Oh god's of quadbooting, I pray upon thee for assistance...
Okay, here's the deal. I've scowered the internet and forms for how to do this and find varied answers and no answer to my current problem.
I decided to start a quad boot system. Vista, XP, XP, Ubuntu. I loaded Vista, XP and XP without problems. With the assistance of EasyBCD, I was able to setup booting for all 3 OS's. However after installing Ubuntu, setting up an entry in EasyBCD to load the partition, and actually selecting it to boot, I get the following message on the screen:
BootPart 2.60 Bootsector (c) 1993-2005 Gilles Vollant http://www.winimage.com/botpart.htm
Loading new partition
Bootsector from C.H. Hochstatter
Cannot load from harddisk.
Insert Systemdisk and press any key.
Initially I thought it may be due to a partitioning problem. I've seen arguments as to partitioning and don't know if this may be it or not. I've tried a couple things too and get teh same error. I've also loaded back from the Live CD in an attempt to see the files on the disk to see if this may shed some light, but don't know enough about how the loading happens to troubleshoot here... Also, depending on if I use the partitioner in Vista, Ubuntu or the installer, it gives different indications of partitions and free space, etc. Even different indications on what's a logical drive or primary...
I've read a great deal about partitioning online and figured I had it down. I know that each disk can have 4 primary partitions and many other logical partitions within an extended partition. Now, something I'm questioning is, assuming I've got 4 OS's and am in the need of a 6th partition (2 for linux, swap and ext3) for files, does the extended partition take up a primary slot, as indicated in the Ubuntu partitioner? Also, from what I've read, each OS should be setup on a primary partition. When installing Windows XP, I assumed it would be installed as a primary partition (giving it doesn't give you a choice)... However, after looking at any of the partitioners, it shows them as logical partitions under the extended partition which seems to be occupying the 2nd primary partition slot. None the less, they still load in this configuration. So, when I went down the road of installing Ubuntu initially, i figured since it would work for Windows, why not Linux? Loading Grub on that partition, setup my Swap partition and viola. Well, not so much. So, I deleted the 2 linux partitions and started with a primary linux (making it primary slot 3) and a swap partition. Still no luck, same error. I've tried pointing EasyBCD to various partitions, trying to get it to work; no luck. EasyBCD shows the partitions differently as well. The Vista partitioner shows the 2 linux partitions at the end, as both primary partitions. EasyBCD shows them as partitions 5 (Linux native) and 6 (Linux swap).
Nothing too frustrating, but I'm becoming more and more interested in Linux and would like to start using it. Most of the suggestions talk about letting Vista handle the MBR and just install Grub or Lilo, etc under it's specific partition. This isn't prooving to work very well. So, I'll list out my configuration, so anyone can take a stab at what may be wrong, or suggest an alternate route. I'd prefer not having to reload everything for the sake of doing so, if not necessary (in the case of logical vs primary partions), but am up for it if necessary.
Single 160GB HD on a laptop.
Partitioned as such (or as best I can figure):
hd0,0 MBR (if I read correctly from forum info)
hd0,1 Vista partition
hd0,2 Extended partition
hd0,3 Ubuntu ext3
hd0,4 nothing
hd0,5 XP install 1
hd0,6 XP install 2
hd0,7 Swap file
(I may be wrong on this, as I think the swap file may have installed as a primary partition under hd0,4; but would have to look at the Ubuntu partitioner again to confirm. Once you select "swap" from the install, it doesn't give you an option for "primary" or "logical".
EasyBCD setup on Vista to write it's data as such (which appears to be working, at least for Vista and XP).
View Settings from EasyBCD (transpossed by typing what I see from the laptop
):
There are a total of 4 entries in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader TimeOut: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista
Entry #1
Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows
Entry #2
Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {I'll type it if asked for troubleshooting}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr
Entry #3
Name: Microsoft Windows XP Test
BCD ID: {I'll type it if asked for troubleshooting}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr
Entry #4
Name: Linux Ubuntu
BCD ID: {Again, I'll type if necessary}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\nst_grub.mbr
I'd like to keep the order if possible for old legacy programs I work with that may depend on drive letter assignments in Windows. May not matter too much, as if Windows is setup in the fashion I've laid out, it would only matter if I loaded partitions differently betwen XP, XP and Vista.
I also already undestand that Linux has issues between NTFS and only being able to read it (unless you get something else that supposedly works to write to it...). I will probably setup my files partition as FAT32, so this shouldn't matter. I'm not resizing partitions, so shrinking etc isn't an issue. I'll just wipe out something and start fresh if necessary. If I need to install Grub to handle the MBR, then that's a possibility, but am not sure the best way to do this and if it's necessary. If this problem can easily be fixed by modifying Grub, etc then I'd like to try that first.
I'm assuming that the problem lies in EasyBCD not pointing to where Grub was installed on the Linux partition. Now that I've booted from the Live CD for Ubuntu, and am in GParted, I'll list what it says for partitions (Omitting unallocated space):
/dev/sda1 ntfs flags = boot
/dev/sda2 extended flags = lba
/dev/sda2 ntfs no flags
/dev/sda6 ntfs no flags
/dev/sda3 ext3 no flags
/dev/sda4 linux-swap no flags (Damn, it is setup for primary)
From looking at the file browser, I can see that under the "Places, 'disk'" area, there is no folder for "\nst" as indicated in entry #4 EasyBCD read out above. There is a "\boot" folder, with files and a "\grub" folder in it. Should this entry be pointing to this folder or is my install of Grub incorrect? I can list out these files if needed.
Any stabs at this are welcome. I'm sorry for the mass amount of info above to sort through, but I'd like to give as much ammo as possible regarding the problem. Too much info is better than not enough. Unless it just confuses... Please let me know if there is any debug info to grab anywhere, or any other info you need.
Thanks in advance!
Okay, here's the deal. I've scowered the internet and forms for how to do this and find varied answers and no answer to my current problem.
I decided to start a quad boot system. Vista, XP, XP, Ubuntu. I loaded Vista, XP and XP without problems. With the assistance of EasyBCD, I was able to setup booting for all 3 OS's. However after installing Ubuntu, setting up an entry in EasyBCD to load the partition, and actually selecting it to boot, I get the following message on the screen:
BootPart 2.60 Bootsector (c) 1993-2005 Gilles Vollant http://www.winimage.com/botpart.htm
Loading new partition
Bootsector from C.H. Hochstatter
Cannot load from harddisk.
Insert Systemdisk and press any key.
Initially I thought it may be due to a partitioning problem. I've seen arguments as to partitioning and don't know if this may be it or not. I've tried a couple things too and get teh same error. I've also loaded back from the Live CD in an attempt to see the files on the disk to see if this may shed some light, but don't know enough about how the loading happens to troubleshoot here... Also, depending on if I use the partitioner in Vista, Ubuntu or the installer, it gives different indications of partitions and free space, etc. Even different indications on what's a logical drive or primary...
I've read a great deal about partitioning online and figured I had it down. I know that each disk can have 4 primary partitions and many other logical partitions within an extended partition. Now, something I'm questioning is, assuming I've got 4 OS's and am in the need of a 6th partition (2 for linux, swap and ext3) for files, does the extended partition take up a primary slot, as indicated in the Ubuntu partitioner? Also, from what I've read, each OS should be setup on a primary partition. When installing Windows XP, I assumed it would be installed as a primary partition (giving it doesn't give you a choice)... However, after looking at any of the partitioners, it shows them as logical partitions under the extended partition which seems to be occupying the 2nd primary partition slot. None the less, they still load in this configuration. So, when I went down the road of installing Ubuntu initially, i figured since it would work for Windows, why not Linux? Loading Grub on that partition, setup my Swap partition and viola. Well, not so much. So, I deleted the 2 linux partitions and started with a primary linux (making it primary slot 3) and a swap partition. Still no luck, same error. I've tried pointing EasyBCD to various partitions, trying to get it to work; no luck. EasyBCD shows the partitions differently as well. The Vista partitioner shows the 2 linux partitions at the end, as both primary partitions. EasyBCD shows them as partitions 5 (Linux native) and 6 (Linux swap).
Nothing too frustrating, but I'm becoming more and more interested in Linux and would like to start using it. Most of the suggestions talk about letting Vista handle the MBR and just install Grub or Lilo, etc under it's specific partition. This isn't prooving to work very well. So, I'll list out my configuration, so anyone can take a stab at what may be wrong, or suggest an alternate route. I'd prefer not having to reload everything for the sake of doing so, if not necessary (in the case of logical vs primary partions), but am up for it if necessary.
Single 160GB HD on a laptop.
Partitioned as such (or as best I can figure):
hd0,0 MBR (if I read correctly from forum info)
hd0,1 Vista partition
hd0,2 Extended partition
hd0,3 Ubuntu ext3
hd0,4 nothing
hd0,5 XP install 1
hd0,6 XP install 2
hd0,7 Swap file
(I may be wrong on this, as I think the swap file may have installed as a primary partition under hd0,4; but would have to look at the Ubuntu partitioner again to confirm. Once you select "swap" from the install, it doesn't give you an option for "primary" or "logical".
EasyBCD setup on Vista to write it's data as such (which appears to be working, at least for Vista and XP).
View Settings from EasyBCD (transpossed by typing what I see from the laptop
):There are a total of 4 entries in the Vista Bootloader.
Bootloader TimeOut: 30 seconds.
Default OS: Microsoft Windows Vista
Entry #1
Name: Microsoft Windows Vista
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe
Windows Directory: \Windows
Entry #2
Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {I'll type it if asked for troubleshooting}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr
Entry #3
Name: Microsoft Windows XP Test
BCD ID: {I'll type it if asked for troubleshooting}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr
Entry #4
Name: Linux Ubuntu
BCD ID: {Again, I'll type if necessary}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\nst_grub.mbr
I'd like to keep the order if possible for old legacy programs I work with that may depend on drive letter assignments in Windows. May not matter too much, as if Windows is setup in the fashion I've laid out, it would only matter if I loaded partitions differently betwen XP, XP and Vista.
I also already undestand that Linux has issues between NTFS and only being able to read it (unless you get something else that supposedly works to write to it...). I will probably setup my files partition as FAT32, so this shouldn't matter. I'm not resizing partitions, so shrinking etc isn't an issue. I'll just wipe out something and start fresh if necessary. If I need to install Grub to handle the MBR, then that's a possibility, but am not sure the best way to do this and if it's necessary. If this problem can easily be fixed by modifying Grub, etc then I'd like to try that first.
I'm assuming that the problem lies in EasyBCD not pointing to where Grub was installed on the Linux partition. Now that I've booted from the Live CD for Ubuntu, and am in GParted, I'll list what it says for partitions (Omitting unallocated space):
/dev/sda1 ntfs flags = boot
/dev/sda2 extended flags = lba
/dev/sda2 ntfs no flags
/dev/sda6 ntfs no flags
/dev/sda3 ext3 no flags
/dev/sda4 linux-swap no flags (Damn, it is setup for primary)
From looking at the file browser, I can see that under the "Places, 'disk'" area, there is no folder for "\nst" as indicated in entry #4 EasyBCD read out above. There is a "\boot" folder, with files and a "\grub" folder in it. Should this entry be pointing to this folder or is my install of Grub incorrect? I can list out these files if needed.
Any stabs at this are welcome. I'm sorry for the mass amount of info above to sort through, but I'd like to give as much ammo as possible regarding the problem. Too much info is better than not enough. Unless it just confuses...
Please let me know if there is any debug info to grab anywhere, or any other info you need.Thanks in advance!
