Booting RedHat and Vista with EasyBCD

J

jeriryan

Member
Hi. I found instructions in a previous thread from Computer Guru for booting with RedHat and Vista with EasyBCD but they don't quite work. Here they are:

What you need to do:
1) Install Vista (check)
2) Install EasyBCD (check)
3) Boot from RH dvd and install RH.
While installing RH, when prompted to install GRUB make *sure* you tell it to install GRUB to the *bootsector* of the Partition you are installing RH to (opposed to the MBR or the drive that RH is being installed to).
4) Reboot when setup is complete. Make sure DVD is empty. You will end up in Vista.
5) Run EasyBCD -> Add/Remove Entries -> Linux -> Drive X Partition Y

I followed all those instructions, but when I actually try to boot into RedHat, I get this message:
Bootpart 2.60
Loading new partition
cannot load from harddisk
insert system disk and press any key

I also tried using NeoGrub, and tried "GRUB isn't installed to the bootsector". The last one brings me to a prompt eventually that says <grub>, but I don't know what to do at that point since I'm a Linux noob. What should I do?
 
No, I created another partition on my vista drive for it. There are two places that I could point EasyBCD to for Redhat, Partition 3 (Linux Native), and Partition 4 (???) which is 9 GB and I think is the actual operating system. I think RedHat created partition 3, and that's where I told it to install grub. I tried both of them, and they both lead to the same error.
 
OK, here's the thing (I've been meaning to post about it for a while, but it's a rather complicated issue):

GRUB 0.97 has a known bug where if you ask it to install on a different drive, it won't install GRUB properly to the bootsector. Some distros (like Ubuntu) work around this by using self-patched copies of GRUB that will correctly install to the correct drive. Fedora and Red Hat don't use this workaround, so GRUB won't be properly installed to the second drive.

To fix this, grab yourself a copy of the latest SGD iso from here:
forjamari: Super Grub Disk: Lista de ficheros

Boot from it.

At the menu:
* Choose Language & No Help
* English
* Advanced
* Windows (Advanced)
* Windows Chainloads GRUB

It'll ask you what partition you want to install GRUB to, tell it and it'll install GRUB there for you.

After this, you can use EasyBCD to add the entry.

Of course, all this can be shortcutted by installing NeoGRUB from EasyBCD instead, and using that to boot into Red Hat. Instructions at NeoGrub Linux - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
 
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