On Thu, 2004-07-15 at 12:56, Matthew Gregan wrote:
> At 2004-07-15T12:11:24+1200, Nick Rout wrote:
> > Setup before today:
> 
> > 1. 40G hard drive partitioned so /dev/hda1 is fat with w98, balance of
> > disk is various linux partitions. Booting is via grub to either w98 or
> > gentoo linux.
> 
> > Changes today:
> 
> > 2. added a new hard drive as /dev/hdb. Allowed the W2K windows
> > installer to format it as ntfs. Allowed windows installation to
> > proceed to install on that drive (E:\ after C:\ (w98) and D:\ (cdrom).
> > I wasn't watching most of the time but it eventually  said it was
> > completed and would reboot.
> 
> I'm assuming that prior to the installation, your configuration was:
> - MBR of first disk contains GRUB stage 1
> - Boot sector of first partion (Win98) contains DOS/Win98 boot sector
> - Your active partition was <something> (didn't matter)
> 
> (it's also possible that GRUB stage 1 was installed in the boot sector
> of one of your Linux partitions, the MBR was a(nother) DOS/Win98 boot
> sector, and your Linux partition (which held the GRUB stage 1 boot
> sector) was active)
> 
> I can't say for sure what the problem is until I know which of the two
> possible configurations described above you were using.

it was grub stage 1 in MBR for sure, so i assume that meant that the
dos/w98 boot sector was in the first partition. Must do I suppose.

> 
> Some notes:
> 
> NT needs to boot off of the first primary partition.  In your case, this
> is the Win98 FAT partition.  The NT installer has replaced the Win98
> bootsector with the first stage of the NT bootsector.
> 

yes that seems to fit.


> Your Win98 partition should have the following new files in the root:
> - boot.ini
> - NTDETECT.COM
> - ntldr
> 

yes (thank goodness for  being able to boot linux and look around )


> You might need to review the contents of the boot.ini to make sure the
> ARC path is correct, though the installer probably has it right.  This
> potential problem won't come into play until you're getting as far as
> the NT loader.
> 

err wots ARC? I know, google.


> I'm also not sure what you're trying to achieve with the 'makeactive'
> statement in your GRUB config--it's almost definitely wrong.
> 

fairly standard instructions for booting windows from grub. Not sure
where I got it, maybe it can be dispensed with.

> Since you don't have a thorough understanding of how x86 booting works,

some, but i certainly bow to your superior knowledge!

> it may be easiest (though a little heavy handed) to fix your problem by
> doing the following:
> 
> - Create a bootable GRUB floppy (or check that you have a Linux rescue
>   CD with GRUB on it)
> - Boot Win2k in rescue mode, do a 'fdisk /mbr'

boot from cd i assume?

> - Make sure your Win98 partition is active

you do this from fdisk or similar do you? is that the same as it being
marked "boot" when I look at the partition table with linux's fdisk?

> - While in Win2k rescue mode, 'repair' your installation (this will
>   rewrite the NT loader stuff)
> - Reboot--you should boot into the menu-drive NT loader, with options
>   for Win2k and Win98.

nothing in boot.ini for win98 that I can see. boot.ini says:

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect  (thats one line)
C:\ = "Microsoft Windows"

Am I naive in assuming the format of this file is open and that i can
figure out how to include w98? (actually I am confused already over
their disk/partition naming scheme, that is without research!



> - Use your GRUB rescue image to get GRUB reinstalled either into the
>   MBR if it was before--if it wasn't, just make the Linux partition
>   active and you should be ready to go.
> 
> Cheers,
> -mjg


Cheers to you too, good stuff :-)

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