If you think your questions are long and convoluted, wait until you read my
answers!! ;-)
First off, about the Mandrake startlist: linuxfb = same Linux, just using
the (video card's) framebuffer (in case you're having video problems, this
is a fallback).
If the "startlist" still knows about NT (yes, that means XP in this case),
then you may not yet be hooped. Aaron's suggestion is a sure-fire way of
checking whether XP has been catastrophically blown away or not. If there
are files under /mnt/windows (or whatever Mandrake uses these days), it will
be more promising than if there are none!
What may possibly be happening under the hood of the failing XP boot is that
a) some of the files necessary for boot are missing, corrupted, or deleted
(wow, does that ever sound like stereotypical MCSE speak) :-P, or b) XP's
boot loader is now a little confused about where things are/should be.
Unfortunately, it sounds more like the former situation than the latter.
But I can't say for sure yet.
I am happy to try and walk with you through this, and hopefully we'll end up
with 2 healthy OS's. OK, only one healthy OS, but that's just my opinion.
;-) It might take a few e-mails due to the number of possible factors
involved. Or, as usual, there may be a brutally simple solution I've
overlooked that someone else will suggest. Don't let it scare you, though
-- XP should be imminently recoverable without losing Mandrake, outside of a
worst-case scenario (where the partitioning munched up files or partitions
beyond repair/recovery).
So I guess that's what's first -- check and see if there are any files under
/mnt/windows. (I was debating -- aren't you glad I figured out what to try
first? And that Aaron already thought of it?) :-P If you don't see
anything at all, you may want to try the following commands:
umount /mnt/windows (or /dev/hdaX where X is the partition number of
your XP install... probably 1, ergo /dev/hda1)
mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows OR mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1
/mnt/windows (depends on filesystem type... if you don't know, try both.)
;-)
ls -lAF /mnt/windows
If there's still nothing, uh oh. :-) If there's files there, then we can
start looking at boot loader stuff.
Either way, we don't want your wife killing you. That would make it hard to
use Linux. ;-) (I have been lucky my wife hasn't killed me -- I've had a
short history of really, really dead partitions, as well as failed hard
drives). 8-o
Nice to hear from you, Chris. Brave of you to take the plunge, best of
luck! Let us know how things work out.
Sincerely,
Curtis.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 9:20 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: (clug-talk) Mandrake 9.0/WinXP problems
Hi there
I'm new to the linux world and have been lurking for a month or two (didn't
have any questions that needed answering till now)...
[I apologize in advance for the long email]
My experience with linux began with an old ibm 200 desktop that i installed
red hat 7.0 (linux for dummies signed out from the public library). It was
just a way for me to become somewhat semi-familiar with linux; it works
great.
This prompted me to seriously consider linux for full time use and maybe
phase out XP completely...
I downloaded the iso images for mandrake 9.0 for installation. After
defragging the hard drive (as per recomendations) I began the install of
mandrake as a home/office/multimedia etc. station. When it came time for the
partitioning of the hard drive, I think I might have made a mistake (the
comment box in mandrake stated: novice users may feel stress or anxiety when
partitioning the hard drive-take your time or something like that-NO
DOUBT!). Herein lies my problem: I wanted to keep windows and so only
optioned to partition about 5gb of space which i knew was free space, as per
the wizards instructions. Whatever i did was not quite perfect (although
that may be my opionion) as when the computer restarts, I get the Mandrake
option startlist: linux, console, linuxfb (?), and NT (windows, i assume).
Linux starts up and works wonderfully; the NT start-up, however, uhm, does
not...The windows xp start-up screen comes up and then the computer restarts
itself and i end up back at the mandrake start screen. when i
My dilemna/question is this: are any of my windows files still on the hard
drive/still accessible or have i lost it all in the partitioning of the hard
drive?
Thanks in advance for any help/opinions and sorry for the convoluted and
long message.
Chris
"anybody can install an operating system. a slightly smarter person can
install two operating systems, but only a real idiot can mess it all up..."
ps. i did manage to back up some of my important personal files, but i
didn't get to save it all. my wife may or may not completely kill me....
