Hi all. I have read the other posts regarding dual booting with Windows and OpenSUSE, but I have not found something close to my own, so I thought I just might do my own thread.
The setup I had was like this:
I had my OSes installed in this sequence: XP > Vista > OpenSUSE 11.
Therefore, bootloader is structured like this:
grub has options: Windows(vista bootloader), opensuse, failsafe, and Xen.Vista bootloader has options XP and Vista.
partitions are structured this way:
c: XP
d: Vista
e: no OS (fat32)
f: OpenSUSE 11
*Note: I have only one hd, and the drive letters are logical partitions.
Recently, I had a problem with XP and could not resolve with anything, so I just repaired the whole installation. Apparently, It also fixed the windows bootloader, so what happens now is that when I choose Windows from Grub, it goes straight to XP. Now I can’t boot Vista.
So now, I am trying to find a way back to Vista. Can I add it as an entry in Grub? Or can I add it on the XP bootloader? If both options are impossible, maybe I could just rebuild the Vista bootloader. If so, is there a way to do it without breaking Grub? I was thinking of using EasyBCD (does it run on XP?), but I am not sure if it will not break Grub.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
.arvinoids paghinuktok
Most likely when vista was installed it took over the bootloader files on the xp partition and rewrote the booting code on the xp partitino to suit vista. So you would have been multibooting vista and xp from the new vista code on the old xp partition. Then the xp repair overwrote all that, breaking everything except xp.
So you need to repair the vista booting, using the vista install dvd. That will get you back to a dual xp/vista situation. Then repair the Suse/Grub code which will incorporate the dual xp/vista code. You’ll be able to choose Suse or windows. Choosing windows will lead to a further choice between xp and vista.
I was thinking of that. It could have been better If I could just add a Vista entry to GRUB, but I guess that wouldn’t work because the Vista bootloader was installed in the XP partition. Anyway, I guess I’ll just go ahead with repairing Grub. Is it the same procedure for OpenSUSE 11? I used to have Ubuntu and I use the LiveCD to do the repair by reinstalling grub. How is it exactly done in OpenSUSE? Does it matter if you are using ordinary Grub or gfxboot?
Go to Yast → System → Boot Loader. The Grub configuration screen comes up with the Tab “Section Management” activated. In the lower right is a drop-down selector labelled “Other”. Select from “Other” the option “Propose New Configuration” and then wait for Grub to analyse your partitions and display a new configuration. This may take a while. Important: When that finishes, activate the tab labelled “Boot Loader Installation” and select to “Boot from the Master Boot Record”. [Yast will often default to booting from the root or boot partition rather than from the MBR but that’s for experts only – always choose the MBR.] Then click Finish to save the changes and install the reconfigured Grub into the hard drive’s MBR. If you get a message that "The bootloader boot sector will be written to a floppy disk … don’t bother with the floppy – just click OK to proceed and install to the MBR. Cross fingers. Reboot.