Dual Boot W7 and SuSE 11.4 using EasyBCD

Loudonm · October 26, 2011, 2:42pm

Hi Guys,

I’m new to Linux so feel free to use language that even Cleetus would understand

I’m trying to dual boot my PC using W7 x64 and SuSE 11.4.

I have 3 HDD’s installed W7 is on a 2x1TB RAID0 setup and SuSE is on a separate 320Gb drive.

I’ve got both installed successfully although Linux is the new addition, obviously.

The issue I’m having is the bootloader. According to some dude on youtube, installing SuSE apres W7 would be fine as GRUB would pick up the install, add it to a bootloader and bobs-your-uncle.
That didnt happen. The bootloader in Linux only shows the option to boot into Linux and its safemode equivalent.

I though, ok, no probs, I used to have a hackintosh, gogo EasyBCD.

So, I’ve pointed EasyBCD in the right direction, i.e. the drive and partition that SuSE is on (the 320gb drive has 3 partitions, 2gb for the swap, 20gb for the OS and 200 odd for files)

The bootloader get me into windows fine but if i choose linux all i get is a black screen with:

GRUB _

Obviously i’ve managed to knacker something but I don’t know what?

please help. I don’t want to tear any more hair out… i don’t have much left

The only think i can think to do is uninstall EasyBCD, bootrec /rebuildbcd from elevated CLI, format the linux drive and reinstall in the hope that GRUB will sort itself out. However, I’d rather fix than reinstall
as nubs reinstall, Pr0’s fix.

As I’m in the company of enlightened folk I thought I’d try you before I completely scuttle my boat.

Thanks in advance <3

Loudonm

hcvv · October 26, 2011, 4:36pm

The “some dude on youtube” is correct. During install, Grub would be normaly configurated to include an allready existing Windows by default. When that is not the case you might be interested why it wasn’t done (maybe not easy to find out afterwards) and more important, I guess you might want to repair your Grub configuration. I do not see any reason for going to use all sorts of other products.

People here need some information for that. So be so kind to post here between CODE tags (Posting in Code Tags - A Guide) the output of

sudo /sbin/fstab -l

and

sudo cat /boot/grub/menu.lst

BTW, you being new to Linux as you say, it is amazing that you use a word like SuSE which is very old. This here is about openSUSE.

Loudonm · October 27, 2011, 1:06am

Hey,

Sorry for the delay in replying, I’ve just got home

this is from Fstab

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part1 swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part2 /                    ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part3 /home                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                 sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs              /sys/kernel/debug    debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0

this is the other one…

# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Tue Oct 25 02:25:41 BST 2011
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader

default 0
timeout 8
##YaST - generic_mbr
gfxmenu (hd0,1)/boot/message
##YaST - activate

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title openSUSE 11.4
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part2    resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part1 splash=silent quiet showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.4
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part2 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset  x11failsafe
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Kernel-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop
    root (hd0,1)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part2    resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY-part1 splash=silent quiet showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.37.6-0.7-desktop

Thanks,

Loudonm

gogalthorp · October 27, 2011, 3:32am

I suspect your problems start with the RAIDed Windows. There are 3 possible types of tech that do RAID.Only two apply to Windows. Hardware and FAKE (BIOS assist).

Don’t go mucking about with the boot the problem is not there. It is that the RAIDed partitions/disks are not being seen by the installer properly. it would help to see

sudo /sbin/fdisk -l
note that is a L not a one
output also this will show a map of the systems drives.

your menu.lst is a bit strange having a redundant 3rd entry not at all sure how or why that got there

robin_listas · October 27, 2011, 10:33am

On 2011-10-26 14:46, Loudonm wrote:

> The issue I’m having is the bootloader. According to some dude on
> youtube, installing SuSE apres W7 would be fine as GRUB would pick up
> the install, add it to a bootloader and bobs-your-uncle.
> That didnt happen. The bootloader in Linux only shows the option to
> boot into Linux and its safemode equivalent.

That’s because of your raid, makes things a bit more difficult.

> I though, ok, no probs, I used to have a hackintosh, gogo EasyBCD.
>
> So, I’ve pointed EasyBCD in the right direction, i.e. the drive and
> partition that SuSE is on (the 320gb drive has 3 partitions, 2gb for the
> swap, 20gb for the OS and 200 odd for files)
>
> The bootloader get me into windows fine but if i choose linux all i get
> is a black screen with:
>
> GRUB _

Ooops!

> The only think i can think to do is uninstall EasyBCD, bootrec
> /rebuildbcd from elevated CLI, format the linux drive and reinstall in
> the hope that GRUB will sort itself out. However, I’d rather fix than
> reinstall as nubs reinstall, Pr0’s fix.

Reinstall in Linux world seldom works, because things are installed the
same way and errors get repeated.

Besides what others have asked already, I would add two files:

/boot/grub/device.map
/etc/grub.conf

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

Loudonm · October 27, 2011, 6:29pm

Hey Guys,

thanks for the advice so far. Here are the details you requested:

Device.map

(hd1)    /dev/disk/by-id/raid-nvidia_decgbche
(hd0)    /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY

Grub.conf

setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 --force-lba (hd0,1) (hd0,1)
quit

regards

Loudonm

robin_listas · October 27, 2011, 8:48pm

On 2011-10-27 18:36, Loudonm wrote:
>
> Hey Guys,
>
> thanks for the advice so far. Here are the details you requested:
>
> Device.map
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> (hd1) /dev/disk/by-id/raid-nvidia_decgbche
> (hd0) /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST3320820AS_9QF2ZMBY
> --------------------
>
>
> Grub.conf
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> setup --stage2=/boot/grub/stage2 --force-lba (hd0,1) (hd0,1)
> quit
> --------------------

I think easybcd is failing because grub is configured to think that the
linux disk is the first one, but in that case it is the second one. Or
something in that line.

Lets see if someone gets the right incantation to boot Windows from that
grub instead. It is a raid, I have no experience in that situation.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

Loudonm · October 27, 2011, 9:54pm

Cheers Carlos,

Ok, so here’s my thinking…

If that is the case, could I simply reverse the entries, making the solo drive the primary boot device?

If that would work then the only remaining issue is there’s no GRUB entry for Windows.

In which case, how do I add the entry?

regards

Loudonm

Loudonm · October 29, 2011, 6:43pm

Bump

Any ideas guys?

caf4926 · October 29, 2011, 6:53pm

Dump RAID
And everything will work

RAID is seldom necessary in domestic situations (What I mean is, it’s a waste of time and space)

robin_listas · October 29, 2011, 7:28pm

On 2011-10-29 18:56, caf4926 wrote:
>
> Dump RAID
> And everything will work
>
> RAID is seldom necessary in domestic situations (What I mean is, it’s a
> waste of time and space)

Ignoring it is a raid, we could try a boot entry for that windows. If grub
can read it, it should work.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

Loudonm · October 29, 2011, 7:38pm

Hi Caf4926,

Thanks for the suggestion but there must be a way to do it and keep the raid.
I appreciate it’s tricky but I like tricky

RAID may seem like a waste of time but why have the inconvenience of two storage spaces when you can have one larger one, that runs faster?**

I guess it’s a matter of preference.

What I need to know is how to add the windows entry to GRUB and how to get it to boot from the Linux drive first.

Regards

Loudonm

caf4926 · October 29, 2011, 7:49pm

Have you tried a distro that uses grub2? Like Mint or Ubuntu?
I have seen people use this in a small partition just to use the bootloader.

I take it SUSE thinks it’s on hd1
Is it still second in the boot order in BIOS

Did you post your fdisk -l info?

Loudonm · October 29, 2011, 9:19pm

I must admit, I hadn’t thought about it. That might be worth a shout thanks.

this is my fdisk -l


Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbffa1226

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048  3907047423  1953522688    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/sdc: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xec72c2b3

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1            2048     4208639     2103296   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc2   *     4208640    46153727    20972544   83  Linux
/dev/sdc3        46153728   625141759   289494016   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdd: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6f127c6a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1              63  1953520064   976760001    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche: 2000.4 GB, 2000409722880 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243202 cylinders, total 3907050240 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 65536 bytes / 131072 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbffa1226

                      Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche1   *        2048  3907047423  1953522688    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1: 2000.4 GB, 2000407232512 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243202 cylinders, total 3907045376 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 65536 bytes / 131072 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x6e697373

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

                             Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p1   ?  1936269394  3772285809   918008208   4f  QNX4.x 3rd part
Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p2   ?  1917848077  2462285169   272218546+  73  Unknown
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p3   ?  1818575915  2362751050   272087568   2b  Unknown
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p4   ?  2844524554  2844579527       27487   61  SpeedStor
Partition 4 does not start on physical sector boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order

caf4926 · October 29, 2011, 10:19pm

I only comprehend some of that

Your earlier menu.lst said
root (hd0,1)
Which doesn’t really match up with that info you just posted.

Was that fdisk done from SUSE
Are you booting SUSE with SUSE grub?
I’m kinda lost where you are at.

robin_listas · October 29, 2011, 11:53pm

On 2011-10-29 21:26, Loudonm wrote:
>
> caf4926;2398592 Wrote:

…

> this is my fdisk -l
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
…
> --------------------
>

I read it this way:

/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche is the RAID 1 disk.

/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche1 is the only partition on it, containing an
HPFS/NTFS/exFAT filesystem, that is, 2TB for Windows. It is a bit strange,
windows 7 installs on two partitions (using a 100 MB boot)

Then fdisk tries to find partitions on that device:

/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p1
/dev/mapper/nvidia_decgbche_part1p2

that do not exist, so it gets garbage. No matter.

/dev/sda1 is one of the sides of the RAID 1. I wonder why it does not see
sdb1 too, but I guess it is Ok.

/dev/sdc1, 2 & 3 belong to the third disk, containing linux.

/dev/sdd1 is another disk (1TB) you did not say anything about yet. It is
formated as FAT32.

Try an experiment. Edit your /boot/grub/menu.lst, and add this entry:



title windows 7
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
chainloader +1

It is a wild guess, might not work (it is almost what I have on my laptop)

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

Loudonm · October 30, 2011, 12:07am

Hi Carlos, and everyone else that helped for that matter.

Thank you all so much for your input but Caf4926 has given me the solution.

I made another partition, installed Mint and used Mint’s GRUB2 bootloader and that has done the job nicely.

Thank you very much <3

regards

LoudonM

caf4926 · October 30, 2011, 3:17am

Funny what you learn doing this Job.
Albeit a ‘Heath Robinson’ approach

caf4926 · October 30, 2011, 3:22am

Just so you know
If you get a kernel update in SUSE, you have to boot Mint and do

sudo update-grub

Loudonm · October 30, 2011, 6:42pm

Good shout. Thanks mate