My current PC is running Windows Vista. I bought another SATA HD and I want to install OpenSUSE 11.1 onto it so I’ll have a dual-boot setup, one OS on each HD. Are there any tutorials for this? Is it that hard? If I install OpenSUSE onto the new HD, when I start the computer, will it let me choose which OS to boot?
Do a search in this forum. There are lots of threads about dual booting Vista. I have not done it. But I have several machines that have different versions of windows (not Vista) on one drive and suse on another. Vista has a slightly different setup that may cause hiccups that are easily fixed.
In my case, suse always asks to install on the second drive (where you and I want it) and produces a GRUB menu that gives you the option to boot suse or windows. So, trust the default choices and you should be fine.
Awesome. That’s what I figured, I just wanted to hear from someone who had done it. Thanks.
I posted just a day or so ago, extra information for the sticky about Vista Multiboot.
I would consider physically switching the disk cables over when intalling OpenSuSE, so it sees itself on the Master boot disk, and doesn’t touch the Vista disk boot code. Setting BIOS to 2nd disk should work perfectly but didn’t with my Dell BIOS.
On first install of 10.3, I had to re-validate with original media my Vista system, when the install touched the windows disk boot code. Something you shouldn’t have to do, if the OS-11.1 installer sees itself as on the first BIOS disk.
Resizing the Vista partition to free up space, is possible within Vista (defrag first won’t harm things), but it’ll only shrink to about 50%, even if that leaves 100’s of GB wasted. So actually I resized the Vista partition (later) using the SuSE tools, and it worked fine, and gained me much more free space, to use the Vista system disk, more sensibly.
Then use an entry like this to boot Vista, making it think it’s still on the Master disk when it runs.
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows 2###
title Vista
rootnoverify (hd1,2)
map (hd0) (hd1)
map (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader (hd1,2)+1
In this case, Dell put Vista’s C: in the 3rd partition, with a Utility and Recover partition before it.
Check this
Partitioning/Install Guide - openSUSE Forums
So, install the new drive, set it to boot before my current Vista drive, install OpenSUSE and I should be good?
I’m not gonna touch the Vista drive as far as resizing it and partitioning it, the new one is 500GB so plenty of space. What file do I need to put that edit in you showed?
Yes, that is correct. Just make SURE that grub goes to the MBR of the New drive. Take note how it is identified in Yast during install in the partitioner, sda, sdb… and so on.
Use custom partitioning as described in the tutorial (though remember it was written for OS11 and things are a little different in 11.1)
Sometimes I use Parted magic to create the partitions
eg:
/
/home
swap
Then in the installer / partitioner set the mount point for your windows partition as eg: /windows or /vista
do not format (obviously)
You can set a Volume label too if you like.
You may have to tweak the menu.lst after install, as it doesn’t always get the windows booting right. And it’s easier to do after.
This way. Your Vista drive remains untouched. And in emergency you can always switch drive priority in BIOS and boot Vista normally. Having said that, I’m just about to wipe it off my HD, this will be the second time. Don’t know why I ever put it back.
Plug in the new disk, when your computer boots up hit the key that lets you enter the BIOS (probably f10, delete or f12) in the BIOS look for Boot Sequence or Harddisk Sequence.
It’s most often found under Advanced Bios Settings, set the new disk to boot before the old one. (If it’s a different brand it should be easy to tell… Western Digital comes up as WD, Maxtor as MAX etc).
Install openSUSE and the suggested disk partition setup will be as you want it to be.
I prefer this over messing with Grub… if you mess things up Vista should still boot up after simply unplugging the new disk.
The file to edit you refer to is /boot/grub/menu.lst
If windows does not boot from the bootloader option placed in there by Suse, we can edit it. But you will need to post the contents of the above menu file and also
/etc/fstab
and from a su terminal the result of:
fdisk -l
Great, thanks guys. I probably won’t get to it tonight, but hopefully I will tomm. Should be fun!
Good luck. And remember nothing actually happens until the very last moment, so you can always back out and start again. Get the feel of it, don’t rush it. Think!
Ok, so I finally got around to doing this today and everything in the installation went great. Now Iḿ stuck on a dual-monitor problem. I have one 22¨ monitor and one 17¨ monitor and it clones output on both of them. I can´t change the resolution on my 22, any changes made in Yast aren´t saved. Any help?
Suggest you start a new thread for this new problem, especially since it is entirely different from what the title says. You’ll get better/faster help that way.
Want to install 11.1 on my Phenom X3-720 system on a 2nd hard drive. The main drive has dual boot with XP/Vista. Have a 2nd drive I can install SUSE 11.1 to. Main Win HD is SATA II. 2nd drive is an IDE. So if I have understood the previous posts I install the IDE drive, go to my mobo BIOS, set the boot order to CD/DVD-IDE-SATA, install 11.1 to the IDE and use the default install.
Does this give me boot options at startup thru SUSE or do I have to change boot order in BIOS if I want my Win HD?
Sam
Set the IDE to first HD is boot order so you set grub to the MBR of that drive. Set mount points during install to the windows partitions on the SATA.
The SATA will be seen as sda
and the IDE as hda
so make sure you see hda and only check MBR at this part of setting up grub: http://files.myopera.com/carl4926/albums/671478/19.png
(as you can see - this is set to sda)
Partitioning/Install Guide - openSUSE Forums
Principles here apply in 11.1 also
IDE showed as sdb but no problems. Have 11.1 running fine on the IDE, no problems booting into Vista or XP.
Sam