> I have several dual bott systems running with Dos/Linux partitions on the
> same HD with no problem, but there is a trick to it, and there is one
> fundimantal mistake you are making.
> DO NOT TRY TO SET UP THE LINUX PARTITION USING DOS-FDISK! USE
> LINUX-FDISK TO MAKE LINUX PARTITIONS.
Here is how you should proceed. Say you have a single 17GB HD, and you want
to split the drive, 5GB dos, 12GB linux. I assume at this point you have the
5GB dos partition already. If so, leave it as is, but use dos-fdisk to
delete and other partitions that exist, so all you have is a 5GB partition,
then exit fdisk (saving these changes of course). If you are starting from
square one (a HD with no OS installed on it) then just use dos-fdisk to
create the partition you are going to use for dos. Either way, you should
have at this point a 17GB HD with 5GB as a dos partition and the remainder
not partitioned.
Now install Linux. Then use linux-fdisk (or disk druid) to create you linux
partitions (some swap, /, /tmp,/home,/var,/usr) in the remaining
unpartitioned portion of the HD. DO NOT DELETE or
OHERWISE TRY TO DO ANYTHING TO THE EXISTING DOS PARTITION USING LINUX-FDISK!
If you print out (p under fdisk) the list of partitions you will see the dos
partition happily residing there. Go ahead and add additional primary and
extended partitions as needed. Linux f-disk will let you do this just fine
(up to 4 primary one of which is already tied up as a DOS partition). Then
write the changes and continue with the install.
>
> > I had (maybe still have) problems with WINxx and Linux on one harddisk.
> > WIN98 is wiping out the partition-table of the Extended partition. My
> > Extended partition was made with fdisk-linux.
> >
> > Last week I used WIN98-DEFRAG and lost everything (except C: ) again.
> > Reason: I had made my Extended partition using fdisk-linux (I should
> > have used Fdisk-DOS).
> >
> > To put WINxx and Linux on ONE harddisk:
> >
> > Choice 1: Use Fdisk-DOS to make all partitions (max. 1 primary and an
> extended
> > partition).
> > Result: With ONE harddisk one ends up with everything (Linux as well)
> in the
> > Extended partition. Except for C:/WINxx.
> > Fdisk-DOS will not give you a second Primary partition. When you try,
> > Fdisk-DOS answers: Primary partition already exists.
> > Leaving one with no choice but an Extended partition. Or using
> fdisk-linux.
> >
> > Choice 2: Use fdisk-linux to make the partitions.
> > This is a trap.
> > When using fdisk-linux for the EXTENDED PARTITION, WINxx is likely to
> wipe
> > out the partition-table (of the Extended partition). This deletes
> 'everything'
> > on the harddisk because 'everything' is inside the Extended partition.
> Except
> > WINxx/ C-drive.
> > Actually the data is still there. But with no means of restoring the
> > partition-table the data is no longer accessible.
> >
> > MAN CFDISK says about this:
> > The bottom line is that if you use cfdisk or fdisk to
> > change the size of a DOS partition table entry, then you
> > must also use dd to zero the first 512 bytes of that par-
> > tition before using DOS FORMAT to format the partition.
>
> That is the right man page. Of course, I don't know _all_ the bugs in
> dos/windows, but one of the big ones is that it will use the partition
> boot record (first 512 bytes in the partition) to tell it the partition
> size in preference to reading the partition table.
>
> In case you didn't know how to zero the first 512 bytes, this should do
> it:
>
> dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda<n> bs=512 count=1
>
> Make sure you use the right <n> for the partition.
> If you then want windose on that partition you will have to format the
> partition and install it.
> >
> > Choice 3: Use fdisk-linux to make (max) 3 Primary partitions and an
> > Extended partition.
> > This might not eliminate the problem (I do not know) but it will
> minimize
> > it. I am using this setup now. Should I lose a partition I will
> manually
> > recover it by re-installing the partition from my written record.
> >
> > Note: With 4 Primary partitions installed:
> > -WIN98 was unable to SCANDISK partition #2. The problem went away when
> I
> > deleted partition #4.
>
> So? Just use badblocks :-)
> >
> > Note: With 3 Primary partitions + Extended partition installed.
> > -WIN98 refused to format partition #2. The problem went away when I
> removed
> > the Extended partition.
>
> mkfs -t msdos will make a perfectly good fat16 partition. Or mkdosfs.
> >
> > Note: fdisk-linux allows to 'delete' and 'restore' a partition without
> > loss of data. Provided you 'restore' using the same start-cylinder and
> > same filesystem (FAT16, FAT32 or Linux-native).
> >
> >
> > ---Herman Aa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > >From a mountaintop on Cebu island, Philippines.
>
> Lawson
> >< Microsoft free environment
>
> This mail client runs on Wine. Your mileage may vary.
>
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