Hello,
I'm just about to install SuSE 9.1 on a brand new seperate drive in addition to my dual-boot XP-system.
Just as I was ready do take the plunge, I found all kinds of disturbing messages about kernel 2.6-based Linux distributions messing up Windows partition-tables.
So, I was wondering if there is anyone out here who has taken the same road and has encountered these problems, or no problems at all (and what kind of setup these persons are using).
My setup:
Athlon XP2400+
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
Windows-drive: Maxtor 40 GB UATA-133 7200 RPM (1)
Proposed-Linux drive: Maxtor 80 GB UATA-133 7200 RPM
Data-drive: Seagate Barracuda 80 GB SATA 7200 RPM
Plus an ATI RADEON 9600 SE card, I understand these would not present any problems.
Soundcard: [censored due to embarresment]
Any information, positive or negative, is most welcome.
Groet, Erik
(1) this is partitioned as follows: Main system, WinXP/NTFS; AV-system, WinXP/NTFS; OddsAndEnds partition, NTFS; General Purpose partition, FAT32.
The proposed Linux-drive is as yet unformatted.
//edit: stupid typo fix0red
It Works! (was: SuSE linux, win XP and partition-tables)
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- KVRAF
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
Last edited by tetraplan on Mon Aug 02, 2004 2:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Pop music delenda est.
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- KVRian
- 864 posts since 9 Jul, 2001 from Chester County PA, USA
Don't have any experience with SuSE in a dual-boot environment but am pretty familiar with SuSE in general (I run my company's webservers on it and have been thrilled with the results so far 
).
I'd been kicking around the idea of perhaps setting up a dual-boot rig here at home with it though....so I'd definitely also be interested if anyone has any info and opinions concerning such an environment!
).I'd been kicking around the idea of perhaps setting up a dual-boot rig here at home with it though....so I'd definitely also be interested if anyone has any info and opinions concerning such an environment!
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- KVRian
- 711 posts since 16 Mar, 2002 from Mostly in planes and hotels. Terra Firma: Seattle, WA
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- KVRAF
- 4644 posts since 28 Nov, 2002 from Chicago
setting up dual boot with modern linux distros is really pretty easy.
I haven't done it with Suse, but I've installed Mandrake and RH onto a number of windows boxes.
Typically the installers do a good job of partitioning themselves, but I have found that with WinXP machines from companies like Dell, that often have recovery partitions, the linux installer can't work out how to resize the windows partition. In that case Partition Magic may be the only solution.
BTW: A good trick with WinXP is to disable swap filing, reboot, and delete the swap file itself. Do this before installing linux, and the swap file wont get in teh way of the installers partition resize.
Once linux is installed, just reenable the swap file.
I haven't done it with Suse, but I've installed Mandrake and RH onto a number of windows boxes.
Typically the installers do a good job of partitioning themselves, but I have found that with WinXP machines from companies like Dell, that often have recovery partitions, the linux installer can't work out how to resize the windows partition. In that case Partition Magic may be the only solution.
BTW: A good trick with WinXP is to disable swap filing, reboot, and delete the swap file itself. Do this before installing linux, and the swap file wont get in teh way of the installers partition resize.
Once linux is installed, just reenable the swap file.
Someone shot the food. Remember: don't shoot food!
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
Which kernel were those?valley wrote:setting up dual boot with modern linux distros is really pretty easy.
I haven't done it with Suse, but I've installed Mandrake and RH onto a number of windows boxes.
I understand the partition-table trouble started with 2.6.
OK, that's not an issue here.Typically the installers do a good job of partitioning themselves, but I have found that with WinXP machines from companies like Dell, that often have recovery partitions, the linux installer can't work out how to resize the windows partition. In that case Partition Magic may be the only solution.
Does this apply to installations on seperate disks, too?BTW: A good trick with WinXP is to disable swap filing, reboot, and delete the swap file itself. Do this before installing linux, and the swap file wont get in teh way of the installers partition resize.
Once linux is installed, just reenable the swap file.
Well, shouldn't be too difficult.
Thanks for the info.
Groet, Erik
Pop music delenda est.
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- KVRer
- 11 posts since 30 Mar, 2004
This is long. I apologize, however it describes what needs to be done with SUSE 9.1/XP dual boot problems.
Comes directly from SUSE's support database. The problem isn't with SUSE 9.1, per se. It's a problem with all 2.6 kernel installs.
R.
==
Windows No Longer Boots Following the Installation of SUSE LINUX 9.1
Applies to: SUSE LINUX 9.1
Situation
Following the installation of SUSE LINUX 9.1, the Linux system can be booted, but the Windows system no longer boots. After selecting the Windows entry in the boot loader GRUB, a message such as the following is displayed:
root (hd 0,0)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
chainloader +1
The computer stops at this point.
The Windows boot loader may also stop with an error message (if GRUB or LILO was *not* installed in the MBR during the installation and the Windows loader was retained).
The problem cannot be solved by restoring the original MBR with YaST or by writing a new MBR with Windows tools (with the command FIXMBR or with FIXBOOT from the Windows rescue console). Repairing the partition table with proprietary partitioning tools does not solve the problem and may even destroy the entire partition table. The problem cannot even be solved by uninstalling Linux or reinstalling Windows without deleting the entire hard disk.
Cause
The partitioning tool parted, which YaST uses during the installation, may write an incorrect partition table. The problem occurs if the BIOS and Linux "see" different disk geometries and the Windows partition is larger than about 8 GB (more precisely: if the first hard disk partition ends on cylinder 1024 or beyond this point).
When the system is booted, Windows may use the values in the partition table, which causes a failure. Currently, this problem also occurs on other Linux distributions using kernel 2.6.
Solution
One quick solution is to activate the LBA or large access mode under which the hard disk was previously addressed for the hard disks in the computer's BIOS. It is important that the hard disk values not be set to "AUTO".
If this does not help (or if your BIOS does not offer this option), you can repair the partition table with a driver update. To do this, proceed as follows: On our FTP server, find two images at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update ... sc/parted/: one for creating a floppy disk and one for creating a CD.
Floppy Disk
To install the driver update from floppy disk, proceed as follows:
* Download the file parted.img.gz and save it to a directory of your choice, for example, in /tmp.
* Insert a floppy disk and use the following command to write the image to the medium:
gunzip -c parted.img.gz >/dev/fd0
Caution: The previous content of the floppy disk will be lost.
* Boot the first installation CD or DVD up to the point where you can choose one of the different installation variants.
* Press F6.
* Use the arrow key to select the menu item "Installation".
* Enter the boot parameter "fixpart=1" and press ENTER.
* When the message "Please choose the Driver Update medium" is displayed, insert the driver update disk you created and press "OK".
* In the following menu, select "floppy" and confirm with "OK".
* After completing the driver update, press "Back".
* The following dialog for repairing the partition table displays your hard disk (usually /dev/hda) and the status of the partition table (broken). Select the hard disk and click "OK" to repair the partition table.
* After repairing the partition table, exit the menu with "Back". Press the key combination CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the computer and remove all media from the drives.
Now you should be able to boot both Windows and Linux.
CD-ROM
To install the driver update from CD-ROM, proceed as follows:
* Download the file parted.iso.gz and save it to a directory of your choice, for example, in /tmp.
* Use the following command to unpack the image:
gunzip /tmp/parted.iso.gz
* Burn the file /tmp/parted.iso as an ISO image on a CD by either using a graphical burning program, such as k3b or xcdroast, or from the command line:
cdrecord -v -eject speed=2 dev=/dev/hdc /tmp/parted.iso
The parameter dev=/dev/hdc might have to be adjusted according to the burner device file.
* Boot the first installation CD or DVD up to the point where you can choose one of the different installation variants.
* Press F6.
* Use the arrow key to select the menu item "Installation".
* Enter the boot parameter "fixpart=1" and press ENTER.
* When the message "Please choose the Driver Update medium" is displayed, insert the driver update CD you created and press "OK".
* In the following menu, select "cdrom" and confirm with OK.
* After completing the driver update, press "Back".
* The following dialog for repairing the partition table displays your hard disk (usually /dev/hda) and the status of the partition table (broken). Select the hard disk and click "OK" to repair the partition table.
* After repairing the partition table, exit the menu with "Back". Press the key combination CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the computer and remove all media from the drives.
Now you should be able to boot both Windows and Linux.
If Linux Is Not Yet Installed
If Linux is not yet installed, you can integrate the driver update to prevent any boot problems from the outset. Proceed as described above, but omit the parameter "fixpart=1" in the installation menu. Then follow the instructions. The update medium will be loaded and the installation will be performed with an updated libparted.
Creating Update Media with Windows
If you are not able to create an update driver medium with a Linux OS, proceed as follows to create it with Windows:
First decide whether to use a CD or a floppy disk as update medium. Then unpack the relevant file (parted.img.gz for floppy or parted.iso.gz for CD) with a Windows unpacking program. For this purpose, use the program untgz32.exe located in the directory /dosutils/untgz on SUSE's first installation CD or DVD. Copy the file untgz32.exe to the directory containing the downloaded file. Open a command prompt, change to the corresponding directory and start the program with:
untgz32 -d parted.img.gz parted.img
or
untgz32 -d parted.iso.gz parted.iso
Writing on floppy:
The directory /dosutils/rawrite/ on the first CD or DVD includes the program rawrite.exe that can be used to write the image to a floppy. Copy this program to the directory containing the unpacked file parted.img.
Insert a floppy in the drive and start rawrite.exe. Enter the file parted.img as source file and confirm with Enter. Then enter the name of the floppy drive (usually "A") as write medium. The image will be written to the floppy.
Writing on CD:
Burn the unpacked file parted.iso to a CD in Windows with a burning program of your choice. Make sure you do not create a data CD but write the file as an ISO image.
Comes directly from SUSE's support database. The problem isn't with SUSE 9.1, per se. It's a problem with all 2.6 kernel installs.
R.
==
Windows No Longer Boots Following the Installation of SUSE LINUX 9.1
Applies to: SUSE LINUX 9.1
Situation
Following the installation of SUSE LINUX 9.1, the Linux system can be booted, but the Windows system no longer boots. After selecting the Windows entry in the boot loader GRUB, a message such as the following is displayed:
root (hd 0,0)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7
chainloader +1
The computer stops at this point.
The Windows boot loader may also stop with an error message (if GRUB or LILO was *not* installed in the MBR during the installation and the Windows loader was retained).
The problem cannot be solved by restoring the original MBR with YaST or by writing a new MBR with Windows tools (with the command FIXMBR or with FIXBOOT from the Windows rescue console). Repairing the partition table with proprietary partitioning tools does not solve the problem and may even destroy the entire partition table. The problem cannot even be solved by uninstalling Linux or reinstalling Windows without deleting the entire hard disk.
Cause
The partitioning tool parted, which YaST uses during the installation, may write an incorrect partition table. The problem occurs if the BIOS and Linux "see" different disk geometries and the Windows partition is larger than about 8 GB (more precisely: if the first hard disk partition ends on cylinder 1024 or beyond this point).
When the system is booted, Windows may use the values in the partition table, which causes a failure. Currently, this problem also occurs on other Linux distributions using kernel 2.6.
Solution
One quick solution is to activate the LBA or large access mode under which the hard disk was previously addressed for the hard disks in the computer's BIOS. It is important that the hard disk values not be set to "AUTO".
If this does not help (or if your BIOS does not offer this option), you can repair the partition table with a driver update. To do this, proceed as follows: On our FTP server, find two images at ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update ... sc/parted/: one for creating a floppy disk and one for creating a CD.
Floppy Disk
To install the driver update from floppy disk, proceed as follows:
* Download the file parted.img.gz and save it to a directory of your choice, for example, in /tmp.
* Insert a floppy disk and use the following command to write the image to the medium:
gunzip -c parted.img.gz >/dev/fd0
Caution: The previous content of the floppy disk will be lost.
* Boot the first installation CD or DVD up to the point where you can choose one of the different installation variants.
* Press F6.
* Use the arrow key to select the menu item "Installation".
* Enter the boot parameter "fixpart=1" and press ENTER.
* When the message "Please choose the Driver Update medium" is displayed, insert the driver update disk you created and press "OK".
* In the following menu, select "floppy" and confirm with "OK".
* After completing the driver update, press "Back".
* The following dialog for repairing the partition table displays your hard disk (usually /dev/hda) and the status of the partition table (broken). Select the hard disk and click "OK" to repair the partition table.
* After repairing the partition table, exit the menu with "Back". Press the key combination CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the computer and remove all media from the drives.
Now you should be able to boot both Windows and Linux.
CD-ROM
To install the driver update from CD-ROM, proceed as follows:
* Download the file parted.iso.gz and save it to a directory of your choice, for example, in /tmp.
* Use the following command to unpack the image:
gunzip /tmp/parted.iso.gz
* Burn the file /tmp/parted.iso as an ISO image on a CD by either using a graphical burning program, such as k3b or xcdroast, or from the command line:
cdrecord -v -eject speed=2 dev=/dev/hdc /tmp/parted.iso
The parameter dev=/dev/hdc might have to be adjusted according to the burner device file.
* Boot the first installation CD or DVD up to the point where you can choose one of the different installation variants.
* Press F6.
* Use the arrow key to select the menu item "Installation".
* Enter the boot parameter "fixpart=1" and press ENTER.
* When the message "Please choose the Driver Update medium" is displayed, insert the driver update CD you created and press "OK".
* In the following menu, select "cdrom" and confirm with OK.
* After completing the driver update, press "Back".
* The following dialog for repairing the partition table displays your hard disk (usually /dev/hda) and the status of the partition table (broken). Select the hard disk and click "OK" to repair the partition table.
* After repairing the partition table, exit the menu with "Back". Press the key combination CTRL-ALT-DEL to reboot the computer and remove all media from the drives.
Now you should be able to boot both Windows and Linux.
If Linux Is Not Yet Installed
If Linux is not yet installed, you can integrate the driver update to prevent any boot problems from the outset. Proceed as described above, but omit the parameter "fixpart=1" in the installation menu. Then follow the instructions. The update medium will be loaded and the installation will be performed with an updated libparted.
Creating Update Media with Windows
If you are not able to create an update driver medium with a Linux OS, proceed as follows to create it with Windows:
First decide whether to use a CD or a floppy disk as update medium. Then unpack the relevant file (parted.img.gz for floppy or parted.iso.gz for CD) with a Windows unpacking program. For this purpose, use the program untgz32.exe located in the directory /dosutils/untgz on SUSE's first installation CD or DVD. Copy the file untgz32.exe to the directory containing the downloaded file. Open a command prompt, change to the corresponding directory and start the program with:
untgz32 -d parted.img.gz parted.img
or
untgz32 -d parted.iso.gz parted.iso
Writing on floppy:
The directory /dosutils/rawrite/ on the first CD or DVD includes the program rawrite.exe that can be used to write the image to a floppy. Copy this program to the directory containing the unpacked file parted.img.
Insert a floppy in the drive and start rawrite.exe. Enter the file parted.img as source file and confirm with Enter. Then enter the name of the floppy drive (usually "A") as write medium. The image will be written to the floppy.
Writing on CD:
Burn the unpacked file parted.iso to a CD in Windows with a burning program of your choice. Make sure you do not create a data CD but write the file as an ISO image.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
That's OK.RickH wrote:This is long.
In fact, it's very OK.
Thanks very, very much.I apologize, however it describes what needs to be done with SUSE 9.1/XP dual boot problems.
Comes directly from SUSE's support database. The problem isn't with SUSE 9.1, per se. It's a problem with all 2.6 kernel installs.
R.
I have been looking for this on the SuSE site, I must have overlooked it (or used a crappy search string).
Copied and printed.
Groet, Erik
Pop music delenda est.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
Slight bump for anyone interested in these matters.
Also:
Found out that my mobo supports LBA (hurrah!).
Downloaded the drivers just in case.
I'll be on my way to SuSE-land next (1), I'll report in later.
Groet, Erik
(1) Real Soon Now.
Also:
Found out that my mobo supports LBA (hurrah!).
Downloaded the drivers just in case.
I'll be on my way to SuSE-land next (1), I'll report in later.
Groet, Erik
(1) Real Soon Now.
Pop music delenda est.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
Update:
Well, I'm halfway there.
I'm typing this from Konqueror, and I have much left to configure.
I'll see if I can reboot into Windows OK.
Groet, Erik
Well, I'm halfway there.
I'm typing this from Konqueror, and I have much left to configure.
I'll see if I can reboot into Windows OK.
Groet, Erik
Pop music delenda est.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 3964 posts since 31 Aug, 2003 from In a foreign town, in a foreign land
It worx0red!
Well, it appears setting my drives to LBA did the trick. I'm now back in my Windows main system, no problems whatsoever.
I still have to configure GRUB to accept WinXP as the default, and to ignore my SATA windows-partitions (for some reason, the SuSE-install decided these were a previous Linux-install).
Lots of drivers left to update, too, for SuSE. I got an ATI-card after reading about troubles with NVIDIA cards, now it appears the current Linux-distros dislike ATI-cards. Just my luck. Everything works OK, except 3d-support. Oh well.
It doesn't see my Soundstorm card, either, but that's OK (for now). I really needed a soundcard that offers more... professional options, anyway.
But that's enough stress for today.
I'll dive into these matters later.
Moral of this story: use LBA. Should do the trick.
If you want a system that runs smoothly, get an NVIDIA graphics-card and a supported soundcard.
Heh. I'm outta here and on my way to the icecream shop.
Groet, Erik
Well, it appears setting my drives to LBA did the trick. I'm now back in my Windows main system, no problems whatsoever.
I still have to configure GRUB to accept WinXP as the default, and to ignore my SATA windows-partitions (for some reason, the SuSE-install decided these were a previous Linux-install).
Lots of drivers left to update, too, for SuSE. I got an ATI-card after reading about troubles with NVIDIA cards, now it appears the current Linux-distros dislike ATI-cards. Just my luck. Everything works OK, except 3d-support. Oh well.
It doesn't see my Soundstorm card, either, but that's OK (for now). I really needed a soundcard that offers more... professional options, anyway.
But that's enough stress for today.
I'll dive into these matters later.
Moral of this story: use LBA. Should do the trick.
If you want a system that runs smoothly, get an NVIDIA graphics-card and a supported soundcard.
Heh. I'm outta here and on my way to the icecream shop.
Groet, Erik
Pop music delenda est.