How to dual-boot Fedora Core 8 and WinXP (winxp installed 1st)

[LinuxNoobie]

Was searching for this but i can't seem to find the right answer to my query. I want dual boot my machine with windows xp installed 1st.

CPU specs:

Proc: P4 2.8
Mobo: Asus P4GE-MX
Mem: 1GB
Video Card: 64MB nvidia geforce mx 400
Hard Disks:
•80 gig [Primary Master] <-- this is where windows is already installed
•40 gig [Secondary Primary Master] <-- this is where i want to install fedora core 8
optical drives:
•CD drive [Primary Slave]
•DVD drive [Secondary Primary Slave]

Can anyone, anybody give me a detailed / step by step guide on how to dual boot this machine? it would be really really be nice.

[zagloba]

get live cd gparted load in shot down the pc restart make particion for linux and install linux
in that partition. did work for me

[sri_ram1982]

When partitioning Leave some space for linux.Or in the computer management application which comes with windows xp Leave some space for linux and bootup with the cd.Install Linux in the free space.

[LinuxNoobie]

Originally Posted by zagloba

get live cd gparted load in shot down the pc restart make particion for linux and install linux
in that partition. did work for me

can i not do it on the DVD instead? if i was to use live CD, i have to redownload everything again.

[LinuxNoobie]

Originally Posted by sri_ram1982

When partitioning Leave some space for linux.Or in the computer management application which comes with windows xp Leave some space for linux and bootup with the cd.Install Linux in the free space.

Im installing / reinstalling fedora on a separate hard drive.

[The New World]

I have just had a new system built and had 2 HDD'S installed I installed Ubuntu 64 bit in the first and F8 86' 64 in the other.
What you have to do is make a note of the name of the HDD's in your computer, then when you come to install your dvd you install to the correct one. It should give the option of which one you want to use. Once installed, if you want to run Fedora, you will have to go to the boot menu (usually F12), select boot from HDD then select the secondary one. That works for

[stoat]

Originally Posted by LinuxNoobie

Can anyone, anybody give me a detailed / step by step guide on how to dual boot this machine?

Hello LinuxNoobie,

There are many methods and variations, and even reducing the list to just those involving two separate drives leaves several choices. Here are some that are commonly discussed around here.

The Fedora Default (It's very popular and reliable. It's not the default for nothing.)

1. Install XP on the first drive
2. Install Fedora on the second drive
3. Install GRUB in the MBR of the first drive
4. GRUB boots both systems

The so-called (by me anyway) Jim Lawrence Method (Popular with ultra-paranoid people who don't want any changes whatsoever made to their XP drive.)

1. Install XP on the first drive
2. Unplug the power cable to the first drive
3. Set the second drive to first in BIOS
4. Install Fedora on the second drive
5. Install GRUB in the MBR of the second drive
6. Reconnect the power cable to the first drive
7. Add an XP section to grub.conf using the map menu command
8. GRUB boots both systems

The BIOS Method (As suggested above by The New World. For this, it's best to have a computer with a splash screen boot menu at boot time.)

1. Install XP on the first drive
2. Install Fedora on the second drive
3. Install GRUB in the MBR of the second drive
4. Use the BIOS drive boot order to select an OS

The NTLoader Method (NTLoader is the the boot loader used by NT, W2K, XP, Server 2003. It can be made to boot Linux.)

1. Install XP on the first drive
2. Install Fedora on the second drive
3. Install GRUB in the 1st sector of the Fedora boot partition
4. Configure the XP boot loader to boot both systems

[LinuxNoobie]

wow thanks this i will keep this in mind. i had my working with the map thing.

[pwalden]

Originally Posted by stoat

The so-called (by me anyway) Jim Lawrence Method (Popular with ultra-paranoid people who don't want any changes whatsoever made to their XP drive.)

1. Install XP on the first drive
2. Unplug the power cable to the first drive
3. Set the second drive to first in BIOS
4. Install Fedora on the second drive
5. Install GRUB in the MBR of the second drive
6. Reconnect the power cable to the first drive
7. Add an XP section to grub.conf using the map menu command
8. GRUB boots both systems

Can you really power off the first (master/primary?) drive have still have the second (slave/secondary?) drive still accessible?

[stoat]

Originally Posted by pwalden

Can you really power off the first (master/primary?) drive have still have the second (slave/secondary?) drive still accessible?

Yes. Many people have done it. I have done it many times experimenting with it for the paraphrased HOWTO (it's not my preferred dual boot method). It's a well-known technique even though it may not be so widely used. You can still do the basic idea without unplugging that first drive. Just change the drive order in BIOS or with the jumpers so that the Windows drive becomes second and the drive for Fedora is now first. Install Fedora and fix the grub.conf to boot Windows now on a non-first drive. But that defeats the purpose for the ultra-paranoids. People do that accidentally all the time. It's the reason people are advised to use the map GRUB menu command here so often when their Windows system won't boot from GRUB because it's now on a non-first drive in grub.conf. That happens nearly every day here.

P.S.: The link in that post above was busted. Now fixed. It goes to a single post view from a thread with Jim Lawrence's instructions paraphrased.

P.P.S.: Jim Lawrence's wiki with the original instructions is off-line more than it's online. It's why I wrote the paraphrased instructions. It's down even now, and I can't find it anywhere else with Google, but I found the Google cached page of it in case anyone is interested. This link to the cached page may not be a permanent thing...

Dual Booting Linux by Jim Lawrence

Actually, I have always thought Jim Lawrence's original instructions could stand some rewriting. It kinda loosely throws around terms like primary, secondary, master, slave. It uses "cable" when "channel" would be better (IMO). Besides, IDE drives are slipping away from us now. But this idea still works with SATAs, too. That could be included in a rewrite.

P.P.S.: Hey, I just thought of one last thing about all this. My personal experience and experiments with this method were a long time ago. Surely before Fedora 7. That means before the new libata driver code used for all hard drives nowadays. I can't say with confidence how that will affect the outcome when this method is used now. I'm too lazy to do all of that work again with a modern Fedora.

[JohnVV]

hi LinuxNoobie
i use the "Jim Lawrence Method " and have the windows bootloader start GRUB. It works well for me .
I have 2 drives one old small 80gig for winXP and a 200 gig for fedora
and use this code when i install fedora
the first boot is with the install dvd in rescue mode

chroot /mnt/sysimage 
/* root login */
root
( my root password)
mkdir /mnt/windows
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows
dd if=/dev/sd?? of=/fedora.bin bs=512 count=1
/* ?? is where the boot is */
cp /fedora.bin /mnt/windows
/* or run */
dd if=/dev/sd?? of=/mnt/windows/fedora.bin bs=512 count=1
nano /mnt/windows/boot.ini
/* and add    C:\fedora.bin= " Fedora "  
(ctrl+o ) and <enter> to save*/

Just a word of CAUTION with your nvidia card "64MB nvidia geforce mx 400" you WILL need to down grade fedora 9's xorg to the one in fedora 8 .I have a 128MB geforce 2 mx 400

see my post here
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpo...63&postcount=7