XP pro does not boot automatically [solved]
Posts: 7
Could someone help me with this problem?
I am completely new to Linux and am trying simplyMephis 6.0 installed on hard disk. My system is a refurbished Dell dimension 4100 with 512mb RAM. Installed a new 80G hd with 2 equal partitions (C ,D) and a hidden partition placed, I think, by the techguy for recovery purposes. WinXP pro is installed on D and C is used for personal data. The old 20G hd is installed as a slave and also has 2 partitions and QTpartEd was used from the live cd to reformat and resize the smaller partition when I was preparing to install to hd.
SimplyMephis 6.o was installed on the old 20G hd using the option of allowing mephis to automatically prepare the entire drive (hdb). GRUB was placed in root instead of MBR. First time mephis booted flawlessly. When I tried to boot WinXp at the start up menu it failed and produced the message:
rootnoverify (hd0,-2)
Error 11: Unrecognized device string
press any key to continue
I searched the support forum and learned to edit 'rootnoverify (hd0,-2)' to 'rootnoverify (hd0,1)' and click 'b' at the start menu to get WinXp pro to boot successfully. The problem is that I can only get winxp to boot each time by going through the editing process at the startup menu. How do I get the change to be permanent and WinXp to boot normally by clicking on that option at startup?
I am new to linux and know nothing of the commands, file systems, etc and it was with trepidation that I followed some of what I picked up in the forums. Some help on this will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
JMerlin
re: XpPro does not boot automatically
Posts: 7
Thanks carlops. Here is what I did in konsole:
root@1[~]# su wise_bird31
Unknown id: wise_bird31
root@1[~]# cd/boot/grub
bash: cd/boot/grub: No such file or directory
root@1[~]# kedit menu.lst
At the last command the window opened up but it was blank. there was no menu. What am I doing wrong?
JMerlin
"cd" is a command to "change
Posts: 516
"cd" is a command to "change directory" and "/boot/grub" is the directory you are changing to. You need a space between the command and the directory= "cd /boot/grub". You can also go to /boot/grub/menu.lst and right click on the file and choose edit as root.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEPIS Help Files: http://www.mepis.org/docs/index.php/Main_Page
INTEL P-IV/HT 3.0GHz - 2X256 DDR3200 - SimplyMEPIS 6.0-1
KDE 3.5.4 - kernel 2.6.15-27-686-SMP - My iMAC runs De
re: WinXp pro does not boot automatically
Posts: 7
Jimmy,
Thanks a million. I was successful in editing the menu list, went to /boot/grub/menu.lst directly and confirmed that the change was made correctly. Then rebooted and WinXp pro booted just fine. This marks the end of one long night and the first step to better things to come. I have been putting off making the plunge since July but issues with WGA and upgrading my dell machine finally helped me to take the step. I now look forward to really getting into the nuts and bolts of MY machine. Is there a quick reference where I can find information about the commands and functions of KDE and linux in general? So far I have managed to install my printer and am up and running on the web. I want to take full advantage of all the extras.
Again, thanks guys I feel much more secure with such a helpful community around!
JMerlin
Installing more packages the
Posts: 1175
Installing more packages the easy way is probably going to be your next question.
Go to K>System> Package Manager(Synaptic Package Manager) and click ... put in your root password. When the screen comes up then click 'reload' to give you a menu of available packages. Right click on a package you want to install>Mark for installion and then apply. Have fun 
Wayne
re: installing more packages
Posts: 7
Thanks Wayne, I will give it a go.
JMerlin
like this...
Posts: 2299
boot into mepis, and then:
- open console
- su (plus root password)
- cd /boot/grub
- kedit menu.lst
- make the changes in the winxp section and save
hope this helps, let us know if more is required....
Oh, I forgot... Welcome to Mepis (without the 'h')....
Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question