Ubuntu 9.10/WinXP dual boot install

Jaded_One

Hi folks..Bit of a Noob at this..loaded ubuntu9.10 on a e-machines with a pent 4 3 gig process Hey it's old I know and found I wanted to run a win platform as well as my wireless equiptment etc is incompatable with the linux it appears..Long story short the setupfiles load but when windows starts the computers shuts off....now I tried with 2 different versions same thing hppened..

so guys..where the hell did I screw it up???:S :blink: :S

jabirali

pent 4 3 gig process Hey it's old I know

My desktop computer runs fine with a 2.66 GHz Celeron, and some people would still consider that bleeding edge

my wireless equiptment etc is incompatable with the linux it appears..

You should check out Ndiswrapper, which lets you use your wireless drivers for Windows in Linux.

I wanted to run a win platform as well (...)
Long story short the setupfiles load but when windows starts the computers shuts off....now I tried with 2 different versions same thing hppened..

Let me see if I got this straight... You have setup a dual boot between Windows and Ubuntu 9.10, but when you select Windows from the boot menu, it doesn't boot? What version of Windows are you using? Any errors?

Goineasy9

When you say 2 different versions, what are you referring to?

Sometimes when a distro installs and sets up grub, it mistakes the recovery partition for the main windows partition, so, the question is, can you get into Ubuntu and give us the output of:

sudo -c "fdisk -l"
and
sudo -c "cat /boot/grub/menu.lst"

If there is no recovery partition, maybe the windows choice in grub is still pointing to the wrong partition, so in either case, the output of those commands will help.

jabirali

Great suggestion, Goineasy9. I believe Ubuntu 9.10 uses Grub2 by default though, so if the last command doesn't do anything, try this instead:

cat /boot/grub/grub.cfg

This command could also be useful for another purpose. In my experience, windows refuses to boot if it is not on a "master" harddrive. Grub has a workaround for this available (drive mapping), so it could be worth double-checking that the Windows entry at the end of the file contains "drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}".

Jaded_One

Thanks for the replies guys..GoinEasy here are the results you asked for...

:~$ sudo -c "fdisk -l"
usage: sudo [-n] -h | -K | -k | -L | -V | -v
usage: sudo -l[l] [-AnS] [-g groupname|#gid] [-U username] [-u username|#uid]
[-g groupname|#gid] [command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHnPS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
username|#uid] [-g groupname|#gid] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AnS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
username|#uid] file ...
~$ sudo -c "cat/boot/grub/menu.lst"
usage: sudo [-n] -h | -K | -k | -L | -V | -v
usage: sudo -l[l] [-AnS] [-g groupname|#gid] [-U username] [-u username|#uid]
[-g groupname|#gid] [command]
usage: sudo [-AbEHnPS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
username|#uid] [-g groupname|#gid] [VAR=value] [-i|-s] [<command>]
usage: sudo -e [-AnS] [-C fd] [-g groupname|#gid] [-p prompt] [-u
username|#uid] file ...

Well I hope this is of some use...
Thanks again...

jabirali

That ended up just showing instructions for how to use "sudo"...

Try copying and pasting the following directly into the terminal, that should work:

cat /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/grub.cfg
sudo "fdisk -l"

Jaded_One

ok Jabir here is what I got when I ran it

at: /boot/grub/menu.lst: No such file or directory
#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,8)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f71d76fd-be18-43d7-90b5-939a3e8a5914
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,8)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f71d76fd-be18-43d7-90b5-939a3e8a5914
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=f71d76fd-be18-43d7-90b5-939a3e8a5914 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,8)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set f71d76fd-be18-43d7-90b5-939a3e8a5914
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=f71d76fd-be18-43d7-90b5-939a3e8a5914 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-27-generic (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-27-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-27-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-27-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-27-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-27-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-25-generic (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-25-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-25-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-25-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-25-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-25-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-24-generic (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-24-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.24-24-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-24-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-24-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.22-16-generic (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-16-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-16-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, kernel 2.6.22-16-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.22-16-generic root=UUID=0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.22-16-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu 8.04.4 LTS, memtest86+ (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,1)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 0bc31954-8692-4c9b-a2f2-fe72b16f295b
linux /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 02e23f42-8b52-444c-b3a4-cfbd1e435ca2
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=02e23f42-8b52-444c-b3a4-cfbd1e435ca2 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,6)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 02e23f42-8b52-444c-b3a4-cfbd1e435ca2
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=02e23f42-8b52-444c-b3a4-cfbd1e435ca2 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ##

does that help??

jabirali

Now that's interesting... According to this output, your computer is not configured to boot Windows at all! That should usually have been handled automatically when you installed Linux.

Before we can help you add Windows to the boot menu, we need the output of the second command too:

sudo "fdisk -l"

(That should give us some information about your partition layout.)

Goineasy9

Thanks Jabir, forgot about Grub2. Fedora still uses legacy Grub, and the last time I used Debian, the horror that is Grub2 still didn't exist. I also don't use sudo, so thanks for correcting that also. Geez, forever a noob.

Jaded_One

Well acoording to this...
sudo: fdisk -l: command not found

so whats nest..
I reallly appreciatye the help guys...

jabirali

Jaded_One wrote:

sudo: fdisk -l: command not found

Sorry, my mistake; those double-quotes shouldn't have been there:

sudo fdisk -l

Goineasy9 wrote:

Thanks Jabir, forgot about Grub2. Fedora still uses legacy Grub, and the last time I used Debian, the horror that is Grub2 still didn't exist.

The only reason I remembered was that I run Ubuntu on my desktop computer... Upstream Grub2 is still considered beta software (version 1.98)

Jaded_One

Hey not a problem here you go:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x22c722c7

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 4406 35391163+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 4407 30152 206804745 5 Extended
/dev/sda3 30153 30401 2000092+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda5 4407 15709 90791316 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 20575 29967 75449241 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 29968 30152 1485981 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8 15710 20389 37592068+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 20390 20574 1485981 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order
hope this helps

jabirali

According to this output, you only have Linux partitions on your harddrive. In other words, you don't have any version of Windows installed on your harddrive at the moment.

After re-reading your original post, it is possible that I misinterpreted your original problem. Did you mean that you have an installed version of Windows that won't boot, or are you trying to reinstall Windows but the installation disks won't work?

Jaded_One

ok..this is the problem. when I attempt to load a windows install I have tried two different copies of XP and one of 7 they all download the setup files just fine..then when it says starting windows......it simply shuts off my machine...I cannot understand why??

Goineasy9

Very interesting. What I see is three separate installs of Linux. When there are 3 swap partitions, it's usually due to installing a distro 3 separate times. (I may be wrong, but after looking again at the grub printout and seeing memtest come up multiple times also, I think that's a fair deduction).
I see no windows partition. If you tried to install windows while already having Linux installed, it failed. Windows likes to be the first installation on a hard disk, and while installing Linux as a dual boot after installing windows is fairly simple, doing the reverse is not trivial.
I have seen tutorials that deal with installing windows after installing Linux, but none that I would want to try, there's just so much that can go wrong. Windows wants to own the boot sector on the hard disk, so at least what will happen is that you will lose your Linux bootloader.

My advice, and I would wait till Jabir has a say, is that you should consider cleaning up your hard disk, one version of Ubuntu is really enough. If you do want multiple versions, you should make one swap partition and point subsequent installs to use the one swap partition instead of creating others. But, before you reinstall Ubuntu, put windows on the disk first, then let Ubuntu recognize it and automagically put it into the grub2 bootloader as it installs.

If I made the wrong assumptions here please let me know.

There are other options also, like running windows in a virtual machine inside Ubuntu.

jabirali

Jaded_One wrote:

when I attempt to load a windows install (...) they all download the setup files just fine..then when it says starting windows......it simply shuts off my machine...I cannot understand why??

So the Windows installation disks are booting, but they shut down your computer before the installation process can be started? Without any errors? If this is the case, I am afraid I don't know what's wrong... It sounds like it's a problem related to Windows and not to Linux though, so perhaps you might get more helpful answers by asking for help on a Windows forum too.

I would personally have blamed it on the installation disks if you hadn't tried 3 different versions, and I think that most issues related to BIOS or hardware would not have let your installation disks boot at all. If I misunderstood your question (again), please correct me

I also agree with Goineasy9, you should only need one installation of Ubuntu and I doubt you'll need more than 2 GB swap, so if you're reinstalling Windows anyway you might as well take some time to clean up your harddrive. Depending on how you use your computer, I would recommend having:
[ul][li]1 ntfs partition for installing Windows.[/li][li]1 ext4/ext3 partition for installing Linux. Although you only need 5 GB, this partition should be at least 15 GB... Ext3 starts fragmenting badly at ~80% usage, and you might want some extra space to install KDE, games, etc later on.[/li][li]1 swap partition for Linux, 2GB should be plenty.[/li][li](optional) 1 ext4/ext3 partition for Linux, mounted to /home. This would let you keep your personal files when reinstalling Linux, without having to do manual backups first.[/li][li](optional) 1 ntfs partition for data files (music, movies, etc) that you want to access from both Windows and Linux. I recommend ntfs because it is well supported by both Windows and Linux in these days, and is superior to fat32 (less fragmentation, supports files larger than 4GB, better data integrity due to journaling).[/li][/ul]

Like Goineasy9 pointed out, another alternative is to install Windows inside Linux using e.g. VirtualBox. Your machine should be more than powerful enough to let it run smoothly, as long as you don't use it for gaming (there's Wine for that).

If you still want to install Windows to your harddrive, and don't want to reinstall Linux afterwards, say so and I'll post some instructions for that too. (Reinstalling the Linux bootloader to the MBR of your harddrive requires running 6 commands from a Linux LiveCD.) But if I interpreted your questions correctly, the current issue is how to get the Windows installation disks working, and I'm afraid I don't know enough about installing Windows to help with that.

Good luck!

mfillpot

I am sorry that I didn't chime in earlier, but I have been dealing with my own issues.

Here are a couple of questions:
* What version of windows are you trying to install?
* Is the windows installation disk new or old, have you checked it for scratches and warps?
* Does it reboot after it starts loading the device files or after the hard disk select portion of the setup menu?

To me it sounds like the issue is with a bad windows installation disk.

I see that some space is still available for windows, but under the current partition setup windows will not call the main partition H, it will call it something like H, this will cause problems with some applications that you may want to run on windows. If the installation disk is good then I highly recommend doing as the others have suggested and reinstalling all OSs in a cleaner manner, namely as below:
Partition 1: NTFS - Windows
Partition 2: Swap
Partition 3: EXT4 - Linux
Partition 4: NTFS - for shared documents

Please let me know about the installation disk and if possible try it on other computers to see if the disk gets any further.