The Linux Distro Thread (maybe)

[ej-solutions]

Thought I'd start this one off, rather than continue on another thread.

As a quick catch up for others:

Have a look at Unetbootin, as a means to try out different versions of Linux, without producing numerous coasters (unwanted CDs).
I haven't tried the method of installing to hard drive, only the USB flash drive method (so far).

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[ej-solutions]

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic8356.html

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[otherego]

Using a Puppy disk, I've established that ntldr is present, if not necessarily correct, in the W2K partition.

A (perhaps foolish) attempt to open it in text form was unsuccessful; it shows as an executable of 210kb under "properties."

There's been no warning so far that "ntldr is missing" which would presumably apply had it become corrupt?

Does this mean it's time to cross fingers and try Plan B (W2K CD and fixmbr ?

[ej-solutions]

See the link...
Repair, possibly :-)

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[ej-solutions]

The annoying thing is that I've sorted this out of quite a good few occasions in the past. Just can't remember exactly how 😞 Need beer/whisky...

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[otherego]

Yes, the beer option suddenly makes a great deal of sense - think I'll go that route and sleep on this one! If acceptable, back with a couple more queries on the morrow.

I'd overlooked your link in #120 - thanks for that. If at all possible, I'd like to avoid reinstalling Windows - not least of all because I really don't know it my borrowed disk is compatible with what's installed.

It's odd that fixboot claimed to have worked, yet nothing seemed to happen - presumably this supports the hypothesis that ntldr is at fault - but a spot of light googling suggests that this should result in a "ntldr is missing" message - probably got the wrong end of that stick.

Another objection to running fixmbr is the fact that GRUB is installed to MBR, and seems to be working - which might mean that the MBR is alright. (Still trying desperately to avoid reinstalling W2K if humanly possible...)

I really appreciate all the suggestions and tutoring here, ej. Probably time to give the grey matter a bit of a break - a beer or two, and maybe soemthing harmless like murdering an inexpensive USB stick. Still haven't tried Moblin - couldn't get the live disk working - time for a spot of netbootin, I think.

Thanks again - more in the next day or so!

[ej-solutions]

:8}

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[grumpy-cook]

Great stuff. I'm thoroughly entertained by this, can't wait for the next chapter. Not being flippant here by the way, This sort of thing is what makes working with computers worthwhile. Good luck Otherego and well done EJ in keeping things ticking over.

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[ej-solutions]

I like the play on words with this one [wonders how long it will be before being 'persuaded' to change its' name].

http://vixta.sourceforge.net/

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[ej-solutions]

C'mon G_C, get yer hands dirty with Mint 7 Gloria (Ubuntu 9 with class ;-)). Even running it from a USB drive ain't too shabby.

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[grumpy-cook]

You're preaching to the choir EJ, I've already decided to give it a try. I actually ran my server on Mint a couple of years ago, so it'll be interesting to see how it's progressed. I've got an oldish Vaio laptop lined up for it.

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[ej-solutions]

B-)
It'll need a bit of RAM to play with (>512Mb preferably) but will be interested in your progress.
Since my upgrade to Gloria, I think I've booted XP three times and I'm getting Mint to do most jobs that I require of it. IM,FTP,SVN - even got my beloved Notepad++ running seamlessly through Wine.
Still need to try out PSE in a virtual XP but what I am able to do is run that horrible IE6, along with Opera 9 and Firefox 3, without any influence on my original XP install.

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[otherego]

Is ej around?

If so, good evening!

I haven't made much progress. A query on the Mepis forums has brought a couple of responses, but nothing really new. Sorry to trouble this august board again.

Quick summary:

Dual booting Windows 2000/Mepis 8

Ran chkdsk and defrag on the W2K partition

Windows now fails to boot - black screen with white text:

rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
followed by a blinking cursor

I've inserted a borrowed W2K disk and run "fixboot."

I've reinstalled GRUB.

Mepis continues to boot happily. Windows continues not to want to know.

Slight progress - to access other partitions in Mepis, one has to go My Computer>Storage Media - and low and behold, there it all is.

Cringe.

From last night's discussion, it looks as if the MBR is probably intact, but that GRUB can find nothing to point windows towards to continue the boot. The ntldr file is a prime suspect - although it is there - as are autoexec.bat, boot.ini and config.sys. "Joany" at Mepis forums suggested checking that these were present.

I have copied ntldr from the W2K CD, and saved it (under Documents, as it happens) on the Mepis partition.

Would it be safe to try and copy and paste it to the ntldr file in the Windows partition? Presumably it will simply overwrite the existing file.

One other point - editing the /menu.1st file seems to crop up frequently in discussions about boot difficulties. Not QUITE sure what they're talking about - and so far, I can NOT find the system files in Mepis to edit it anyway - but this must be possible.

Joany suggested that chkdsk might have spotted something "alien" in the MBR and tried to change it. I'm pretty sure that hd0,0 would be the right place - but what if the remnants of some hidden partition exist? Say the one from which the ancient machine's "fresh" W2K installation was taken? (Militating against this is the fact that GParted sees nothing - and it would probably have been a problem before, anyway.)

Funny, I think I've learned more about Windows since I started experimenting with Linux than I would ever have learned about it otherwise!

[otherego]

Just a quick thought - when I choose Windows from the GRUB boot menu, should the "rootnoverify" and so on not be preceded by something like "title Windows2000-Pro" ?

Clutching at straws, but I saw this mentioned in connection with some other boot problem on a Mandriva machine (ah, Google!) Presumably this would be edited in the menu.1st file or somewhere like that?

[otherego]

Blast! - just realised that's menu.lst, not menu.1st!

Question's the same, though!

[ej-solutions]

Woah! Sore head now...:O
;-)

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[otherego]

Sorry!

[ej-solutions]

Let's cut to the chase. You're not fussy about losing Mepis (if I remember). Re-install Mepis as if from scratch, telling it to use the already created Mepis partition. You'll probably need to go into Advanced mode, when the gparted screen displays during installation.
That way the scanning for grub entries will be re-done.

Just for reference:
cat /boot/grub/menu.lst (might need to prefix with sudo)
Mine is about 4 pages long with entries! 😮
Windoze will show as:

title Microsoft Windows 2000 - or similar
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
savedefault
chainloader +1

But really, I think you should go for a Repair install of Win2k.

Boot the win2k CD:
# At the first screen asking you if you want to perform a repair or new install, select Install Windows 2000 -> Upgrade to Windows 2000. Don't select repair or recovery on the first screen.
# Setup will find the existing Win2K installation (usually C:\winnt) and ask if you wish to install over it or repair it. At this second prompt, select Repair. Note: If the Setup program does not detect a previous installation but just continues to the partitioning screen, there is a problem. Stop!

Also, see the Manual Repair option here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms954431.aspx

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[otherego]

Certainly keeps my brain from seizing up! Thanks, ej - I'll do a little thinking based on the above, and probably give it a shot on the morrow. Really not too sure of the provenance of my W2K disk - but if worst comes to worst, it should be possible to seek out someone with a better one.

Or have another partition to play with Linux.

I'm interested in your comments about Gloria - perhaps time to faithlessly boot her older sister off the desktop for the newer, sleeker model.

Pity Mint doesn't like 256 mb ram laptops.

[ej-solutions]

Yeah, most Ubuntu derivatives need at least 512Mb but you could try the Xfce version of Mint 6, which will use less resources... got me looking into spec. now (bad influence).
I had it running from USB and seemed OK.

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[otherego]

Yes, I must do some homework on Xfce etc. Mind you, I enjoy messing around with a variety of distros, and am slowly learning a bit.

But I think for actually getting any sort of work done, Mint is my favourite to date.

Still - time for a spot more Windoze homework - thanks for that article. More tomorrow!