Difference between revisions of "Bootloaders for Linux and Dual Boot Handling"

Latest revision as of 10:49, 22 February 2014

.          /\_/\    section:
.     ____/ o o \
.   /~____  =ø= /  Linux Bootloaders and Dual Boot Handling
.  (______)__m_m)                                                          v0.48
. ______________________________________________________________________________
.
. grub          - grub is a bootloader for x86 arch linux
. lilo          - lilo is a bootloader for x86 arch linux
. redboot       - for ARM, MIPS, MN10300, PowerPC, Hitachi SHx, v850, and x86
. isolinux      - linux bootloader that operates off ISO 9660/El Torito CD-ROMs
. osl2000       - commercial bootloader + menu for windows, linux, others
. bootpart      - WinNT add partitions to boot menu, windows, os/2, or linux
. loadlin       - Boots Linux from within DOS, comes with many distributions
. chos          - graphical boot manager appearing in some distributions
. bootmagic     - a commercial boot manager by PowerQuest
. system comman - a commercial boot manger 'system commander'
. ______________________________________________________________________________
. 
. Bootloaders / boot managers may be installed to the following:
. (1) MBR - The Master Boot Record
. (2) The First Sector of the Boot Partition
. 
. The master boot record is a reserved area on your hard drive that is
. automatically loaded by your computer's BIOS.  It is the first place that a
. bootloader can take control of the boot process.
. 
. Use the First Sector of the Boot Partition for a second bootloader.  For
. example, you may have GRUB or LILO on your MBR, and BOOTPART on your First
. Boot Secotor since GRUB and LILO are unable to directly launch Windows NT.
. 
. Information about the filesystem as a whole is contained on the Superblock.
. The Superblock of the First Boot Partition is where the bootloader is
. installed to when another bootloader is on the MBR.
. 
. .oOo. boot loader support and frequently asked questions .oOo.
. 
. Q. After installing or reinstalling Windows XP, grub no longer appears on boot 
.    so I can't get to my Linux operating system on my dual boot system.
. 
. A. (1) Using a boot floppy:
. 
.    There are more than one way to approach this issue.  If you created a boot
.    floppy (such as with Redhat) simply boot from the floppy and execute the
.    command: 'grub-install /dev/hda' (hda or appropriate drive).
.   
.    (2) Using Fedora Core 1.0 Installation CD Disc 1
. 
.    Boot off Fedora CD #1 in rescue mode.  When prompted, select the
.    appropriate keyboard layout.  When asked to set up network, just skip.
.    Lastly, you will be asked how to mount your Fedora install, choose the
.    default option (OK) which mounts it read-write.  Then you should be taken
.    to the rescue shell.  At the shell type the following commands:
. 
.    chroot /mnt/sysimage
. 
.    This makes grub think that your system booted normally by giving you a 
.    chrooted shell.
. 
.    /sbin/grub-install /dev/hda
. 
.    Assuming that your installation was to harddrive A, this installs grub onto
.    the MBR.
. 
.    Press CNTRL-D twice or type 'exit' + Enter twice.
. 
.    Your system will reboot.  Remove the Fedora installation CDROM and grub
.    should take it from there.
. 
. Q. My Windows 98 installation is now showing up in the GRUB boot menu after I
.    had to install grub into the MBR again.
. 
. A. Open the grub.conf file in a text editor.  For example:
. 
.    vi /boot/grub/grub.conf
. 
.    Edit the boot entries to ensure that the correct partition is assigned to
.    Windows 98. Multiple Windows operating systems are not handled by lilo and 
.    grub without chain-loading.  I've used BootPart 2.20 (not on the MBR) to
.    handle more than one Micro$oft OS on a single harddrive.  BootPart is
.    available at www.winimage.com to download.
. 
.    BootPart is an easy tool for adding additional partitions to the Windows NT
.    multi boot menu.  You can use it to add the OS/2 boot manager or a Linux 
.    partition.  Bootpart 2.50 is free and also compatible with Windows NT, 
.    Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
. 
. Q. How do I get Linux to work with Bootpart 2.50 using the lilo boot loader?
. 
. A. Method 1: Install Lilo on the MBR and BootPart on the First Sector
.    Method 2: Install BootPart on the MBR and Lilo on the First Sector
. 
.    For Linux, you can install Lilo at the beginning of the Linux partition
.    and then add the Linux partition with BootPart:
. 
.    When you install Linux or run liloconfig, select "Superblock of the root 
.    linux partition" as the location for Lilo. On the Linux box, this added 
.    the line "boot=/dev/sdb4" into the file /etc/lilo.conf
. 
.    This method puts Bootpart on the MBR and lilo on the First Sector.  It is
.    possible to have lilo on the MBR and Bootpart on the First Sector also.
. 
. Q. How do I get Linux to work with Bootpart using Grub (linux + winNT/XP)?
. 
. A. Method 1: Install GRUB on the MBR and BootPart on the First Sector
.    Method 2: Install BootPart on the MBR and GRUB on the First Sector
. 
.    There is more information on using Method 2, however, I prefer Method 1.
. 
.    Method 1 will cause the PC to boot to the GRUB menu first, offering the
.    options of Linux or Microsoft.  When Microsoft is selected the 'NTLDR'
.    bootloader or BootPart displays a menu with two Microsoft Operating 
.    systems.
. 
.    (this information shall be revised, it is designed for 3 os's)
. 
.    (proceed at your own risk!)
. 
. 
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