[SOLVED]Windows dual boot

Inxsible · 2008-12-23 18:54:17

Here's my fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x495d01ab

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        3060    24579418+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            3061        4365    10482412+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3            4366       16832   100141177+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4           16833       19457    21085312+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5           16833       18137    10482381   83  Linux
/dev/sda6           18138       18790     5245191   83  Linux
/dev/sda7           18791       19312     4192933+  83  Linux
/dev/sda8           19313       19326      112423+  83  Linux
/dev/sda9           19327       19457     1052226   82  Linux swap / Solaris

and here's my menu.lst

# Config file for GRUB - The GNU GRand Unified Bootloader
# /boot/grub/menu.lst

# DEVICE NAME CONVERSIONS 
#
#  Linux           Grub
# -------------------------
#  /dev/fd0        (fd0)
#  /dev/hda        (hd0)
#  /dev/hdb2       (hd1,1)
#  /dev/hda3       (hd0,2)
#

#  FRAMEBUFFER RESOLUTION SETTINGS
#     +-------------------------------------------------+
#          | 640x480    800x600    1024x768   1280x1024
#      ----+--------------------------------------------
#      256 | 0x301=769  0x303=771  0x305=773   0x307=775
#      32K | 0x310=784  0x313=787  0x316=790   0x319=793
#      64K | 0x311=785  0x314=788  0x317=791   0x31A=794
#      16M | 0x312=786  0x315=789  0x318=792   0x31B=795
#     +-------------------------------------------------+

# general configuration:
timeout   5
default   0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue

# boot sections follow
# each is implicitly numbered from 0 in the order of appearance below
#
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
#
#-*

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,7)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/e20fd940-03ae-48c4-a666-790e9be9e5d5 ro vga=792
initrd /kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,7)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/e20fd940-03ae-48c4-a666-790e9be9e5d5 ro vga=792
initrd /kernel26-fallback.img

# (2) Windows Vista
title Windows Vista
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Yet when I select Vista from the grub, all I get is an error saying that my windows boot manager needs to be fixed and I should put in my Windows CD etc....

I want the grub to be in the MBR...I just need to be able to access the Windows OS as well. Is there something wrong in my menu.lst file ?

Last edited by Inxsible (2009-02-13 07:33:36)

windtalker · 2008-12-23 19:25:56

Vista won't dual boot like xp will.
Vista has to be installed first with it's grub in the mbr.
Install Arch next and place the Arch grub in the root directory.
Trying to place Arch grub in the mbr and adding Vista to it will give you the results you now have.
Bill Gates at his finest hour.

Inxsible · 2008-12-23 19:44:10

windtalker wrote:

Vista won't dual boot like xp will.
Vista has to be installed first with it's grub in the mbr.
Install Arch next and place the Arch grub in the root directory.
Trying to place Arch grub in the mbr and adding Vista to it will give you the results you now have.
Bill Gates at his finest hour.

Vista was installed first and I installed Arch later and put the grub in the MBR because the same setup had worked previously on the same machine with Ubuntu.

Anyway....can I use a XP CD to repair the MBR now ? or will i need a damn Vista CD - which i dont have

windtalker · 2008-12-23 19:51:48

Vista x86 won't.

Any live cd should work.

moljac024 · 2008-12-24 12:34:54

Is this because of the outdated grub version we have in the repos ?

airman99 · 2008-12-24 14:15:54

Funny, I have an HP Laptop that dual-boots Vista and Arch x86_64. I don't seem to recall having a problem. I installed Vista first (system restore disk <yech!>), then used gparted to resize the Vista partition, then did a standard Arch install.

# cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
default 0
timeout 30
color light-gray/black light-gray/blue

title Arch Linux
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/fbece3b5-a239-4f40-91b6-d82986108e2d ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/fbece3b5-a239-4f40-91b6-d82986108e2d ro
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img

title Windows
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
makeactive

# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9c5a55bb

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6374    51199123+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2           18396       19457     8522752    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3            6375       18395    96558682+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5            6375        6501     1020096   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6            6502        9051    20482843+  83  Linux
/dev/sda7            9052       18395    75055648+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

I'd be happy to send you any parts of my laptop configuration that might help.

Last edited by airman99 (2008-12-24 14:19:52)

djseomun · 2008-12-24 22:36:07

I plan to dual boot Vista x64 and Arch 64, but this thread has left me a bit confused.

I understand that Vista must be installed before Arch. However, one user seems to be saying that you can't place GRUB into the MBR while another user says there's no problem with doing that.

Can we get a third opinion?

airman99 · 2008-12-25 00:12:57

I guess I could have been a bit more descriptive in my post above. I am running the following:

Hardware

HP Pavilion dv6000 Laptop
1.73 GHz Intel Centrino Duo Processor
2 GB RAM
160 GB Hard Disk

Operating Systems

Windows Vista 32-bit (64-bit CPU, but HP only included 32-bit Vista)
Arch 64-bit

Inxsible, what version of Vista did you install to begin with? Mine is the OEM version that comes with the laptop, not the retail version you can buy off the shelf.

Inxsible · 2008-12-25 03:52:50

moljac024 wrote:

Is this because of the outdated grub version we have in the repos ?

hmmm.....maybe I should get the latest grub then and try it out before I change anything else.

Inxsible · 2008-12-25 03:55:30

airman99 wrote:

I guess I could have been a bit more descriptive in my post above. I am running the following:
Hardware
HP Pavilion dv6000 Laptop
1.73 GHz Intel Centrino Duo Processor
2 GB RAM
160 GB Hard Disk
Operating Systems
Windows Vista 32-bit (64-bit CPU, but HP only included 32-bit Vista)
Arch 64-bit
Inxsible, what version of Vista did you install to begin with? Mine is the OEM version that comes with the laptop, not the retail version you can buy off the shelf.

airman99, I too have an HP laptop its a dv9000t. The Vista is the OEM one that came along with the laptop. I had previously installed Ubuntu on it and installed grub in the MBR and everything had worked like a charm.

So I did the same with Arch -- tht is install grub in the MBR ....but now I have the described issue.

Inxsible · 2008-12-25 03:58:42

airman99...

I just noticed one difference between your menu.lst and mine.

I have rootnoverify (hd0,0) whereas you only have root (hd0,0)

let me use the exact thing that you have for windows and see if that works. I know I am reaching....but I am willing to try anything before putting in the damn Windows CD to fixmbr

Will report back..... NO LUCK !!

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-12-25 04:43:59)

airman99 · 2008-12-25 14:25:50

I installed from one of this year's Arch CDs, 2008.something. Here's my grub version:

# pacman -Q|grep grub
grub 0.97-14
kdemod-kgrubeditor 0.8.5-1
#

Your problem is very bizarre, especially since, with nearly the same laptop, I encountered no problems whatsoever and didn't deviate from a standard install procedure except to resize the stupid Windows partition with gparted.

What does Google state that your error message exactly means?

Inxsible · 2008-12-25 18:07:43

airman99 wrote:

I installed from one of this year's Arch CDs, 2008.something. Here's my grub version:
# pacman -Q|grep grub
grub 0.97-14
kdemod-kgrubeditor 0.8.5-1
#
Your problem is very bizarre, especially since, with nearly the same laptop, I encountered no problems whatsoever and didn't deviate from a standard install procedure except to resize the stupid Windows partition with gparted.
What does Google state that your error message exactly means?

yeah..I have the same grub version.....and I selected /dev/sda (= MBR) as the place to install grub during the standard Arch installation process.

Inxsible · 2008-12-29 03:20:43

Ok I tried to fix MBR by putting in a XP CD.

I get a "Scanning your computer..." message for a fraction of a second and then the display goes gray...and just sits there for hours. I have tried this thrice already.

Will I need a Vista CD since the OS installed on the machine is a Vista Home Premium?

The message when I choose Windows from the grub menu is that the system could not find the "winload.exe" file or that the file could be corrupted. I went in to Arch and mounted the windows partition and found the winload.exe file under ..Windows/system32/winload.exe

So obviously the file is not missing...probably corrupted. Can I simply replace it from someone else's computer. Will that work?

I need to keep windows vista on this machine since this is my parents computer and they want the choice of using either windows or linux.

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-12-29 03:21:44)

Inxsible · 2008-12-29 05:23:37

Alright...

I checked the error message properly and the exact message is that it cannot find the "\Windows\system32\winload.exe" file

Now when I mounted the windows drive in arch, i saw that the file exists under \Windows\System32\winload.exe (Note the uppercase S in system32)

This is probably because Windows changed the case in Vista !!!!!!

Now I think I have 2 options:
1) Change the uppercase to lowercase, but then will Windows work?
2) Change the grub somehow so that it looks for an uppercase S, instead.

I would like to go for option 2 because you never really know with Windows. Can someone tell me how I would go about changing that?

Last edited by Inxsible (2008-12-29 05:24:21)

weasel8 · 2008-12-29 05:52:10

I suggest getting a Vista DVD from your hardware manufacturer, and trying that. Vista likes to throw a temper tantrums at the slightest modification by any OS other than itself, so an MS disc seems like the safest bet to me.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-12-23 18:54:17

[SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#2 2008-12-23 19:25:56

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#3 2008-12-23 19:44:10

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#4 2008-12-23 19:51:48

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#5 2008-12-24 12:34:54

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#6 2008-12-24 14:15:54

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#7 2008-12-24 22:36:07

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#8 2008-12-25 00:12:57

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#9 2008-12-25 03:52:50

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#10 2008-12-25 03:55:30

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#11 2008-12-25 03:58:42

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#12 2008-12-25 14:25:50

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#13 2008-12-25 18:07:43

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#14 2008-12-29 03:20:43

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#15 2008-12-29 05:23:37

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

#16 2008-12-29 05:52:10

Re: [SOLVED]Windows dual boot

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