(Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

Socialsymbol · 2011-01-01 16:06:13

I have two hard drives, as follows:

/dev/sda (contains arch linux + grub)

/dev/sdb ((PRIMARY DRIVE IN BIOS)contains Windows 7)

Upon running fdisk -l, this is the layout I get for /dev/sdb:

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
224 heads, 19 sectors/track, 459004 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2552d1e3

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048  1953521663   976759808    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb4   *           0           0           0    0  Empty

My menu.lst file for Grub reads as follows:

# (2) Windows
title Windows 7
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

If I try to load Windows 7 from Grub, I am presented with the error "Bootmgr is missing, press CTRL ALT DEL to restart".

I'm rather timid to change settings right now as I had many more issues than I first anticipated with managing two hard drives, as opposed to one. For some reason, every time I installed Windows on /dev/sdb, it would interfere with Grub on /dev/sda, regardless of if I installed linux before or after installing Windows. I'm not sure how it ended up working, but as of right now I do have both Windows and Linux installed on their respective drives.

If anyone has any ideas as to what to do, I'd appreciate any help.

Last edited by Socialsymbol (2011-01-02 16:13:40)

.:B:. · 2011-01-01 16:32:51

Grub doesn't play well with HDs being swapped in your BIOS.

Socialsymbol · 2011-01-01 17:35:07

.:B:. wrote:

Grub doesn't play well with HDs being swapped in your BIOS.

Can you elaborate? Because I was confused about that as well. I currently have my Windows drive set to boot first (/dev/sdb), yet GRUB is installed on the other one (/dev/sda). If I have it the other way around, I get shot into the GRUB Rescue command line.

thisoldman · 2011-01-01 22:09:45

Arch and grub are on the first hard disk, hd0, and Windows7 is on the third disk, hd2, on this machine. 'makeactive' didn't work so it's commented out. The map statements are trading drive order for Windows to fool it into thinking it's on the first disk.

/boot/grub/menu.lst fragment

# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd2,0)
#makeactive
chainloader +1

Socialsymbol · 2011-01-02 02:54:33

thisoldman wrote:

Arch and grub are on the first hard disk, hd0, and Windows7 is on the third disk, hd2, on this machine. 'makeactive' didn't work so it's commented out. The map statements are trading drive order for Windows to fool it into thinking it's on the first disk.
/boot/grub/menu.lst fragment
# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd2,0)
#makeactive
chainloader +1

Thanks for posting, but I still get the bootmgr not found error

stryder · 2011-01-02 07:56:46

Socialsymbol wrote:

thisoldman wrote:
Arch and grub are on the first hard disk, hd0, and Windows7 is on the third disk, hd2, on this machine. 'makeactive' didn't work so it's commented out. The map statements are trading drive order for Windows to fool it into thinking it's on the first disk.
/boot/grub/menu.lst fragment
# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
map (hd0) (hd2)
map (hd2) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd2,0)
#makeactive
chainloader +1
Thanks for posting, but I still get the bootmgr not found error

You did change hd2 to hd1 right? He was just giving you his menu.lst.

thisoldman · 2011-01-02 10:05:32

The menu item should work if you replace "hd2" with "hd1".

This assumes the boot order, set from your BIOS, is:

hd0 – the disk with grub and Arch. This disk would appear as /dev/sda using 'fdisk -l'.
hd1 – the disk with Windows and the Windows bootloader. This disk would appear as /dev/sdb using 'fdisk -l'.

What I am hoping you tried is:

# (2) Windows 7
title Windows 7
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

It might be that the Windows bootloader is missing. You could check by disconnecting the Arch disk (disconnect the SATA cable or pull the Arch disk from the machine) and try to boot.

If the bootloader is missing, and this were my machine, I would keep the Arch disk physically disconnected and repair the Windows bootloader. After Windows booted correctly, I would reinstall the Arch disk as 'disk one' and the Windows disk as 'disk two' and boot up.

Edit: Would you please change this thread's title from ALL CAPS to Title Case. This can be done by editing your first post. Yes, your problem is important and urgent to you, but shouting is not considered proper in these forums.

Last edited by thisoldman (2011-01-02 10:11:39)

Socialsymbol · 2011-01-02 16:12:24

Thanks Oldman and Stryder, I have it working. I ended up having to fix the windows bootmgr via a repair disk, and now have both arch and win7 properly booting. Thank you both for your patience with me.

thisoldman · 2011-01-02 16:39:15

Glad you got it solved. And thank you for posting the results and thank you for fixing the title.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-01 16:06:13

(Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#2 2011-01-01 16:32:51

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#3 2011-01-01 17:35:07

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#4 2011-01-01 22:09:45

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#5 2011-01-02 02:54:33

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#6 2011-01-02 07:56:46

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#7 2011-01-02 10:05:32

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#8 2011-01-02 16:12:24

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

#9 2011-01-02 16:39:15

Re: (Solved)Bootmgr Not Found (Arch and Windows 7 Dual Boot)

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