Member Avatar for DeFrog777

Greetings,

I was hoping that there is somebody that can tell me how to configure a Dual Boot system with Windows XP on one hard drive and SuSe Linux on the other. Most of the support I've seen has been for dual booting from the same hard drive. If anyone can aid me in this, their help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

DeFrog777

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sinkrideutan

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A short, practical summary that fills the gap left by and ties together the hints from and .

Install order and two common models

  • Best practice for an XP+Linux two-disk setup is to install Windows first and then install SuSE. Windows installers will overwrite the active boot code; Linux installers will normally detect Windows and add it to the Linux boot menu. (superuser.com)

Chainloading Linux from the Windows (NTLDR) menu

  • If the goal is to keep the Windows bootloader as primary and add a Linux choice, install GRUB/LILO into the Linux partition boot record (not the MBR), then export that 512‑byte partition boot sector to a file and add it to C:\boot.ini. Typical workflow (execute from Linux where the Windows partition is mounted read/write or onto a VFAT floppy/USB that Windows can read):
dd if=/dev/hdb1 of=/mnt/windows/linux.bin bs=512 count=1

Add a line to C:\boot.ini:

C:\linux.bin="SuSE 9.2 (on second disk)"

NTLDR will present that entry and hand control to the saved partition boot sector. (If copying the sector from Linux to Windows is inconvenient, Windows tools such as BootPart can create the same boot‑sector file.) (thinkwiki.org)

Alternative approaches and safety notes

  • Install GRUB to the MBR of the first (boot) disk and let it chain to Windows, or install GRUB to the second disk and choose which disk to boot via the BIOS boot order. Always back up the MBR and boot.ini before changing boot code, for example:
    dd if=/dev/sda of=/root/mbr-sda.bin bs=512 count=1

    Recover options: live CD/Rescue mode to reinstall GRUB or restore the backed up MBR. (dedoimedo.com)

Avoid fragile device names in /etc/fstab

  • Do not rely on /dev/hda/hdb device names if disks move between controllers or the BIOS reorders drives. Use persistent identifiers (UUID= or LABEL=) and find them with blkid or ls -l /dev/disk/by-uuid/. Example fstab entry:
    UUID=6a60524d-061d-454a-bfd1-38989910eccd / ext3 defaults 1 1

    This removes the need to edit fstab each time the disk becomes the “second” drive. (wiki.debian.org)

Cautions: test any boot changes from rescue media available, back up Windows' C:\boot.ini and the MBR, and ensure the linux.bin file is placed on a filesystem Windows can read (VFAT/NTFS) before editing boot.ini.

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for DeFrog777

Greetings again,

I have found the solution to my own problem and no longer require assistance on this matter.

Thanks for your intrest in this thread

DeFrog777

Member Avatar for joeblow2

And thanks for not posting the solutions...bastard

Member Avatar for kccomputerdr

The secret is installing XP first & leaving partitionless hard drive space free before installing Linux. then just use free space. I'm sure that was what he figured out.

Member Avatar for sinkrideutan

does anyone know the magic line to add to the windows bootloader
to hook up a hard disk already containing Linux to a Windows system ?

I know I need to edit fstab on the linux disk to change hda to hdb

Member Avatar for kccomputerdr

does anyone know the magic line to add to the windows bootloader
to hook up a hard disk already containing Linux to a Windows system ?

I know I need to edit fstab on the linux disk to change hda to hdb

what's wrong with lilo or grub?

Member Avatar for sinkrideutan

I want to do a hard disk juggle; The new system will have Windows, because Windows install overwrites the boot sector, I will simply remove the Linux-containing disk(s) and let windows do it's little thing.

The I want to just tell it's bootloader "offer me the other disk also".

The linux(es) are indeed on removable SATA drives

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