Re: dual boot Debian computer

[Paul E Condon <pecondon@quiknet.com>]

On Fri, Feb 08, 2002 at 02:47:13PM +1030, Tom Cook wrote:
> The way I would do this would be:
> 
> (1) Install potato in a set of partitions (however you like to set up your
> partitions).  Make sure you use a separate partition for /boot, of at least 20Mb
> (I'd use 50).  Don't fuss too much about the lilo configuration, as it won't be
> used except to perform reboots necessary during the install.  Make sure you
> leave room in unpartitioned space for the woody system.
> 
> Let's say you mount /dev/hda5 as /.
> 
> (2) mkdir /potato
>     mv /boot/* /potato
>     mv /potato /boot
> 
> You might like to reconfigure the paths in lilo.conf for /boot/potato instead of
> /boot.
> 
> (3) Install woody almost as though potato wasn't there.  Use the same partition
> for /boot but DON'T reformat it (the installer calls it initialising, not
> formatting, but it's the same thing).
> 
> Let's say you mount /dev/hda7 as /.
> 
> (4) mkdir /woody
>     mv /boot/* /woody
>     mv /woody/potato /boot
>     mv /woody /boot
> 
> So now you have /boot/potato with all the potato boot stuff in it, and
> /boot/woody with all the woody stuff in it.
> 
> You should now have both systems installed but only be able to boot woody.
> 
> (5) Now configure lilo with two (at least) boots:
> 
> image=/boot/potato/vmlinuz-2.2.20-686-whatever
> 	label=potato
> 	root=/dev/hda5
> 	read-only
> 	vga=extended (or whatever)
> 
> image=/boot/woody/vmlinuz-2.4.10-686-whatever
> 	label=woody
> 	root=/dev/hda5
> 	read-only
> 
> Or you could configure grub in a similar manner.
> 
> Now I, being a considerably wiser man than when I first played with lilo, would
> uninstall lilo from one of the distributions so that I only had ONE lilo.conf;
> that way I could not accidentally install the wrong boot sector and destroy my
> setup (well, I could still destroy it, but I give myself less opportunity for
> stupidity).
> 
> And that should do it.
> 
> Tom
> 
> Paul E Condon wrote:
> > 
> > I want to rearrange my computer so that I can dual boot Patato and Woody.
	<snip...>

Thanks. I've got it working. I particularly appreciate your advice about 
dual lilos. I was worried about dual lilos but didn't see the direct action
solution.


-- 
Paul E Condon            | Failure is not an option.
pecondon@quiknet.com     | It's bundled with the software.