Hello,

I have the following disk configuration (on 40GB disk):

type pri/log active size
------------------------------------
NTFS pri + 21GB
Linux Ext2 pri 9GB
Linux Swap log 1GB
FAT32 log 8.2GB

In that order. On NTFS partition I have working Win XP system. On Linux Ext2
partition I installed Mandrake 9.2 and I put lilo on /dev/hda3, which is that
Linux Ext2. What I planned to do was to change the boot sequence in BIOS, start
Mandrake and then do the "dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=512 count=1 of=linux_boot_sector"
thing and paste the result of that command into boot.ini in my C:\ on Win XP.
But forgot that I can only change disks, not partitions (I mixed "active
partition" with "boot sequence"... :-\ well I am a newbie, after all :-) ).

Now, is there a way to get of this situation? What I could do is change the
active parititon from Win XP with PartitionMagic to Linux Ext2 partition, boot
Linux, do the "dd" command and then change the active parititon from Linux.
That would work, right? It's just my wild quess, and we saw what the result of
my last wild quess was :-) OK, if that works, can somebody give me precise
instructions how to change active partition in Mandrake 9.2? If that doesn't
work, is there any way to boot that Linux?

Now, before you answer me "why all the trouble, just reinstall Linux and put
lilo in hda0", I have to say that's the thing I'm trying not to do :-) I want
to be able to just format the Linux partitions and delete one line from my
boot.ini if I wan't to remove Linux from the machine. If I permit lilo to nest
in hda0, then how to I remove it from there? I reckon it's more trouble to
remove the lilo from MBR when I want to remove Linux than to put lilo on hda3
and then use Windows multiboot menu.

End, if everything fails, how can I accomplish... the thing I wan't to
accomplish? :-) The last resort I have is to install Linux on separate disk and
then I can play with boot sequences from BIOS...

--
Pozdrav/Regards, Nikola [Nick] Skoric.
"...Usne, tice-rugalice - a u oku tajac
Da sam kaput sa dva lica, da sam Gospo'n Propalica..."
http://newusers.cjb.net/ - site o Usenetu na hrvatskom!

Nikola Skoric <nick-news@net4u.hr>,
In a message on Sun, 1 Feb 2004 15:28:22 +0000 (UTC), wrote :

NS> Hello,
NS>
NS> I have the following disk configuration (on 40GB disk):
NS>
NS> type pri/log active size
NS> ------------------------------------
NS> NTFS pri + 21GB
NS> Linux Ext2 pri 9GB
NS> Linux Swap log 1GB
NS> FAT32 log 8.2GB
NS>
NS> In that order. On NTFS partition I have working Win XP system. On Linux Ext2
NS> partition I installed Mandrake 9.2 and I put lilo on /dev/hda3, which is that
NS> Linux Ext2. What I planned to do was to change the boot sequence in BIOS, start
NS> Mandrake and then do the "dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=512 count=1 of=linux_boot_sector"
NS> thing and paste the result of that command into boot.ini in my C:\ on Win XP.
NS> But forgot that I can only change disks, not partitions (I mixed "active
NS> partition" with "boot sequence"... :-\ well I am a newbie, after all :-) ).
NS>
NS> Now, is there a way to get of this situation? What I could do is change the
NS> active parititon from Win XP with PartitionMagic to Linux Ext2 partition, boot
NS> Linux, do the "dd" command and then change the active parititon from Linux.
NS> That would work, right? It's just my wild quess, and we saw what the result of
NS> my last wild quess was :-) OK, if that works, can somebody give me precise
NS> instructions how to change active partition in Mandrake 9.2? If that doesn't
NS> work, is there any way to boot that Linux?

If you just want to boot up linux, grab the LILO boot record from the
boot sector of your Linux partition, you can just boot from a boot
floppy or from your install CD (for RedHat install CDs it is usually
'linux rescue' at the CD's boot prompt). Then you just need to mount
your FAT32 file system (if it is not already mounted) and do "dd
if=/dev/hda3 bs=512 count=1 of=/mount_point_of_fat32/linux.dat", then
shutdown, boot into WinXP, and add a line to C:\boot.ini that refers to
"D:\linux.dat" as an alternative boot loader.

You don't really need to fuss with your BIOS's boot sequence at all.

Note: this assumes that you have a floppy or CD-ROM drive that you can
boot from. I'm assuming one or the other, since you did manage to boot
the Linux installer somehow...

NS>
NS> Now, before you answer me "why all the trouble, just reinstall Linux and put
NS> lilo in hda0", I have to say that's the thing I'm trying not to do :-) I want
NS> to be able to just format the Linux partitions and delete one line from my
NS> boot.ini if I wan't to remove Linux from the machine. If I permit lilo to nest
NS> in hda0, then how to I remove it from there? I reckon it's more trouble to
NS> remove the lilo from MBR when I want to remove Linux than to put lilo on hda3
NS> and then use Windows multiboot menu.
NS>
NS> End, if everything fails, how can I accomplish... the thing I wan't to
NS> accomplish? :-) The last resort I have is to install Linux on separate disk and
NS> then I can play with boot sequences from BIOS...
NS>
NS> --
NS> Pozdrav/Regards, Nikola [Nick] Skoric.
NS> "...Usne, tice-rugalice - a u oku tajac
NS> Da sam kaput sa dva lica, da sam Gospo'n Propalica..."
NS> http://newusers.cjb.net/ - site o Usenetu na hrvatskom!
NS>

\/
Robert Heller ||InterNet: heller@cs.umass.edu
http://vis-www.cs.umass.edu/~heller || heller@deepsoft.com
http://www.deepsoft.com /\FidoNet: 1:321/153

You could activate the 3rd partition with:

lilo -A /dev/hda 3

But you should include the ability to boot WinXP in the lilo.conf file:

other=/dev/hda1
label = WinXP

With the above included in the lilo,conf file, you might consider installing
the LILO boot record on /dev/hda, so you don't have to worry about which
partition is active.

If you change /etc/lilo.conf, don't forget to re-run /sbin/lilo so that the
changes take effect.

--John



On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 15:28:22 +0000 (UTC), Nikola Skoric <nick-news@net4u.hr>
wrote: