problem with backtrack

raffigee · 03-05-2006, 06:51 PM

Here's my problem:

my laptop already has windows xp installed.

I created a new primary ext2 partition using partition magic.

i installed backtrack and works fine.

but the problem is that i can't choose to boot from windows anymore.

the only way i can acces windows is to insert a win98 cd rom and rewrite the Mbr (fdisk /mbr)

how can i make it so i get the option of choosing

i'd love to be able to have 2 OS on my comp.

thanks for any help

raffigee · 03-05-2006, 07:11 PM

i have been reading that for a multiboot Linux/Windows, (say windows is installed first). When installing Linux it's supposed to ask you either you want to install Lilo or grub but backtrack (installatioin from live-cd) doesn't ask me nothing.

Does this mean there is no way of installing Backtrack and windows for multiboot ?????

gilead · 03-05-2006, 07:39 PM

I haven't used backtrack, but if it's installed to your hard disk you should be able to install either lilo or grub manually. There's a lilo howto at http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LILO.html and grub info at http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/ which may be helpful.

raffigee · 03-05-2006, 08:57 PM

i downloaded grub 2 to my usb pen stick but have no clus at all on how to install it.

p.s. this will be my very 1st installation in Linux environnement.

MS3FGX · 03-06-2006, 12:45 AM

If the machine just boots into Back|Track after you install it, all you need to do is edit the lilo.conf file to enable booting to Windows.

Get back to the point where the system boots directly into Back|Track, and then post the /etc/lilo.conf file here so we can tell you what needs to be changed.

raffigee · 03-06-2006, 12:33 PM

ok so here's what's in lilo.conf:

boot=/dev/hda
prompt
timeout=20
bitmap=/boot/splash.bmp
change-rules
reset
vga=normal
image=/boot/vmlinuz
root=current
label=slax
read-write

gilead · 03-06-2006, 12:52 PM

If your Windows install is on /dev/hda1 the following should work. You'll need to re-run the lilo command after changing /etc/lilo.conf

Code:

other = /dev/hda1
  label = windows
  table = /dev/hda

raffigee · 03-06-2006, 01:07 PM

if i understand correctly, I have to edit this lilo.conf file everytime i want to switch from one OS to another ??

gilead · 03-06-2006, 01:16 PM

No, what this does is add another item to the lilo menu. When you boot the PC, you be able to select which OS to start into. You can select the OS to boot by moving up and down through the menu withthe arrow keys, or by typing the label text (e.g. windows) and pressing enter.

raffigee · 03-06-2006, 01:18 PM

ok cool thank you very much. I will try this tonight.

raffigee · 03-07-2006, 09:16 AM

ok tried what you suggested but system still boots directly in Linux.

Here's my lilo.conf file:

boot=/dev/hda
prompt
timeout=20
bitmap=/boot/splash.bmp
change-rules
reset
vga=normal
image=/boot/vmlinuz
root=current
label=slax
read-write
other=/dev/hda2
label=windows
table=/dev/hda

where's my mistake ??

gilead · 03-07-2006, 01:09 PM

So you don't even get a menu for the 2 second timeout period you've set (20 tenths of a second)? Did you re-run the lilo command after modifying /etc/lilo.conf so the boot record could be updated?

Here's what I thought your /etc/lilo.conf file would look like (you might need to modify the root entry). I've also changed the mount mode to read-only so that any file system checks can be run. Usually the boot process changes this to read-write, I'm assuming that backtrack will also:

Code:

boot = /dev/hda
prompt
timeout = 20
bitmap = /boot/splash.bmp
#change-rules         <= This is for changing partition-type numbers
#reset                <= This goes with the change-rules command
vga = normal
image = /boot/vmlinuz
  root = /dev/hda9    <= Change this to your root partition
  label = slax
  read-only
other = /dev/hda2
  label = windows
  table = /dev/hda

raffigee · 03-07-2006, 02:43 PM

no i did not run the lilo command. All i did is edit the éetcélilo.conf and saved the file. P.s. what is the command to run the lilo command ?

Also i don't get the part where you say hda9 ?? I already had windows installed on the system so shouldn't it be
windows hda1 and linux hda2 ??

i thought it would be more simple than this. Maybe i just have to run the lilo command for it to work. I'll try to find out what the command is and i'll try it again tonight.

gilead · 03-07-2006, 04:05 PM

Try running lilo as root and see if that works. The suggested changes are only for the case where it doesn't work (if it ain't broke...

). What I was saying in the suggested config was that using root = current might be a cause of problems if your version of lilo wasn't using it properly.

raffigee · 03-08-2006, 07:58 AM

I ran lilo and still didn't work.

Then I changed only the word current to hda2 (linux) and left hda1 (windows) and ran lilo as root.

Got an error message: "Number not valid: hda2"

So the problem is with the word current. Why doesn't accept the word hda2 ??

thanks for your help btw i making some progress at least