Arch Linux

Noxic

Member

Registered: 2010-04-26

Posts: 18

[SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I'm not sure at all where to post this, so I've decided to do it here since I have the problem on a laptop... Please move if it should be somewhere else.

I installed Arch Linux on my new laptop a month ago or so, and am very pleased to have found the very kind of distro I've been looking for. However, I'm having trouble with my graphics (either wine doesn't support it, or the drivers don't have 2D/3D acceleration), and now I want to install Windows XP next to Arch Linux.

Using a GParted LiveCD, I've repartitioned the harddrive as such: Unpartitioned Space (27GB), Linux (197GB), SWAP (5GB).

I've also removed the bootable flag from the Linux partition, just to be sure. However, when I try to install Windows XP, it gets stuck after unpacking a bunch of drivers, giving me a bluescreen that tells me to make sure the hardware isn't broken, check my harddrive with CHKDSK /F, or look for viruses. Ofcourse I know none of these are true, since I'm running Arch Linux just fine.

A friend suggested that maybe my hardware isn't supported by Windows XP, which sounds like the most reasonable explanation so far, but I can't find a list of supported hardware. The M$ homepage basicly says
"Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)"
for CPU, which doesn't help me at all.

My hardware is:
Processor: Intel Celeron 2.2 Ghz
Memory: 2GB DDR2
Graphics: Intel 4500MHD

And the laptop is called an "eMachines E525", though that doesn't say much since there are very, very many called this.

Can anyone give me any hints as to what I might be doing wrong?

Last edited by Noxic (2010-05-29 18:44:32)

hokasch

Member

Registered: 2007-09-23

Posts: 1,461

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

AHCI mode might be the problem, AFAIK Windows Xp needs extra drivers not present on the install CD. You can try switching to Sata in the Bios, but I don't know if this has consequences for your Arch install. Alternatively, Win7 is compatible with AHCI.

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I'd recommend already creating a NTFS partition with Gparted instead of leaving that space unpartitioned. As hokasch says, AHCI will be a problem if that's what you have. Though that wouldn't result in a blue screen, that would result in the installer simply telling you it can't find any disks.

Noxic

Member

Registered: 2010-04-26

Posts: 18

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I got it to work by switching from AHCI to IDE However it made the unpartitioned space into F: and the Linux partition into C:, so I'll partition the first part of the harddrive into NTFS so it becomes C:, and before installing I'll see if my current Arch Linux install has gotten problems with IDE instead of AHCI. If so, I'll most likely look into Windows 7.
Thanks for all the help!

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I just did an XP install on an AHCI machine (Asus Eee 1001P). Like you, I had to switch to IDE in the bios for the installation. But after Windows was installed I downloaded the ACHI drivers for the machine, unpacked them, went into the Device Manager, right clicked on "Standard IDE controller" (or something like that), chose "Update driver" then used the advanced option where it asks you for the folder the driver is in. I did so, and pointed to the folder of the unpacked driver. There was a complaint that the driver might be incompatible, but it installed anyway. Then upon reboot I went into the bios where I switched the disk setting back to AHCI and what do you know, Windows works. In AHCI mode.

Noxic

Member

Registered: 2010-04-26

Posts: 18

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

Sounds like something I'll want to do. Where did you download the drivers? Do I have to follow some guide? Thanks for the tip

EDIT:
Indeed I will want to install AHCI drivers, otherwise Arch Linux fails to boot quite badly. There is also a problem preventing me from booting when I'm using AHCI though;
At boot, Arch Linux checks /dev/sda1 (NTFS) for errors, and expects to check an ext2 filesystem. Obviously, however, /dev/sda1 is an NTFS filesystem.
Since it tries to read the NTFS partition as an ext2 filesystem, it panics. Arch Linux then prompts me for the root password (or Ctrl+D to reboot), but I've disabled root login and can therefore do nothing at this point.

I have a GParted livecd and the Arch Linux livecd, so editing files on any of the filesystem isn't a problem at all, but I don't know what to do at this point. Help?

Last edited by Noxic (2010-05-29 12:40:33)

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

I got the drivers from support.asus.com but that obviously won't work if your machine is not from asus. If it's indeed not asus, try this: Download IATA89CD.exe, run it as 'IATA89CD.exe -a -a' which will only unpack the stuff, not install it. Now, when you do Upgrade Driver in the Device Manager, point it at 'C:\Program Files\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\winall\Driver' - that's where it got unpacked into.

As for your Arch trouble, the first place I'd look is in /etc/fstab and check the entry for /dev/sda1

Noxic

Member

Registered: 2010-04-26

Posts: 18

Re: [SOLVED] Installing Windows XP after Arch Linux

Thank you very much I was a bit worried at first because instantly when I installed the AHCI drivers I got a short bluescreen and then an instant reboot, but after changing to AHCI in BIOS everything went perfectly. I then took a look at /etc/fstab, and it turned out I had forgot to switch the root mount from sda1 to sda2 after the repartitioning.

All of my problems are now solved and I'm running Windows XP alongside Arch Linux as smoothly as it gets. I'll change the name of the thread to solved, and once again thank you