Problem Repartioning 9gb drive 1

MikeLacey · May 28, 2000

Win98 not recognising new partition size. Hope someone can help me with this because it's driving me a bit nutty. I would like to install RH Linux on a 9gb HD, sharing with Win98. Using the latest version of Partition Manager and carefully following the instructions I have repartioned the HD (a model 80h) so that I have three partitions. 7Gb for Win98 annd the rest split for Linux and a swap partition. My problem is that Win98 is not recognising the new partition size. The Part FAQ says that to fix this I have to run scandisk again and that then it will recognise the new size.... But it doesn't. I'd be grateful for any help and suggestions. Mike <A HREF="mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com">michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</A> Mike <a href=mailto:Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com>Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · May 28, 2000

You don't want to use the MS partitioning program, 'cuz it will break things.  Unless you like to install W98 a lot ;-) Use a third party partitioning program or one of the Linux partitioning programs.  Red Hat's disk Wizard and SuSE's Yast/Yast2 (and  others) are good graphical tools, but if you need to get your hands in the guts, Linux fips what you need. BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALL YOU NEED to do to the W98 partition BEFORE you install LILO 'cuz otherwise W98 scandisk is guaranteed to trash LILO.  And scandisk WILL RUN when it sees that the W98 partition is smaller. Either install LILO AFTER W98 is TOTALLY happy with its new quarters, or install LILO as a DOS routine, loadlin (along with the appropriate autoexec lines). Unless you have the VERY ABSOLUTE LATEST version of LILO or loadlin, you MUST install your Linux /boot partition such that ALL of it is below cylinder 1024.  I repartitioned my 12.1 GB HD with W98 in place, giving W98 2.5 GB, leaving the rest for Linux. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES run W98 fdisk.  Unlike its DOS 7.0 and earlier ancestors, it  will trash everything in the W98 boot record and its partition.  (Wisdom is gained thru experience =8[ - when I reworked the Linux partitions). W98 won't recognize anything but drive C: (its "native" partition). Maybe you knew most of this, but what the hey, it's all the same price ... Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

MikeLacey · May 29, 2000

Thanks for replying Octal. I sorted my initial problem (I think) by making sure the boot sector size entry matched the partition table size entry. So far so good.... I made an install disk, using rawrite, and got right through to the last section - the loader. This refused to install on either the MBR or the boot sector. Ho Hum.... Stumped again now, Win98 loads and runs ok - apart from moaning about Bloodhound.MBR being detected - which I *very* much doubt. Linux does not boot. Mind you I tested that by running Win98 fdisk, before I saw your post, and setting the linux partition to active. Suggestions? Mike <a href=mailto:Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com>Mike_Lacey@Cargill.Com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · May 29, 2000

Sorry to hear that.  Been there.  Done that.  Don't want to do it again.  Sorry, Bill, I dumped W98 after it crashed (again), taking the entire partition with it.  Linux survived. To fix:  Make sure W98 is happy with its partition by defragging and running scandisk.  Then, use a Linux tool to install LILO in the MBR (not the boot sector).  Everything should be copasetic.  If not, you can always boot from a floppy

Actually, I think this will get you out of the woods. Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

MikeLacey · May 30, 2000

Booting Linux from floppy for the moment, the RH install routine still merrily failing to install LILO - but there you go I guess. Will be trying to install LILO from Linux. Thanks for your help Octal Mike <a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please -- Don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · May 30, 2000

Is the bootstrap loader not being loaded into the MBR or do you have a problem somewhere else?   If the LILO boot record isn't being loaded, your Linux /boot directory may be missing, defective or too small.  A copy of the original boot record (only 512 bytes) is saved in a file in /boot.  My /boot directory (which is actually in its own private partition) is 10 MB, but it is only 37% full with both the SuSE 6.2 kernel (2.2.10) and a 2.2.14 kernel which I compiled and installed. We say LILO is loaded in the MBR (or partition boot record, as the case may be), but it is actually in /sbin - the MBR (or boot record) bootstrap loader takes you to where you want to go depending on the contents of /etc/lilo.conf (and your answer at boot prompt time). You may e-mail me at <A HREF="mailto:killebrew@pan-tex.net">killebrew@pan-tex.net</A> if you like and think I may be able to help. Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

Octalman · May 30, 2000

Just saw Karl (kb244) and Dave Hunter's exchange on e-mail addresses (blush).  Well, e-mail can be faster, but the information exchanged doesn't get to the public - if the public is interested. I had to switch from Mozilla to Netscape 4.7 'cuz Moz still has problems losing newlines.  Anyway, here is some more info on the Linux boot process, for those who may be interested or might find it useful. You have to run LILO manually, if the installation wizard doesn't do it, to tie everything together so the boot process will work.  Any time /etc/lilo.conf, vmzlinuz (or bzImage) or System.map is changed LILO must be run for the change(s) to take effect. Your Linux /boot directory should look something like this, except I added the 2.2.14 kernel (bzImage-2.2.14-3) to the original SuSE 2.2.10 kernel (vmlinuz) on May 4.  My /boot directory is in its own private 10MB partition to minimize potential for damage and noncontiguous blocks. -rw-r--r--   231902 Sep  4  1999 System.map -rw-r--r--   177621 May  4 11:38 System.map-2.2.14-3 -rw-r--r--      512 Sep  4  1999 boot.0300 -rw-r--r--     4540 Jul 22  1999 boot.b -rw-r--r--   499695 May  4 11:38 bzImage-2.2.14-3 -rw-r--r--      612 Jul 22  1999 chain.b -rwxr-xr-x    71115 May  4 11:43 ksymoops -rwxr-xr-x    71115 May  2 22:17 ksymoops~ drwxr-xr-x    12288 Sep  4  1999 lost+found -rw-------    19456 May  4 11:55 map -rw-r--r--      620 Jul 22  1999 os2_d.b -rw-r--r--   667293 Sep  4  1999 vmlinuz The file boot.0300 (in this case, in general, boot.xxxx) is a backup of the "original" boot record "before Linux."  Unlike M$, Linux can restore the boot record it has replaced.  All you have to do is ask politely. The kernel file is compressed - vmlinuz is in zip (gz, not pkzip) format, while bzImage is in bzip2 format, which is more secure and takes up about 20% less room than an equivalent zip file. The Red Hat 5.2 book is good, but I think  SuSE's 6.2 book is better as far as installation (I have both RH 5.2 and SuSE 6.2).  You may want to man lilo and man lilo.conf as these are the definitive descriptions of lilo and its configuration file.  The info and man files for lilo (SuSE 6.2) are identical. Windows - Where do you want to go today? Mac - Where do you want to go tomorrow? Unix - Been there.  Done that. Linux - Are you coming, or what? Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

MikeLacey · May 30, 2000

I will - I'll email you when I get home. We can post the solution later... Mike <a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please -- Don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · Jun 2, 2000

What size is your W98 partition?  And is your Linux swap partition hd1 or hd2?  I'm guessing the kernel and map files in /boot are above cylinder 1024.  If so, you will need to download LILO 21.4.3 (announced May 11, 2000) and assemble it yourself :[  Check it out on freshmeat.net or download from <A HREF="ftp://sd.dynhost.com/pub/linux/lilo/" TARGET="_new">ftp://sd.dynhost.com/pub/linux/lilo/</A> or <A HREF="ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/lilo/Of" TARGET="_new">ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/boot/lilo/Of</A> course that's hard to do if your new box can't communicate.  Been there, done that.  Maybe a $1.95 (+shipping) CD from Linux Central with the latest RH release? Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

Octalman · Jun 2, 2000

Actually, RH 6.2 won't have LILO 21.4.3, since it was just announced.  I don't know of anywhere to get binaries.  I'm going to download it, but I haven't used the Linux assembler before ...  This old dog is learning a lot of new tricks. Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

MikeLacey · Jun 2, 2000

Assembler - yuk - I remember assembler (not fondly) Mike <a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please -- Don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · Jun 4, 2000

If you have a SCSII drive, you can have up to 8 GB in /dev/sda0 and still be able to boot from /dev/sda1, but IDE drives will only allow 504 MB to 2 GB in /dev/hda0, depending on drive configuration, and still be Linux bootable, provided that /boot is in /dev/hda1 (This means that the swap partition must be in /dev/hda2 or higher, or that (/dev/hda0 + (/dev/hda1=swap)) must be meet the 1024 cylinder limit.)  Obviously, with a 7 GB DOS/Win partition in /dev/hda0, you need LILO 21.4.3.  I looked at the source and though there are a couple of parts written in assembler, they are includes in the C code that makes up most of LILO.  Just run make to compile it.  There is also a program included that peeks at your BIOS to see if it can handle booting from high cylinder numbers.  As I recall, the tar.gz download file is about 500 KB.  Well, I don't like MS/Intel assembler, either, but I enjoyed Motorola (and some other) assemblers. Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

MikeLacey · Jun 4, 2000

Sounds like this is my problem. hda0 - win 98 -> cyl 1023 hda2 - linux 1024 -> (can't remember) hda5 - swap -> rest of disk Should have done some more reading before I installed - though I don't think, given the amount of space used in win98 partition, that I would have been able to do anything different really. I am looking at loadlin - which seems interesting. Any experience of it? Mike <a href=mailto:michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com>michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com</a> <a href=

http://www.cargill.com/>

Cargill's Corporate Web Site</a> Please -- Don't send me email questions without posting them in Tek-Tips as well. Better yet -- Post the question in Tek-Tips and send me a note saying "Have a look at so-and-so in the thingy forum would you?"

Octalman · Jun 5, 2000

Nope.  Looked it over, but since LILO worked for me, didn't try loadline.  I have re-read the writeup in the SuSE 6.2 manual and will e-mail a copy to you.  With it and what you already have, maybe you can make it work.  The boot-from-Windows option is a cinch.  Setting up a boot menu for W98/DOS/Linux looked tricky, though, because the writeup was based on W95.  What I saw in W98's config.sys etc files was a lot different from my experience with PC-DOS 7 and earlier.  And W98's look empty compared to W95's, apparently because DOS has been pretty well merged into MS Windows. Octalman <a href=mailto: > </a> <a href= > </a>

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Problem Repartioning 9gb drive 1

MikeLacey

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MikeLacey

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MikeLacey

MIS

Octalman

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Octalman

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MikeLacey

MIS

Octalman

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Octalman

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MikeLacey

MIS

Octalman

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MikeLacey

MIS

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