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Win9x+Win2k+Linux without nested bootmenus plus a feature request
From: |
A. Klingenstein |
Subject: |
Win9x+Win2k+Linux without nested bootmenus plus a feature request |
Date: |
Sat, 28 Jul 2001 23:36:50 +0200 |
Hi,
I want to install the 3 OSes (and maybe more) mentioned in the subject line
on a single HD with the following layout:
primary: FAT32 - win9x
extended begin
logical: NTFS - win2k
logical: ext2fs/reiserfs - debian
logical: swap - linux swap
logical: NTFS - big data partition, maybe other OSes (BSD, BeOS)
extended end
In Win2k the drive layout should be:
win9x partition: C:\
Win2k systempartition: D:\
Win2k data partition: E:\
since I want to share a few apps between win9x and win2k, and these apps might
need the same paths everywhere.
The problem is the win2k bootloader NTLDR which totally insists on putting
itself on
a primary FAT partition if it s present and occupying the Bootsector there.
This forces
me first to choose between Linux and Windows and secondly between the two
flavours of windows.
I don t want nested Boot-Menus!
I came up with a solution of sorts:
FAT32 has a 2nd backup copy of the bootsector at sector 6 of the FAT32
partition.
This sector isn t overwritten by win2k, so I can use it with "chainloader 6+1"
and
win2k can be booted by a simple "chainloader +1"
My question now is this: is this the best solution available, or have I just
invented a
horrible kludge or both ?
Lastly the feature request:
Some BIOSes (Award) show some hw-info on bootup: what HDs/CDROMs are attached,
which memory banks are full, what are the IO ports of peripherals and what IRQs
are
used for which PCI-cards, etc.
My old bootmanager (xfdisk) had a nice feature: you pressed F5 and all of the
bootmanager
stuff disappeared and you could look at this info. When GRUB starts, it
overwrites all.
So can we get a GRUB command to show the screen before GRUB took over ?
Alex
- Win9x+Win2k+Linux without nested bootmenus plus a feature request,
A. Klingenstein <=