3 boot managers/OSes

tydeman, try booting os/2 from the Vista bootloader by adding a *BSD* entry in EasyBCD pointing to the OS/2 partition. Does that work?

After I got EasyBCD 2 beta working, I deleted and re-added entires.
The *BSD* entry (for the os/2 boot mngr) got me a blank screen with a cursor in the top left corner when I tried to boot it. So, that did not work.

Addendum:

Ok, so hold right there :tongueout:oint: Don't reboot that computer now that you set the (S) partition to "active" instead of the 7 MB partition. :wink: Now, while still in Vista, open up EasyBCD, go to the "Manage Bootloader" section, and with the "Reinstall the Vista bootloader" option selected, click on "Write MBR". Be aware that this will overwrite your eCS MBR with the Vista one, but that is the probably the better thing to do anyway in your case, to have Vista controlling the boot. I have had no experience with eCS or its bootloader, so I couldn't advise you on that, but I do know how to get OSes booting from the Vista bootloader, which would probably be best.

Too late. But, I did get back to a state where S: was active. I replaced the MBR as you requested. I can boot the Vista boot loader, which can then boot Vista. The Vista boot loader also can boot the Linux GRUB, which can then boot Linux. If I try to boot eCS boot mngr from the Vista boot, I get a blank screen with the cursor in the top left corner. Ctrl-Alt-Del gets me back to the Vista boot loader. If I then boot the Linux GRUB and have it set the eCS boot mngr partition as active and reboot, I get a blank screen with a cursor in the top left corner. Ctrl-Alt-Del gets me back to the blank screen (I no longer have a working boot loader). If I then boot a CD with DFSee, I can set the S: partition as active and boot the Vista boot loader. DFSee warns me that the MBR appears to not be a I13X capable one and that the eCS systems and eCS boot loader may not work.
 
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Alright...so if you can't boot into eCS with the BSD option in EasyBCD, how about trying NeoGrub? :wink:
Go into EasyBCD>Add/Remove Entries>NeoGrub tab>Install NeoGrub>Configure, and in the menu.lst that opens when you click on Configure, enter the following text at the end:

#This entry boots eCS
default 0
timeout 10

title eCS
root (hdx,y)
chainloader +1
boot
where the "x" and the "y" in the root line are replaced with the correct drive and partition number for that 7 MB partition, which contains your eCS boot files. :wink:
The "(hdx,y)" syntax begins the count for both drives and partitions starting at 0, not 1, btw. Now save it, reboot, and test the new entry, and see if it works.

Cheers,

Jake

Addendum:

Here's a guide that might help if what I posted above doens't work:
Dual Boot - EDM2
 
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>Go into EasyBCD>Add/Remove Entries>NeoGrub tab>Install NeoGrub>Configure,

When I tried doing that, I was informed that NeoGrub was already installed.

and in the menu.lst that opens when you click on Configure, enter the following text at the end:
....
I added similar commands to do a makeactive and reboot (which I know works from my Linux GRUB experiments).

However, when I restarted Vista, my boot menu only shows the existing Vista, Linux GRUB, and eCS test items. I did not see a new item that was just added.
What am I missing?

Also, I have upgraded to beta build 60.

I redid my hard disk layout. I now have 3 primary partitions at the front of the disk, all below cylinder 1024. Part 0 is Vista BM, Part 1 is Linux GRUB BM, Part 2 is eCS BM. The OSes are logical partitions (had to re-install, which is why this took some time to reply to your last suggestion).

My impression is other people got OS/2 to work with EasyBCD if the OS/2 partition was a primary below cylinder 1024. My eCS is a logical partition above cylinder 1024.

Addendum:

In one of my eCS tests, I had added a Linux Grub entry and checked the GRUB is not installed to MBR/bootsector. That appears to have caused NeoGrub to be installed and given a basic configuration. Anyway, I removed that entry and add a NeoGrub entry (that matched your previous instructions). I then added several menu iteams (all similar to what I have done in Linux GRUB). I get the same behaviour. I can mark any primary partition active and reboot and use the boot manager to get to an OS. But, I cannot chain to any eCS related partition (boot manager or OS). At this point, I think there is some magic checking going on in the eCS related boot records that check for extended int13 support, and if they do not find it, they do not boot.

Addendum:

In one of my eCS tests, I had added a Linux Grub entry and checked the GRUB is not installed to MBR/bootsector. That appears to have caused NeoGrub to be installed and given a basic configuration. Anyway, I removed that entry and add a NeoGrub entry (that matched your previous instructions). I then added several menu iteams (all similar to what I have done in Linux GRUB). I get the same behaviour. I can mark any primary partition active and reboot and use the boot manager to get to an OS. But, I cannot chain to any eCS related partition (boot manager or OS). At this point, I think there is some magic checking going on in the eCS related boot records that check for extended int13 support, and if they do not find it, they do not boot.
 
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What was the exact code you tried in your NeoGrub menu.lst (the whole contents, please)? How about posting the output of the following commands run from EasyBCD's Power Console in the "Useful Utilities" section:

Code:
MbrFix /drive 0 listpartitions
bootpart
As well as a fresh screenshot from Vista of your Disk Management screen so we can get a clearer picture of what is going on...:wink:

Jake
 
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Grub's menu.lst:
default=0
timeout=15
title Vista-BM via reboot
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
reboot
title Linux GRUB BM via reboot
root (hd0,1)
makeactive
reboot
title eCS-BM via reboot
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
makeactive
reboot
title .eCS-BM via chain -- FAILS
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader --force +1
boot
title .eCS <1024 -- FAILS
rootnoverify (hd0,4)
chainloader --force +1
boot
title .eCS Prod -- FAILS
rootnoverify (hd0,15)
chainloader --force +1
boot
title .eCS Test -- FAILS
rootnoverify (hd0,18)
chainloader --force +1
boot
title .eCS Maint -- FAILS
rootnoverify (hd0,19)
chainloader --force +1
boot


C:\Program Files\NeoSmart Technologies\EasyBCD\bin>MbrFix /drive 0 listpartitions
# Boot Size (MB) Type
1 Yes 2008 7 NTFS or HPFS
2 125 131 Linux native (usually ext2fs)
3 7 10 OS/2 Boot Manager
4 150358 5 DOS 3.3+ Extended Partition

C:\Program Files\NeoSmart Technologies\EasyBCD\bin>bootpart
Boot Partition 2.60 for WinNT/2K/XP (c)1995-2005 G. Vollant (info@winimage.com)
WEB : http://www.winimage.com and http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm
Add partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader
Run "bootpart /?" for more information
Physical number of disk 0 : df5ee900
0 : C:* type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 2056288 KB, Lba Pos=63
1 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 128520 KB, Lba Pos=4112640
2 : C: type=a (OS/2 Boot Manag.), size= 7560 KB, Lba Pos=4369680
3 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 153966960 KB, Lba Pos=4626720
4 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=4626783
5 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 3598560 KB, Lba Pos=11823840
6 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=11823903
7 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 3598560 KB, Lba Pos=19020960
8 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=19021023
9 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 3598560 KB, Lba Pos=26218080
10 : C: type=82 (Linux swap), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=26218143
11 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 3598560 KB, Lba Pos=33415200
12 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=33415263
13 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 3598560 KB, Lba Pos=40612320
14 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 3598528 KB, Lba Pos=40612383
15 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 16450560 KB, Lba Pos=47809440
16 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 16450528 KB, Lba Pos=47809503
17 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 1028160 KB, Lba Pos=80710560
18 : C: type=6 (BIGDOS Fat16), size= 1028128 KB, Lba Pos=80710623
19 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 1028160 KB, Lba Pos=82766880
20 : C: type=6 (BIGDOS Fat16), size= 1028128 KB, Lba Pos=82766943
21 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 2056320 KB, Lba Pos=84823200
22 : C: type=6 (BIGDOS Fat16), size= 2056288 KB, Lba Pos=84823263
23 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 4112640 KB, Lba Pos=88935840
24 : C: type=b (Win95 Fat32), size= 4112608 KB, Lba Pos=88935903
25 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 2056320 KB, Lba Pos=97161120
26 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 2056288 KB, Lba Pos=97161183
27 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 4112640 KB, Lba Pos=101273760
28 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 4112608 KB, Lba Pos=101273823
29 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 2056320 KB, Lba Pos=109499040
30 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 2056288 KB, Lba Pos=109499103
31 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 2056320 KB, Lba Pos=113611680
32 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 2056288 KB, Lba Pos=113611743
33 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 1028160 KB, Lba Pos=117724320
34 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 1028128 KB, Lba Pos=117724383
35 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 49351680 KB, Lba Pos=119780640
36 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 49351648 KB, Lba Pos=119780703
37 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 16450560 KB, Lba Pos=218484000
38 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 16450528 KB, Lba Pos=218484063
39 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 128520 KB, Lba Pos=251385120
40 : C: type=83 (Linux native), size= 128488 KB, Lba Pos=251385183
41 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 8225280 KB, Lba Pos=296110080
42 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 8225248 KB, Lba Pos=296110143
 

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Ok, everything appears to be configured correctly, and pointed at the correct places, from what I can tell from the posted info...:wink: So that means then that the eCS boot files (contained on the 7 MB primary partition) must be configured wrong. But, since I don't have any experience with that bootloader, I wouldn't be able to tell you how to configure it properly. I will leave that to CG or someone else...

BTW, you have a *crapload* of logical partitions on a single drive! :brows: You must have a *ton* of space on the drive, if you partitioned your disk that many times. :grinning:

Jake

EDIT: Also, when you installed your eCS operating system, did you use the LVM option?
 
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