[NTLUG:Discuss] Possible dual boot screw up...

[Wayne Dahl]

Hi again all,

Ok...the saga goes on.  After recovering Win98 on my wifes computer 
(fdisking, formating and reinstalling everything), I loaded XOSL as a boot 
loader and it boots Win98 just fine.  I installed RH 7.3 on what was left 
of the hard drive (Win98 takes up the first 3.8 Gigs of a 6.5 Gig hard 
drive), set up the boot loader to load both OS's and Win98 boots just 
fine.  If I select Linux, it just sits there and does nothing after the 
boot loader screen goes away.

Looking at the RH 7.3 Installation guide, in the section at the back where 
it covers dual booting, it says that the BIOS in some older systems can't 
access more than the first 1024 cylinders on a hard drive. If the BIOS 
provides LBA support, can it access more than the first 1024 
cylinders?  The hard drive was originally set up as one big C: drive before 
I started this.  What would I be looking for in the BIOS to see if it can 
access more than 1024 cylinders?

Now...for those of you who have used XOSL before, which partition do you 
select from Linux to boot the system?  Would it not be the /boot 
partition?  I tried that first, it did nothing, would not boot, but just 
sat there doing nothing.  I tried selecting root with the same results.

The RH installation guide suggest using fips to resize the Windows and 
Linux partitions, but since the FAT32 already is being taken up by 2.29 
Gigs of data, is it going to be possible to resize the windows enough to 
get to where I can get both OS's to start without just having to start over 
and reload everything...again?

Here is the information I see about the existing partitions when I check 
Disk Druid...

/dev/hda
- /dev/hda1  start- 1  end- 498  size 3906  vfat   format- no
- /dev/hda2  start- 499 end- 504  size 47  ext 3  format- no   (this is the 
/boot partition)
- /dev/hda3  start- 505 end- 734  size 1804  ext 3  format- no
- /dev/hda4  start- 735 end- 788  size 424  extended
     - /dev/hda5  start- 735 end- 788  size 424  swap  format- yes

Now...nothing I've seen anywhere explains what the start and end 
information actually is that's given here.  Are those the cylinders?  The 
installation guide doesn't say and neither does Disk Druid.  If so, then 
what am I doing wrong since it appears that everything is within the 1024 
cylinder (possible) requirement?

sigh...this is driving me nuts.  Any help would ge GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks again,

Wayne

I guess the question I'm having is...since the FAT32 partition takes up the 
first