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- NT OS Loader + Linux mini-HOWTO
- Bernd Reichert, <reichert@dial.eunet.ch>
- v1.11, 2 September 1997
-
- 1. Abstract
-
- This document describes the use of the Windows NT boot loader to start
- Linux. This procedures have been tested with Windows NT 4.0 WS and
- Linux 2.0.
-
- 2. How does the NT OS Loader work
-
- The NT OS loader likes to have the boot sector from the other
- operating systems available as a file. It reads this file and starts
- the operating system selected, i.e. either Windows NT in different
- Modes or any other OS.
-
- 3. Tips on how to install Windows NT and Linux on the same System
-
- 3.1. Windows NT installation
-
- Try to install Windows NT first. If you want to use NTFS for your
- Windows NT-partition, keep in mind, that the todays production version
- of Linux cannot access NTFS partitions. An alpha driver that can read
- NTFS-Partitions is available at http://www.informatik.hu-
- berlin.de/~loewis/ntfs. You may create a separate FAT-Partition for
- data exchange or you have to use DOS-formatted floppies.
-
- 3.2. Partitioning
-
- Another Mini-howto recommends not to use NTs "Disk Administartor" to
- create the Linux swap- and root-partitions. It is sufficient to see
- the free space there. I also recommend to use linux's fdisk later.
-
- 3.3. Linux installation
-
- Now boot linux from diskettes, create the swap and root-partition.
- Fdisk assumes the ntfs-partition to be a HPFS-partition. This is
- normal. Boot again from diskettes and install Linux as you like.
-
- Just in case the installation procedure suggests that you could mount
- the HPFS partition which it has found: Ignore it.
-
- 3.4. Lilo
-
- When you come to the Lilo-Section, specify your Linux-root-partition
- as your boot device because the Master Boot Record (MBR) of your
- harddisk is owned by Windows NT. This means that the root-entry and
- the boot-entry in your /etc/lilo.conf have the same value. If you
- have a IDE-harddisk and your Linux-partition is is the second
- partition, your boot-entry in /etc/lilo.conf looks like:
-
- boot=/dev/hda2
-
- If you have two disks and your Linux resides on the first partition of
- your second disk, your boot-entry in /etc/lilo.conf looks like:
-
- boot=/dev/hdb1
-
- Run lilo with a kernel that matches your system. Check the kernel by
- booting from diskette first if you are not sure.
-
- If you cannot boot Windows NT now, you have a problem. I hope you
- have created a repair-disk recently.
-
- 4. Bootpart
-
- There is a NT-programm called bootpart written by G. Vollant that can
- do the jobs from the next two points for you. Bootpart is available at
- http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gvollant/bootpart.htm.
-
- If you want to know how things are working together, use the
- procedures described in point 5 and 6.
-
- 5. The Linux part of the work
-
- You have to boot from diskettes until the NT-part is fixed.
-
- Now you have to peel the bootsector from your Linux-root-Partition.
- With /dev/hda2 as your linux-partition, the dd-command is:
-
- # dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
-
- There is something wrong if your bootsect.lnx has more than 512 bytes.
-
- Now copy the file bootsect.lnx to a DOS-formated floppy if this is
- your way to transfer files to the NTFS-Windows-partition.
-
- You can copy it with
-
- # mcopy /bootsect.lnx a:
-
- or with
-
- # mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt
- # copy /bootsect.lnx /mnt
- # umount /mnt
-
- 6. The Windows NT part of the work
-
- Copy the file from the diskette to C:\bootsect.lnx. I don't tell you
- how to do that.
-
- What lilo.conf is for linux is c:\boot.ini for Windows NT. Remove
- the, system- and the read-only-attribute before you can modify it
- with:
-
- C:\attrib -s -r c:\boot.ini
-
- Now change the file boot.ini with an editor, notepad for example, as
- follows:
-
- [boot loader]
- timeout=30
- default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
- [operating systems]
- multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT Workstation ...
- multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT Workstation ...
- C:\BOOTSECT.LNX="Linux"
-
- Only the last line has been added in this example. Restore the
- attributes after you have saved boot.ini with:
-
- C:\attrib +s +r c:\boot.ini
-
- After a shutdown of your Windows NT and a restart your should see the
- following:
-
- OS Loader V4.00
-
- Please select the operating system to start:
-
- Windows NT Workstation Version 4.0
- Windows NT Workstation Version 4.0 [VGA mode]
- Linux
-
- Select Linux and see
-
- LILO loading zImage ....
-
- 7. Play it again Sam
-
- A new copy of bootsect.lnx must be transfererd to C:\BOOTSECT.LNX evry
- time the bootsector of your linux-partition has been modified. This
- happens for example when you install a new kernel with lilo. As you
- can see such a system in not ideal for testing experimental kernels.
-
- 8. Troubleshooting
-
- If things do not work as expected, check bootability with a floppy
- disk. With /dev/hdb1 as your Linux-partition, your /etc/lilo.conf has
- the following entries:
-
- root=/dev/hdb1
- boot=/dev/fd0
-
- Run lilo with a diskette inserted. Now try to boot from the diskette.
- If your Linux on /dev/hdb1 can't be started, the NT OS loader will
- also fail to start it. If you see a lot of 01 01 01 01, your root-
- disk is not accessible. Check whether all your disks are known by the
- bios.
-
- If the floppy boots your Linux partition, you can peel of your boot-
- sector for the NT OS loader with:
-
- # dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
-
- You can keep this diskette as your rescue-diskette just in case your
- Windows NT installation breaks.
-
- 9. References
-
- ╖ The Linux+WindowsNT mini-HOWTO
-
- ╖ The FAQ for FreeBSD 2.X
-
- 10. Acknowledgements
-
- ╖ Thanks to Xiaoming Yi <z3c20@ttacs.ttu.edu> for the tip that the
- procedures work also with other disks than the first one.
-
- ╖ Thanks to Frank Dennler <Frank.Dennler@zkb.ch> for the diskette-
- trick.
-
- 11. Feedback
-
- Any comments are welcome.
-
-