Member Avatar for Valmian

Hello,
Here is the deal. I have two harddrives. One has RedHat Linux9.0, and one has Windows 2k. I used to have a functional grub install. But then I had to reinstall win2k and it deleted my grub at mbs. Now I can't access Linux. I also lost my boot floppy. Is there anyway to install any sort of fork that will allow me to chose between win2k and Linux from the windows side? I don't want to reinstall Linux because some of the drivers I used were very hard to find and it required a whole lot of tweaking afterwards.
Thank you in advance,
Ilya

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Short summary and safe plan of action for : reinstalling Windows almost certainly overwrote GRUB in the MBR, so Linux is still on the second disk but the machine boots straight to Windows. The simplest, safest fix is to boot the Red Hat 9 rescue environment (or any Linux Live/Rescue CD), mount/chroot into your existing system and restore GRUB; that avoids any need to reinstall drivers or packages. (gnu.org)

Practical rescue steps (high level):

  1. Boot from the Red Hat CD and choose rescue (or boot a LiveCD like Knoppix).
  2. If using the Red Hat rescue, chroot into the installed system (usually at /mnt/sysimage).
  3. Either run the grub shell and use find/root/setup to install GRUB to the MBR, or run the grub-install helper (/sbin/grub-install /dev/hda — replace device as appropriate). Example grub-shell sequence:
    grub> find /boot/grub/stage1
grub> root (hd0,0)     # use the output from find
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

    These are the standard, documented GRUB procedures for restoring the bootloader. (gnu.org)

If you cannot get an install/rescue CD immediately, use a rescue/live image that can boot and chain to your Linux kernel. Super Grub (Super GRUB Disk / Super GRUB2 Disk) can boot an existing Linux install even when the MBR is overwritten, so it is a very handy stopgap to get into Linux and run the steps above. ’s idea of a small boot floppy/utility is the same concept; Super Grub works across filesystems (ext2/ext3/etc.). (supergrubdisk.org)

Windows-side notes and cautions: editing BOOT.INI alone will not magically boot Linux — NTLDR/boot.ini can only chainload a partition boot sector or another Windows loader. Tools like EasyBCD or NeoGrub can create chainload entries, but they still require a Linux boot sector (GRUB/LILO) in the partition to work. Making the Linux partition “active” or fiddling with the MBR without backups can leave Windows unbootable; preserve a copy of the MBR and critical files (ntldr, boot.ini) before experimenting. (xpt.sourceforge.net)

Relevant forum points: ’s GAG suggestion is reasonable as a temporary measure; ’s “make partition active” is risky without a Windows boot disk; ’s hint about BOOT.INI is on the right track but needs a partition-bootsector to chainload. Restoring GRUB via rescue mode is the least invasive way to get both systems selectable again.

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Member Avatar for Valmian

so any ideas?

Member Avatar for Dynam1cz

My only thoughts are to edit your BOOT.ini file and change the links to each operating system.
I might be able to extend my answer but I would need more information.

Member Avatar for Roberdin

Can't u simply make the Linux Partition Active?

DON'T try this unless u have a win2k boot disk. I'm suddenly seeing images of blue screens fileld with crap.

Member Avatar for Valmian

what information do you need? how do I edite boot.ini. I don't really use computers for much but programming and gaming so my knowledge of OS's and stuff is somewhat limmited.

Member Avatar for Valmian

how do I edit boot.ini? where is it?

Member Avatar for TallCool1

Here is the deal. I have two harddrives. One has RedHat Linux9.0, and one has Windows 2k. I used to have a functional grub install. But then I had to reinstall win2k and it deleted my grub at mbs. Now I can't access Linux. I also lost my boot floppy. Is there anyway to install any sort of fork that will allow me to chose between win2k and Linux from the windows side? I don't want to reinstall Linux because some of the drivers I used were very hard to find and it required a whole lot of tweaking afterwards.

How are your partitions organized?

The way I solved a similar problem in my system was to use GAGBoot http://GAG.SourceForge.net
It can be installed to a floppy or to the HD. I use it on a floppy because my Windows 120 GB HD has a special MBR so Win98 can recognize it. With the floppy in, it goes to the second 80 GB Linux drive. Without the floppy, Windows. It's not actually booting from the floppy; GAG simply points to the Linux boot record--it's almost instantaneous. This might be a good stopgap until you figure out a more permanent fix.

GAG lets you boot up to nine OSes from a graphical interface...

Member Avatar for Valmian

How are your partitions organized?

The way I solved a similar problem in my system was to use GAGBoot http://GAG.SourceForge.net
It can be installed to a floppy or to the HD. I use it on a floppy because my Windows 120 GB HD has a special MBR so Win98 can recognize it. With the floppy in, it goes to the second 80 GB Linux drive. Without the floppy, Windows. It's not actually booting from the floppy; GAG simply points to the Linux boot record--it's almost instantaneous. This might be a good stopgap until you figure out a more permanent fix.

GAG lets you boot up to nine OSes from a graphical interface...

Thank you,
That is exactly what I am going to do since the moment I'l be able to access my Linux I'll use grub install command and install GRUB at my MBS.
Thank you again,
Ilya

Member Avatar for Valmian

How are your partitions organized?

The way I solved a similar problem in my system was to use GAGBoot http://GAG.SourceForge.net
It can be installed to a floppy or to the HD. I use it on a floppy because my Windows 120 GB HD has a special MBR so Win98 can recognize it. With the floppy in, it goes to the second 80 GB Linux drive. Without the floppy, Windows. It's not actually booting from the floppy; GAG simply points to the Linux boot record--it's almost instantaneous. This might be a good stopgap until you figure out a more permanent fix.

GAG lets you boot up to nine OSes from a graphical interface...

I tried it but it only recognizes EXT2 file system. I have 3 ext3 (swap, etc..).
Ilya

Member Avatar for subtronic

Get rid of Win2k :)

Member Avatar for TallCool1

The way I solved a similar problem in my system was to use GAGBoot.

QUOTE Valmian: I tried it but it only recognizes EXT2 file system. I have 3 ext3 (swap, etc..).

Hmmm... There must be something else going on, because the filesystem does not matter; it only "sees" the boot record. I have used this with ext2, ext3, and ReiserFS without problems.

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