[solved] Re: Can't boot into MS Windows partition

[Rodolfo Medina <rodolfo.medina@gmail.com>]

On 17 July 2012 16:21, Rodolfo Medina <rodolfo.medina@gmail.com> wrote:

>> The first partition of my second hard disk (/dev/sdb1) is occupied by
>> Windows XP.  It is and old install and I haven't booted into it for a couple
>> of years.  (I seem to remember that, when I installed Debian on the actual
>> first hd (/dev/sda1), I had momentarily put the other hd off, but am not
>> sure.)  Now I don't manage to boot into Windows partition any more.
>> /boot/grub/menu.lst properly includes
>>
>> title           Microsoft Windows XP Professional
>> root            (hd1,0)
>> savedefault
>> makeactive
>> chainloader     +1
>>
>> , and it's correct I think (hd1,0) (first partition of the second hd), but
>> when I try to boot into it the following appears:
>>
>>   Booting 'Microsoft Windows XP Professional'
>>
>> root   (hd1,0)
>>  Filesystem type is fat, partition type 0xc
>> savedefault
>> makeactive
>> chainloader     +1
>>
>> and nothing happens.  I also tried to install Windows boot loader to the
>> master boot record, with:
>>
>>    # grub
>>    grub > root (hd1,0)
>>    grub > setup (hd1)
>>    grub > quit
>>
>> , but grub complains that it doesn't find the file /boot/grub/stage1, which
>> is on the contrary there.


Keith McKenzie <km3952@gmail.com> writes:

> Microsoft likes to 'own' the first hdd, so I would swap the connectors
> over, to make XP sda & run Linux from the second disk as sdb.
>
> The only other way is to change the disk identities in the BIOS, & I
> can't remember how to do that now.


Patrick Bartek <bartek047@yahoo.com> writes:

> I had the same problem years ago.  I had to map the hard drives so Windows
> "thinks" it's on the first hard drive, first partition, the C: drive, where
> it "likes" to be to run properly.  This mapping is only done in the Windows'
> stanza of grub.lst.
>
> The man page of grub, or the grub docs, should cover mapping and have
> examples.


Camaleón <noelamac@gmail.com> writes:

> You can try to manaully boot from GRUB legacy. When you are in GRUB's 
> menu, Jump to a console ("c") and type the commands from there. For 
> instance, as you seemed to swap (well, "disconnect") one of the disks 
> maybe you need to "map" the drives first:
>
> map (hd0) (hd1)
> map (hd1) (hd0)
> rootnoverify (hd1,0)
> chainloader +1
>
> And "boot".


I put in menu.lst the stuff suggested by Camaléon and now it seems to be fine.
Now Windows' entry is this:

title           Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root            (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader     +1
boot

Thanks to all!
Rodolfo