you cannot get the above option to work): you can create a boot CD. Look at http://ldp.arnts.org/HOWTO/Diskless-...-HOWTO-5.html. Or, as I mentioned before, you can recompile the kernel with more modules (mount linux under /mnt/sysimage as before, compile the kernel, add to lilo or grub as before, also make boot disk with the new kernel).

Good luck!

thanks cincindie....:-)

i will surely try these steps n let u know.

I have never dual-booted Linux & Windows before so I don't know that rh9 will delete ntloader of Windows. However, you could try reinstalling everything but install rh9 first and then windows, after that add an entry to load windows into your grub or lilo configuration file, it could help.

The latter is possible (adding Windows to grub or lilo), but Windows has to be installed first.

would you please explain dd command for me? i don't understand the opption
thx

Way 2 go Mr. Cincindie. u r my man at the hour.
thanks a zillion dude.........it worked n cheers for that.

kevingong:
dd if=/dev/hda5 of=/mnt/c/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
now what this command will do is, it will copy the first 512 bytes of the boot partition (/dev/hda5) into a file named bootsect.lnx on folder named c which is mounted in /mnt.
i guess if stands for input file and of stands for output file.

u can always do 'man dd' for getting more help.

would you please explain the dd command for me? i don't under the options
thx

thx get it now