Member Avatar for Redek

i have a problem with dual booting. i wanted to dual boot xp pro and fedora. i installed xp then i installed fedora and now when i try to load up xp i get an error that says something like chainloader +1 and it stays there. if anyone knows how to corret this it would be much apreciatted

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rasterpix

Dani AI

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A quick diagnosis: seeing GRUB stop at the chainloader +1 line means GRUB handed control to the Windows boot code but Windows never started. Common causes are the Windows boot files missing/corrupt, the Windows partition not the one GRUB expects, a damaged Windows boot sector/MBR, or a BIOS/disk-translation mismatch. and are pointing at two valid root causes (GRUB config vs disk geometry); the checklist below helps narrow which one it is.

From a Fedora rescue or other Linux live environment, confirm the Windows partition and files before changing anything. Useful checks:

fdisk -l /dev/sda
mkdir /mnt/windows
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdaX /mnt/windows
ls -la /mnt/windows | egrep 'NTLDR|NTDETECT|boot.ini'

If those files are missing or the partition type/starting sectors look wrong, that explains the failed handoff.

If the Windows boot files exist but the boot sector/MBR is damaged, use the Windows Recovery Console to repair the Windows side (this will restore Windows MBR and will overwrite GRUB in MBR). Typical Recovery Console steps are:

fixmbr
fixboot
chkdsk /r
expand d:\i386\ntldr c:\
expand d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

Do this only after you have a way to reinstall GRUB (next step), and always back up the MBR first:

dd if=/dev/sda of=/root/mbr-backup.bin bs=512 count=1

If you prefer to keep Windows as the primary bootloader, restore the Windows MBR and reinstall GRUB into the Fedora partition boot sector (not /dev/sda). Reinstall GRUB from rescue mode to the Fedora partition, then use a Windows boot manager (or a small chainload entry) to launch GRUB. This avoids fragile chainloading through an incorrect partition mapping. Keeping a backup of the MBR and partition table is essential before making changes.

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Member Avatar for mikeandike22

ok how did you setup fedora the boot loader. if you are saying that just when you load windows it messes up then just run the xp cd. Or if you cant access anything then click on this link it should help.

Member Avatar for dontcare

This link should fix your problem: http://forums.devshed.com/archive/t-157222 If that doen't solve your problem try editing your WinXp boot config at the grub menu, select Winxp or other press 'e' to edit and make the following changes:

title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,2) // this is your windows boot partition, play around with the values (x,x)
chainloader +1
make active

Member Avatar for rasterpix

I had the same problem when I did a dual boot with Win2k3 Server and Suse 9.1 Pro.
I know this is going to sound odd, but this did work.
Go into you BIOS and change the mode Primary Master from AUTO to LBA. I found some obscure refference on Suse's site regarding how the Windows and Linux 'see' the disk geometry differently. It has something to do with Kernel version 2.6.x and higher. Sorry I didn't bookmark the page that I got the info from.

Hope this helps. ;)

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