Two HDs two OS help please...

rul99

Solid State Member
Messages
6
Hi all,

Ok, I recently installed a second HD in my system for the purpose of trying different linux OS. I tried Fedora, then openSUSE and finally back to Fedora. Everytime I would partition the new HD and install the new OS. I used gparted. I did like 4 installations in total. In the last installation (Fedora 10) while partitioning I chose "Remove all partitions on selected drives and create default layout", I made sure that I selected HD2(new HD), so I left the original HD untouched. Now I have Fedora and it works nice, but the problem is that I can't boot Windows XP form HD1(original HD).

I tried changing the boot sequence and still doesn't work. If I try to boot from HD1, it goes through the boot process and then comes back with a line saying:
Loading GRUB Stage 1.5
Loading please wait... (or something like that, and then:)
Error 15

And that's all.

If I boot from the HD2, it boots fedora and gives me the option to boot 1: Fedora, or 2: Other. Fedora boots fine. If I choose Other, it takes me to a blank with only a blinking cursor at the top.

I checked within Fedora the File Systems under System Monitor and I can see 3 devices as follows:

Device Directory Type Total Free

/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 / ext3 456.3GiB 452.6GiB
dev/sda1 /Boot ext3 189.9MiB 176.2MiB
/dev/sdc1 /media/disk fuseblk 232.9GiB 183.3GiB

So, I can see the c drive where windows xp is located (or supposed to be located). The free space on c: is the same as before I installed fedora, if that's of any help.

Also, on the c: drive under Type it says fuseblk and I don't know what that means?? that is advanced for me, I'm a newbie. I've been messing with linux for about only 2 weeks and I have learnt a lot but I'm really a newbie, sorry.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for you time.
 
Unplug the linux drive, boot with the XP disk until reaching the press R for recovery console, and log onto the Windows installation detected. If you see the prompt for password and haven't assigned one simply press enter.

Once at the command prompt there simply type "Fixmbr" and "Fixboot" to see the mbr corrected as well as the boot information rewritten for XP. You should be able to replug the second drive in leaving the XP drive set as the default boot device to see Windows load right up.

From there you can look over the information on adding Linux after Windows XP at http://users.tkk.fi/~tkarvine/linux-windows-dual-boot-resizing-ntfs.html

Ubuntu is far easier to work with however.
 
Ubuntu is far easier to work with however.
Fedora is fine to work with it isn't that it is any harder to work with, actually I find that it is easier, you just have to be willing to learn and have an open mind.

Dodge the link that you gave does that include working with two seperate hdds?

@OP, when you start fedora, I would like to see a file, if you could get it for me. Open a terminal, it is right on the desktop, then type
Code:
su [color=red] This will give you a root terminal[/color]
cd /boot/grub [color=red] This will change the directory[/color]
cat menu.lst[color=red] This will show the file in terminal[/color]

Then if you would post the entire file in your next reply. I am curious as to what grub is looking for, in the window mbr.

Cheers!
 
Dodge, I did what you said and it happened exactly as you said. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

I have one more question though. As a right now, I have to switch sequence of hdds from BIOS in order to switch OSs. Is there a way to force Fedora (or Windows for the case) to recognize the other OS and have the options in a screen?? openSUSE and Ubunto did it automatically before and I could switch easlily. I'm going to stick to Fedora and I don't want to have to go to the BIOS every time.

Any advice would be appreciated.

BTW wmorri, below is what comes out from the /boot/grub......

Thank you again guys!

[root@localhost grub]# cat menu.lst
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora (2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64 ro root=UUID=bb422c1a-145e-4020-bbd9-473328c78a62 rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.27.5-117.fc10.x86_64.img
title Other
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1
[root@localhost grub]#
 
What I do here with multiple OSs on different drives is press the F1, F12, or F8 key at post time to bring up the boot device menu. There you can select which hard drive or even optical drive you want to boot from while leaving your main drive set as default.

That comes in handy when going to install or reinstall Windows where you never even go into the bios back and forth to change the boot order. Or to simply select the optical drive to boot from a live cd.

The problem you ran into there when installing Fedora was seeing it's own form of Grub entry placed in the XP mbr while the main boot loader was placed on the second drive. That provides the option to boot XP.

On the XP drive to see Fedora load on the other hand you would need a boot loader like Grub4Dos that will work with Windows for seeing Fedora added in as well. When installed into the XP mbr you would point at the drive and partition Fedora is on to see it start the boot loader there.

The situation here is where Vista is the primary OS dual booting with XP on a second drive and ubuntu on a 3rd ide model. OpenSolaris then Core 10 were both to see problems with a free BCD editing tool used to add them into the Vista boot loader.

When correcting the Vista mbr for the exact same problem you saw there when installing ubuntu later I simply pointed the EasyBCD tool used at the ubuntu root made the mount point as well to see that load right up. But you're not running Vista seeing the new boot manager. The EasyBCD also uses a form of Grub4Dos from the information I've seen on it.

You can look over the tutorial for the universal type boot loader Grub4Dos at http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Grub4dos_tutorial

Grub4Dos and WinGrub are both found at http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=104188
 
Hi,

@rul99, what order to you have your hdds set as, is your windows hdd master, then the linux hdd slave? Or is it the other way around with your jumpers and in your bios?

Cheers!
 
Hi,

@rul99, what order to you have your hdds set as, is your windows hdd master, then the linux hdd slave? Or is it the other way around with your jumpers and in your bios?

Cheers!

First sorry for late answer.

Yes, windows IDE hdd set as master by jumper then linux SATA hdd. Bios set to boot from windows IDE hdd. Any comment on this would be appreciated. And by the way, ever since I installed the second hdd the boot process takes very long compared to before, about 90sec. Is that normal??

To Dodge: Thank you for your advice, it was F8 key to select booting drive. I had it in front of my eyes.
 
I've run into that quite a bit when seeing a distro or second version of Windows on a second drive. By default the ide drive would be seen as the boot drive in the bios until changing the order there.

As for the slight lag seen when running more then one drive you have to expect that since the bios will see a second or two longer just to pass the test on the extra drive plus search for the boot info. You suffer a slightly longer boot time for the convenience of more then one OS as a result.
 
Hi,

Can you try changing the order of the hdd in your bios. I would like to see if starting the linux hdd first, will allow the boot loader to then start windows. This is just an idea.

Cheers!
 
That's easy enough. When rebooting the system and the keyboard and drive lights start to flash hit the F key like F1, F8 to bring up the boot device menu. From there you can select the Linux drive or even an optic drive for booting off of a live distro or simply using the Windows disk for repair or installation.

Once you see the initial screen appear that should show the top entry as the default for Linux with others below that including Windows if both drives were plugged in while installing the distro since the entry is then added into the boot loader there.
 
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