Dual Boot Windows XP and Linux Mint

Clanket

Hi folks,

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

I've been messing around with Linux the last few weeks and have settled on Linux Mint for the moment. I'd have it as the sole operating system on my Desktop (HP-Compaq dx 2200 microtower) but my wife needs to use the Desktop to use some Windows programs.

So I decided I'd go the Dual Boot route. I re-installed Windows XP SP2 on the machine then inserted the Linux Mint DVD I'd burned previously. Once Mint was running I chose to install it and when the menu option came up I picked the first one - Install alongside Windows. I re-sized the HD 50:50 and went on from there. When everything finished I re-booted expecting to get a choice of what OS to run. However, this did not happen and Linux Mint loaded by itself.

So back to the drawing board. I did more research and found this website (it was about Windows 7 and Mint but I guessed it would be similar). I followed all the instructions but when I tried running EasyBCD I first got errors about the .NET version I had, then when I installed .Net 3.0 I got some errors saying it would not run in the XP environment. So again, back to the drawing board.

I looked around again and found this website. I followed all the instructions to the tee but again, when I boot the machine it boots straight into Linux Mint and I don't get an option to choose Windows.

I'm at a dead end now and don't know what to do.

Can anyone shed any light on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any help.

druidhill

Given your requirements and the fact that you have just re-installed both OS I would suggest you might be better off to go back to square one and:

Install XP.
From within XP:
Install Virtualbox or VMWare
Create a virtual machine and install Linux Mint.

This way you do not need to worry about dual-booting problems (which can be tricky and varied).

I'm not familiar with Linux mint and the boot configuration manager it uses, so perhaps my advice is biased. Still reckon it could be the cleanest way to get up and running with both.

If getting to grips with the whole dual boot process is of interest to you, there is nothing to stop you setting this up virtually and getting it to work correctly, so you learn and don't mess up your initial XP machine.

humbert

I haven't installed Mint before so I can only give general advice(others here will probably be able to be much more helpful).

Dual booting in Linux is reasonably straightforward. I'm a little surprised it wasn't configured automatically but it's no big deal.

I don't know if Mint uses grub or grub2, but assuming grub2 it would mean adding an entry for windows like you see here:
http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/341

There are probably GUI applications that come with it to make this easier but editing /boot/grub/grub.cfg really isn't that bad.

Clanket

druidhill wrote: »

...

Thanks DruidHill. I've been messing around with VirtualBox too but it's not the solution I'm looking for. If all else fails and I can't get it sorted I may have to go that route.

humbert wrote: »

...

Thanks Humbert, I'll have a go at this later. I was surprised myself that it didn't do it automatically. All the tutorials on the net seem to indicate that it should.

I've just completed Year 1 of my Computing course so I'm reasonably new to boot loaders etc. I'm wondering is the problem with the second tutorial I used, the fact that he says the "Device for boot loader installation" should be /dev/sda which is the windows partition.

I'm pulling my hair out. Hopefully your suggestion works. If anyone else has anything to add, please do.

humbert

Clanket wrote: »

I've just completed Year 1 of my Computing course so I'm reasonably new to boot loaders etc. I'm wondering is the problem with the second tutorial I used, the fact that he says the "Device for boot loader installation" should be /dev/sda which is the windows partition.

In linux the actual harddisks are called sda sdb sdc (or hda hdb hdc). I.e. each harddisk or usb key gets a letter, in the order the system detected them.

The partitions then get numbers. So sda1 is the first partition on the first harddisk and sda2 is the second partition on the first harddisk, etc.

Grub is usually installed to the mbr(very beginning of the harddisk, master boot record) so in your case it is sda. This is not the windows partition(that would probably be sda1) and it is correct.

It is possible to install grub to a partition but don't worry about that yet. I just mention it in case you see it somewhere else and think there is something wrong.

Oh, I should mention that grub names them differently. In grub it is hd0, hd1, hd2. Ie sda = hd0, sdb = hd1, and the partitions again get numbers which start at 1 in grub2 (what I assume you are using) and start at 0 in grub(the old one). so sda1 = (hd0,1), sdb1 = (hd1,1), sdb2 = (hd1,2) for example.

Oh and grub is fussy about spaces so don't do (hd1, 1) or it won't work.

Stuxnet

your installing grub to the wrong place is all ... well not you but Mint is

best bet now that you have setup your partitions already, install again,
select "manual" instead of "install beside windows",

youll have to set your mint partition to format & ext4 and / mount point, i wouldnt worry bout /home or /swap partitions till you get more familiar with that type of setup

then you'll see a drop down box as to where grub bootloader gets installed to, select the first place (top of the list), ive fallin fowl to mint picking the wrong place before, it happens,..you should have a dual boot after doing this

Clanket

Thanks Stuxnet I'll have a go when I get home and let you know how I get on

human 19

Your 1st post looks perfectly okay to me. Have you done anythine else yet? If not, post back...there may be easier options with your current setup with little extra work!

Clanket

This is doing my head in now. I'm going to post exactly what I'm doing with pictures and see if anyone can tell me what's going on.

I re-loaded Windows last night as I thought I'd give it one more go the standard way before I started getting into editing the Grub as per Humbert's post.

I'll post as soon as I can.

druidhill

You seem to be hopping from one to the other and back again - pick one and stick with it (the Windows boot config/loader or Linux). Decide that first and then people will help you from there.

Clanket

druidhill wrote: »

You seem to be hopping from one to the other and back again - pick one and stick with it (the Windows boot config/loader or Linux). Decide that first and then people will help you from there.

Please tell me how I decide? I kind of get what you're saying but I've no idea how I choose. I just want a dual boot. I don't care if it's the Windows boot config or the Linux boot config.

I'll try do the pics etc tonight.

humbert

Clanket wrote: »

Please tell me how I decide? I kind of get what you're saying but I've no idea how I choose. I just want a dual boot. I don't care if it's the Windows boot config or the Linux boot config.

I'll try do the pics etc tonight.

I think you can boot linux though windows but I'm not sure. The usual is to use linux to boot windows, i.e. give you a choice. Linux uses grub to boot.

The OS you install second is the one that will be doing the booting. Linux usually is aware if windows is present and gives you the option. Windows assumes it's alone and doesn't. Don't install Windows after linux or your computer will definitely boot to windows alone.

I've a feeling, as Stuxnet says, there is some option during the Linux setup that you are missing. Probably the option on where to install the bootloader/grub.

kierank01

The way that I do it is a little roundabout, but it works for me. you need an extra harddrive temporally.

I install windows first, then boot into gparted, with an external hd plugged in, and copy the widows partition out to the external hd.

Then I install linux I put /boot as /dev/sda1, then create an extended partition(/dev/sda2), and put a swap(sda5) and /(sda6) in that.
i install grup on the MBR (/dev/sda)

Then I copy the windows partition back to the top of the internal hd (sda3)
The windows install is in a different partition from where it was installed, so I have to boot from the windows dvd, and do a repair.

Then I have to put an extera few lines into the menu.lst file:

timeout 5

title Windows1
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +1

humbert

That seems like an enormously complicated way of doing it. I haven't used extended partitions, is that why it's necessary?

Just to reassure the OP, that definitely wont be necessary!

kierank01

humbert wrote: »

That seems like an enormously complicated way of doing it. I haven't used extended partitions, is that why it's necessary?

Just to reassure the OP, that definitely wont be necessary!

I agree its complicated, I think I do it because I can :P



Here is another option.

If mint is booting on its own, without giving an option to choose OS's, then you need to edit your bootloader settings.

If windows is still installed, and you are using grub, then edit the menu.lst file in the /boot folder

You need to add a timeout entry before all the 'title' entrys, then add a new title entry like below

timeout 5
....

title Windows1
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +1

Clanket

I'm in the middle of trying again and writing out all the steps. If I end up with Mint loading without a choice, is that exactly what I need to type? I'm a complete noob to Linux so I'll need precise steps.

Clanket

Okay so I re-installed Windows XP SP2 and immediately upgraded to SP3. I then installed MiniTool Partition Wizard Home as per this tutorial. Here's a screen shot before I re-sized the Windows partition.



I then went to install two new partitions as per the tutorial. One thing I noticed that differs from the tutorial is I got the following screen which he doesn't say anything about. I chose not to assign a drive letter or path.



Here's a screenshot of the partitions on the HD before I installed the Mint disk.



So then I installed the disk and restarted the computer. It booted into Mint and one of the icons on the desktop was Install Linux Mint. I opened it then got to Installation type and chose Something else. That brought me to the following screen.



I followed the instructions in the tutorial I've already linked and am now at this screen.



The last time I done this exactly and pressed Install now, the machine just re-booted into Mint.

Should I change any of the settings before I proceed?

Should the boot loader be installed where it's set at?

I'm going to wait to see what people think before I go on.

Thanks to everyone for your help so far.

Stuxnet

that looks spot on

why are you re-installing xp every time ? not necessary as its doesn't go anywhere and must of taken hours with all the updates !!

I dont know why grub isnt picking up xp .....

open a terminal and run these commands, and it'll rescan for you

sudo os-prober

sudo update-grub

hopefully you'll see some acknowledgement if it picks up xp, & reboot

sudo reboot

human 19

That looks perfecly fine to me.
Mint is going to load the bootloader at the start of sda which is where your computer will look, to ses what OSssss it can boot into.

Personally , I wouldnt bother with any windows partitioning tools....simply because there is no need to. Just use the Linux ones. I know whereof I speak.

so Mint is formatting /dev/sda3 as its root (/) partition...correct.

It is installling the bootlaoder in /dev/sda which is correct as you want the mint bootloader to be the one you see when you press the power button.

/dev/sda means thye start of the disk where the computer has to look to see what op systems it can load.

In 6 month's time , when you have your head around this and want to rejig your computer , you will install each distro's bootloader onto their own partition via that drop down list, and leave /dev/sda for your main distro...but lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet... you still have to be convinced of how easy this actually is.

When you say it automatically booted into mint....was ther a delay? did you see a list of whihc OS to boot into...I am wondering if the timeoutr was too short for you to choose which OS you wanted.

humbert

If you're left with the same situation again, where it's booting to Linux with no choice, I'd be interested to see the contents of /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

From the terminal: gksudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg

If you're getting pissed off it might be worth just going with Ubuntu.

I'd also echo what Stuxnet said about not needing to reinstall windows each time and what human 19 said about not bothering with windows partitioning tools.

kierank01

Clanket wrote: »

I'm in the middle of trying again and writing out all the steps. If I end up with Mint loading without a choice, is that exactly what I need to type? I'm a complete noob to Linux so I'll need precise steps.

Post your partition table, and menu.lst (sometimes grub.cfg), then leave it until we get back

partition table:

[kieran@lenovo-arch Documents]$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb89167a7

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048   769699839   384848896    5  Extended
/dev/sda2   *   769699840   769904639      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3       769904640   926574591    78334976    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda5            4096     3082239     1539072   83  Linux
/dev/sda6         3084288    10749951     3832832   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7        10752000   769699839   379473920   83  Linux
[kieran@lenovo-arch Documents]$ 

                                      
[kieran@lenovo-arch Documents]$ cat /boot/grub/menu.lst                                                        
# Config file for GRUB - The GNU GRand Unified Bootloader                                                      
# /boot/grub/menu.lst                                                                                          
                                                                                                               
# DEVICE NAME CONVERSIONS                                                                                      
#                                                                                                              
#  Linux           Grub                                                                                        
# -------------------------                                                                                    
#  /dev/fd0        (fd0)                                                                                       
#  /dev/sda        (hd0)                                                                                       
#  /dev/sdb2       (hd1,1)                                                                                     
#  /dev/sda3       (hd0,2)                                                                                     
#                                                                                                              
                                                                                                               
#  for more details and different resolutions see
#  https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GRUB#Framebuffer_resolution

# general configuration:
timeout   5
default   0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue

# boot sections follow
# each is implicitly numbered from 0 in the order of appearance below
#
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
#
#-*

# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda7 ro vga=773 resume=/dev/sda6
initrd /initramfs-linux.img

# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,4)
kernel /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda7 ro
initrd /initramfs-linux-fallback.img

# (2) Windows
title Windows7
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1
[kieran@lenovo-arch Documents]$ 

Clanket

Right folks, I've figured it out.

When I turn the machine on it first goes to a screen saying 'boot from cd'. This flicks on and off for 2-3 seconds.

The next screen is then a notice in the middle saying the following:-

Cannot display this video mode
Optimum resolution 1280 x 1024 60hz


I've just been leaving this screen and after about 20 seconds Mint has been booting. However, this time I pressed the down arrow and then return while on this screen and it went to some test screen.

I re-started and the next time pressed down twice then return, again another test screen.

I re-started again and pressed down 3 times and return and low and behold it booted into Windows. Thank fook for that. This has been driving me mental for the best part of 2 weeks.

So does anyone know how I get rid of the notification screen and show the actual OS login choice screen?

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed.

Al.

human 19

Looks like when you booted from the cd first time, you permanently changed your BIOS to boot from cd first. First you should change that back to boot from the hard disk.
I dont know if that will solve the issue of your screen not being able to show the list.

Within Mint settings, is there a way to change the boot screen so you can see the list?

Johnboy1951

Clanket wrote: »

Right folks, I've figured it out.

When I turn the machine on it first goes to a screen saying 'boot from cd'. This flicks on and off for 2-3 seconds.

The next screen is then a notice in the middle saying the following:-

Cannot display this video mode
Optimum resolution 1280 x 1024 60hz


I've just been leaving this screen and after about 20 seconds Mint has been booting. However, this time I pressed the down arrow and then return while on this screen and it went to some test screen.

I re-started and the next time pressed down twice then return, again another test screen.

I re-started again and pressed down 3 times and return and low and behold it booted into Windows. Thank fook for that. This has been driving me mental for the best part of 2 weeks.

So does anyone know how I get rid of the notification screen and show the actual OS login choice screen?

Thanks again to everyone who's contributed.

Al.

You have a problem displaying the graphics of the boot screen ....... the resolution is not playing nice with your monitor.

I don't use Mint (or Grub2), but in its Grub config file there should be some entry for the graphic which could be commented out, or maybe an entry could be inserted to reduce the graphic resolution, or maybe even to show the boot screen without any graphic.

All the entries are there as expected, as you have proven, just not able to display.

Someone with some knowledge of Grub2 should be able to help with that graphic problem.

Clanket

Cheers. If anyone knows what I need to change or comment out please let me know.

I haven't a clue about Grub etc yet.

Clanket

human 19 wrote: »

Within Mint settings, is there a way to change the boot screen so you can see the list?

I'll have a little poke around tonight if nobody knows exactly how to do it.

Johnboy1951

This might be what you are looking for ...

Grub Customizer from the Mint 12 "Tips and Tricks Guide" was the answer. Using the latest Grub Customizer, I just changed the menu screen resolution to 800x600 and all is working as intended.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=95300

Clanket

Sweet, I'll try that later JohnBoy. Thanks a mil

Johnboy1951

I hope it is what you need ...... I use PCLinuxOS so am not familiar with Mint

Clanket

I got the solution from a poster on the Linux Mint forums. I just needed to do the following:-

I suspect you get just a blank screen until mint shows up. if that is the case you need to edit a file called
/etc/defaults/grub.

you can do that by going to a terminal and typing this command

sudo gedit

give your password when asked.
when gedit come up open up the above mentioned file
scrol down to a line that looks like this

#GRUB_GFXMODE=800x640

change that by deleting the # sign in front and change the resolution to 1024x768
so it looks like this:

GRUB_GFXMODE=1024x768


save the file and then in the terminal type this command:

sudo update-grub


then reboot you should now have a menu to select windows or mint.

This worked perfectly and I can now see the screen to choose which OS to log into. Problem solved. Thanks again to everyone who posted.

ouncer

i have a problem i'm flummuxed with. so system would not boot from hard disk or from cd. Get bsod with stop 7b. So change hard drive (old hard drive had vista loaded, new one has linux mint 9 isadora loaded). So the linux system loads fine but if i shove in a windows xp installation disk it gives me the same stop 7b bsod. So I suspect that the original hard drive is probably not shagged. But I'm dammed if i know how how to get my original laptop back up and working. Any help much appreciated