Linux boot manager problem

[mburke]

I installed Linux SuSE and selected the Linix boot manager. But when my computer reboots the boot manager fails and displays a screenfull of 07's.

I did a quick install of XPHome to get the MS boot manager installed so I can get back into Win2000.

I wonder, my boot sector, like the rest of my c drive, is using NTSF. Could that be the problem?

Also, the second hard drive I installed Linux on Win2000 cannot see. How do I get it back?

Can I just add the Linux install to the Windows Boot Manager? I know its on the drive Windows can't see.

[Andreas Masur]

Well....where did you install the boot manager? There are basically two main option...in the master boot record (MBR) or on the linux partition. To multi-boot you would basically choose the first option.

The master boot record does not have any filesystem thus it does not matter that you are using NTFS for your windows partitions.

I do not have a link handy, however, simply search on e.g. Google on how to integrate linus into the windows boot manager...

[Gabriel Fleseriu]

You basically have to add one line pro OS to your boot.ini. I have the same situation as you have, that is an NTFS harddisk with W2k and another one with RH Linux. I installed the Linux' boot manager (Grub) to the Linux boot partition. I also created a fake boot record for Linux in form of a file. I used a tool called 'bootpart' (windows console app). My boot.ini (which belongs to Win2k and is located in the root directory of the NTFS partition) looks like this:


[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
C:\Some\Path\linux.boot="Linux"


HTH,

[Yves M]

Originally posted by mburke
I installed Linux SuSE and selected the Linix boot manager. But when my computer reboots the boot manager fails and displays a screenfull of 07's.

I guess this doesn't help much, but this may happen if you use an older Linux bootmanager (like Lilo) that cannot handle a Linux partition that is past 1024 cylinders.

There are solutions, other than the good one Gabriel already mentioned. You can e.g. install GRUB or install Lilo but making sure it is set to support large disks. This can only be done on newer distributions though.

[mburke]

I installed GRUB. The only way I can get it to work is if I disconnect the Windows hd. Otherwise it just freezes up.

I bought Partition Magic. But the boot manager cannot find the Linux on the drive. Do I need to change my jumper configuration so the boot manager can see it? I have Linux on the slave drive, windows on the master.