Re: HD dual-boots from one computer; single-boots from another
Kent West wrote:
I've got a 10-GB drive configured to dual boot Windows2000 and Debian
Woody. W2K (FAT32, LBA) is on the first partition, which is 6GB. Linux
has the rest of the drive in several partitions. I'm using LILO, with
Linux configured as the default OS.
On a Gateway computer, the dual-boot setup works fine, but if I take
the drive out and put it in a Hewlett Packard Pavilion, LILO works as
it should, and I can boot into Linux. But if I try to boot into W2K, I
get a "can't find ntldr" message. I can boot into Linux and see the
W2K partition just fine.
I've tinkered with the Large Disk Support option in the HP's BIOS, but
that didn't do anything for me.
I just thought of seeing if I can find a BIOS flash for the HP, but in
the meanwhile, if any of you boot sector/mbr gurus have any thoughts,
I'd be glad to hear about them.
I can't easily include the /etc/lilo.conf file, as that's on a
non-networked machine, but if anyone really wants it, I'll see if I
can hunt down one of those antiquated floppy disk thingies and copy
the file over and send it.
Thanks!
Kent
UPDATE:
I flashed the BIOS; did no good.
While at HP's site, I took a deeper look at their tech support pages,
and it looks like W2K is not a likely candidate to run on an HP
Pavillion 6336 (what kind of PC is this?!). So I tried WinME instead,
and it does okay, except that whenever I shut down the Windows side and
boot into Linux, Linux hangs (hard!); the only way to regain control of
the machine is to disconnect the power cord. On the next boot into
Linux, you can repair the damaged file system (from an improper
shutdown), reboot once more into Linux, and we're good to go.
Good thing this computer was free; I'd hate to think I spent money for
it. I'll know now to recommend against HP to my friends and family.
(I'll add HP to the same list on which I have Compaq and Packard Bell).
Kent
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