Dual Boot Linpus and XP - Idiots' Guide

Whoa there! Don't give up just yet.

If your partitions are now dev/sda1 (Linux), dev/sda2 (Windows) then all you need to do is change the boot.ini for Windows (full instructions in the Idiots' Guide) and your Windows setup will continue.

What's happened is that Windows has setup the boot.ini (a hidden file BTW) with references to partition 3 instead of partition 2. You can edit the boot.ini as per the guide and all will be well. Honest! This happened to me and whilst the fix is a bit fiddly it can be done in 15 minutes.

Don't give up now!

PS I think your Avatar is very funny!

 

Ok ive got xp loaded and booting..............

I was just writing that i still couldnt get onto linpus when i realised that the command is /sda1 and not /sdal as i had been writing all afternoon......dumbarse.

Ill carry on from the 2nd step 15 (yes there are 2 !!!) :roll: later and let you know how i get on

 

Oops! Well I can't really blame DJ_Steve as even he proof read it for me it was my typing!

I'll renumber the steps (probably to 15 and 15A just to avoid confusion) when I next upload the pages which include a couple of amendments highlighted by member nig30.

I've put the software on my site in case the links break (which happens on a frequent but temporary basis, apparently). This will be available when I next upload...

 

@Aresby

One thing i forgot to mention. There is one thing to add to your guide, a step i had to fix.

When you add a new ntfs partition, which becomes /dev/sda2, the linpus swap partition also gets a new position. Most likely it will become /dev/sda3. Linpus thinks it is still at partition /dev/sda2, but finds none there. To fix this you will have to edit /etc/fstap and enter the correct Mountpoint for swap to /dev/sda3 or whatever Position it is after adding the ntfs partition.

Linpus works fine without a swap, as long as you dont use any big aplications

 

Mmmm....

With all the hassle I (and others) have had with the new XP partition being called dev/sda3 instead of dev/sda2, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to ensure that the Windows partition really is physically the third (last) partition. If Gparted can move partitions about like this, of course.

This would get round the problem of the Linpus swap file being moved and also stop the hal.dll error we all seem to get because Windows thinks it is sda3. I shall have to refer to DJ_Steve to see what he thinks.

Please note that the Idiots' Guide has moved to a different directory - old bookmarks will no longer work. Still accessible from my home page of http://jargongeneration.com!

The updated guide contains corrections and incorporates feedback (duly credited) to members who have pointed out certain behaviours that were not documented correctly. There's also a link to some local downloadable files in case the links break again. Feedback gratefully received, as always.

 

You could shrink the first partition and move the swap right behind it. Just click and drag in gparted under resize. After that you could format the remaining space as an ntfs partition. So everything is in its correct place.

 

Chill out!

Theres no hassle its just my incompitance (wheres the spell check?). :lol:

Ive supassed myself this time though. When I boot into xp it gives me the choice of operating systems to go into..........both of them XP. :cry: One works and one has that hal.dll error.

So clearly ive installed xp twice on the same partition, question is is there an easy way to get rid of the broken version without reformatting. If there is can someone explain it in dimwit terms?

Cheers.

 

If you really installed XP twice on the same Partition, then the first installation should be overwritten automatically. Cause two Windows installations cannot co-exist on the same partition, without heavy editing.

Maybe there is a faulty entry in the boot.ini which points to a non-existing partition.

Boot gparted and take a look if there are two or more ntfs partitions. If there is only one, enter a terminal, mount the ntfs partition and edit the boot.ini. Delete any unneeded entry.

The boot.ini should look like this:

Code:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect 

This should be the correct entry if gparted shows that your ntfs partition is at /dev/sda2

 

I agree with Splatter665 - it's almost always the boot.ini that is at fault with this sort of error. Check yours against the model one in the Guide and all will be well.

Sounds like you're (finally) getting there

 

last questions.....for now!

on step 16 does the # right at the begining - #splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz - or after the =.

how do i do the "mount the ntfs partition and edit the boot.ini." that Splatter665 talks about and do i do it before step 16.

Ill leave you all alone after this for the rest of the evening.

 

The # goes right at the beginning of the line (it's a comment marker and the rest of the line is ignored). You could also just delete the entire line if you prefer. I just kept it there in case I wanted ever to re-invoke it.

If you have a working XP system now, load it up and then directly edit the boot.ini (hidden file) on the C: drive to get rid of the erroneous XP option (the one that gives you the hal.dll error) upon loading. However, this 'error' is not important, it's almost cosmetic. Just remember which XP entry works and stick with it until everything else is working!

I'll read your reply in the morning ... and good luck!

 

Yipee ....All done. Thanks for the help.

now to get the wireless working on xp!


:idea: mmmmm wonder how you treble boot with OSX?

 

where can I get the Ethernet controller driver for xp from? I've tried a search on the forum and looking on line but none of them seem to work. The ones on the sites from the idiots guide don't work either.

As for the WLAN drivers where do i put them? I cant find the card in device manager but windows knows its there because when I turn the wireless on or off it appears on the screen telling me.

 

I have downloaded all the drivers from the Acer site (except either LAN or WLAN, can't remember which one, but I got it off the Internet).

What I will do is post them on my web site this evening with any luck (just when I thought I had finished it last night) so everyone can get them easily (and much faster than the Acer web site which is like a dead slug on valium).

Congrats on the build - I'll need a complete post mortem from you in a few days in order to improve the guide.

For example, Nig30 is stuck and cannot boot into either OS because his partitioning is "wrong" in the boot.ini (sda3 vs sda2) but can't figure out how to edit the boot.ini. A simple fix for this on my site would be good (over and above what's already there).

 

okey dokey
found a working wireless driver.

http://www.driversdown.com/drivers/...twork-driver-7.6.0.224-windows-XP_83471.shtml

 

Does this mean you are a happy little bunny now with a fully working AAO dual booting system?

Can you remember all the bits you found difficult? Are you prepared to share (so I can update the guide to make it easier for others)?

One final question: now that you have XP working, will you ever boot into Linpus again?

 

i wont be happy until i get the Lan working.

windows is currently downloading 68 updates - not bad for a sp3 version - ......that'll crash it no doubt.

the difficult bits were between 1 and 16. :lol:

Linpus ? ill need that later when it dies again

 

I hope to be able to post all the drivers on my site this evening...maybe!

Yes this is actually the longest part of the install! It took me a couple of hours to do this, then you find you haven't got Adobe pdf Reader installed, Quicktime etc and the list goes on! But I used SP3 and it still had loads to download. I suppose SP4 can't be that far away...

Perhaps I need a few steps that say "Now get a coffee" just to break the stress levels?

I only boot into Linpus now to use FireFox 2 to test my website on! A bit of a circular argument, really. In hindsight I should have just blitzed the disk, installed Windows XP and called it a day. Would have taken all of 30 minutes!!!!

 

Updated Idiot's Guide now available - includes all XP Drivers! available at http://jargongeneration.com/AcerAspire/index.php (choose the first article)

I still have to include some of the feedback from members but at least the drivers page (the very last page) is now available. Phew! What an upload that was

enjoy!

 

Just a couple of minor issues to deal with now.

I cant defrag xp, i just get the error message "Disk Defragmenter could not start". Ive tried all the fixes i can find on google but no joy.

AVG antivirus cant update, it did once but wont again.

And when I try to get onto windows update site it redirects to the MSN page. Thats happening on all my computers.

Any idea how to fix any of these? :roll: