Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP - PROBLEM

2003-08-01 Thread John DeStefano
James A. Coulter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
- Original Message - 
From: John DeStefano 
To: 
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:17 AM
Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP


 Jud wrote:
 On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:55:25 -0400 (EDT), Jerry McAllister
  said:
  
   Hello,
  
   I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it.
   I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD.
   My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
   Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is
 this
   true?
 
  I believe both statements are true.
  Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important
 one.
 
  jerry
 
 I see most of the usual suspects have weighed in - may as well complete
 the list. :-)
 
 Jerry's right and so's Adam. I happen to be using GAG right now,
 because
 it's pretty automagic and I have a slightly complicated setup.
 
 I'd recommend that even if you decide to use the FreeBSD bootloader or
 GAG that you also have a look at the online FAQ and Google this list.
 These resources as well as the man pages and the online Handbook will
 stand you in good stead as you continue with FreeBSD.
 
 Jud

 And yet another vote for GAG, this time from a newbie! ;)
 I have a FreeBSD/Windows 98/Windows XP system, and although I
 once had it booting from a FBSD loader, GAG was so easy to install and
 configure that I've switched over. It works very well, and it's very easy
to
 use. Just copy the program to a floppy and boot with it. Use the setup
 menu to add your OS selections, add a descriptive name for each (and
 even a different icon to distinguish them!), install your choices to the
 hard drive from the menu, and off you go.
 ~John


GAG worked great on my Dell Inspirion 2650 FreeBSD - XP/setup, but when I
installed it on an old Gateway with Win98 - FreeBSD, it did something funky.

I get the GAG boot screen and regardless of whether I choose Win98 or
FreeBSD the system states it is starting Windows 98 and then, after
attempting to access the floppy drive, asks Type the name of the Command
Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM) and finishes with the A prompt.

Entering C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM is not recoginized by the system (it repeats
the request for the command interpreter) and inserting a floppy with
COMMAND.COM results in the system freezing.

I tried booting from floppy, worked fine, but system will not recoginize the
c: drive.

Uninstalling GAG only removes the GAG start-up screen, system still asks for
the command interpreter.

Read the GAG instructions and FAQ - no luck.

Anyone had a problem like this? Any suggestions on how to restore my hard
drive without losing any data?

Thanks,

Jim


I'm no guru, but this could be as simple as re-installing GAG, removing all file 
systems from the menu, and starting from scratch to re-add your OS selections (which 
will take all of a minute's time).  This worked for me once when I had a problem 
booting; something had changed on the disk and GAG just needed to adjust to the 
change.  Give it a try.

Failing that... I don't know whether 98 has a 'repair install' option like XP does, 
but if so, that might be a solution.  Also might work to let BSD write its boot menu 
to the MBR.  Maybe someone else can chime in with more info.

~John


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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP - PROBLEM

2003-08-01 Thread Jud
On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 07:09:30 -0700 (PDT), John DeStefano
[EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
 James A. Coulter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 - Original Message - 
 From: John DeStefano 
 To: 
 Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:17 AM
 Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP
[snip]
 GAG worked great on my Dell Inspirion 2650 FreeBSD - XP/setup, but when I
 installed it on an old Gateway with Win98 - FreeBSD, it did something
 funky.
 
 I get the GAG boot screen and regardless of whether I choose Win98 or
 FreeBSD the system states it is starting Windows 98 and then, after
 attempting to access the floppy drive, asks Type the name of the Command
 Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM) and finishes with the A
 prompt.
 
 Entering C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM is not recoginized by the system (it
 repeats
 the request for the command interpreter) and inserting a floppy with
 COMMAND.COM results in the system freezing.
 
 I tried booting from floppy, worked fine, but system will not recoginize
 the
 c: drive.
 
 Uninstalling GAG only removes the GAG start-up screen, system still asks
 for
 the command interpreter.
 
 Read the GAG instructions and FAQ - no luck.
 
 Anyone had a problem like this? Any suggestions on how to restore my hard
 drive without losing any data?
 
 Thanks,
 
 Jim
 
 
 I'm no guru, but this could be as simple as re-installing GAG, removing
 all file systems from the menu, and starting from scratch to re-add your
 OS selections (which will take all of a minute's time).  This worked for
 me once when I had a problem booting; something had changed on the disk
 and GAG just needed to adjust to the change.  Give it a try.
 
 Failing that... I don't know whether 98 has a 'repair install' option
 like XP does, but if so, that might be a solution.  Also might work to
 let BSD write its boot menu to the MBR.  Maybe someone else can chime in
 with more info.
 
 ~John

When you get to the A: prompt, type fdisk /mbr.  If it gives you an
error, start up the next time with a Windows restore floppy and try it
again.  That will restore your Win98 bootloader.  Then you can try
reinstalling GAG.  If it doesn't work, you can try FreeBSD's bootloader,
Grub (/usr/ports/sysutils/grub), or any of several other options.

Since this isn't a GAG helpline  ;-), future correspondence should
probably be sent off-list.

Jud
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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP - PROBLEM SOLVED

2003-08-01 Thread James A. Coulter

- Original Message - 
From: Jud [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: John DeStefano [EMAIL PROTECTED]; James A. Coulter
[EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: freebsd-questions [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 8:01 AM
Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP - PROBLEM


 On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 07:09:30 -0700 (PDT), John DeStefano
 [EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
  James A. Coulter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
  - Original Message - 
  From: John DeStefano
  To:
  Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:17 AM
  Subject: Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP
 [snip]
  GAG worked great on my Dell Inspirion 2650 FreeBSD - XP/setup, but when
I
  installed it on an old Gateway with Win98 - FreeBSD, it did something
  funky.
 
  I get the GAG boot screen and regardless of whether I choose Win98 or
  FreeBSD the system states it is starting Windows 98 and then, after
  attempting to access the floppy drive, asks Type the name of the
Command
  Interpreter (e.g., C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM) and finishes with the A
  prompt.
 
  Entering C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM is not recoginized by the system (it
  repeats
  the request for the command interpreter) and inserting a floppy with
  COMMAND.COM results in the system freezing.
 
  I tried booting from floppy, worked fine, but system will not recoginize
  the
  c: drive.
 
  Uninstalling GAG only removes the GAG start-up screen, system still asks
  for
  the command interpreter.
 
  Read the GAG instructions and FAQ - no luck.
 
  Anyone had a problem like this? Any suggestions on how to restore my
hard
  drive without losing any data?
 
  Thanks,
 
  Jim
 
 
  I'm no guru, but this could be as simple as re-installing GAG, removing
  all file systems from the menu, and starting from scratch to re-add your
  OS selections (which will take all of a minute's time).  This worked for
  me once when I had a problem booting; something had changed on the disk
  and GAG just needed to adjust to the change.  Give it a try.
 
  Failing that... I don't know whether 98 has a 'repair install' option
  like XP does, but if so, that might be a solution.  Also might work to
  let BSD write its boot menu to the MBR.  Maybe someone else can chime in
  with more info.
 
  ~John

 When you get to the A: prompt, type fdisk /mbr.  If it gives you an
 error, start up the next time with a Windows restore floppy and try it
 again.  That will restore your Win98 bootloader.  Then you can try
 reinstalling GAG.  If it doesn't work, you can try FreeBSD's bootloader,
 Grub (/usr/ports/sysutils/grub), or any of several other options.

 Since this isn't a GAG helpline  ;-), future correspondence should
 probably be sent off-list.

 Jud

The Windows restore floppy worked.  Problem was caused by the hard drive
restore program (GoBack).  Once I disabled it and restored the mbr
everything worked fine.

Thanks for your help and sorry about going off-topic.  I got the GAG idea
from the -questions list and figured it might be the place to find someone
who had had the problem before.

Jim

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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP

2003-07-31 Thread Jud
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:55:25 -0400 (EDT), Jerry McAllister
[EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
  
  Hello,
  
  I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it.
  I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD.
  My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
  Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is this
  true?
 
 I believe both statements are true.
 Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important one.
 
 jerry

I see most of the usual suspects have weighed in - may as well complete
the list.  :-)

Jerry's right and so's Adam.  I happen to be using GAG right now, because
it's pretty automagic and I have a slightly complicated setup.

I'd recommend that even if you decide to use the FreeBSD bootloader or
GAG that you also have a look at the online FAQ and Google this list. 
These resources as well as the man pages and the online Handbook will
stand you in good stead as you continue with FreeBSD.

Jud
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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP

2003-07-31 Thread John DeStefano
Jud [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:55:25 -0400 (EDT), Jerry McAllister
[EMAIL PROTECTED] said:
  
  Hello,
  
  I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it.
  I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD.
  My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
  Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is 
this
  true?
 
 I believe both statements are true.
 Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important 
one.
 
 jerry

I see most of the usual suspects have weighed in - may as well complete
the list.  :-)

Jerry's right and so's Adam.  I happen to be using GAG right now, 
because
it's pretty automagic and I have a slightly complicated setup.

I'd recommend that even if you decide to use the FreeBSD bootloader or
GAG that you also have a look at the online FAQ and Google this list. 
These resources as well as the man pages and the online Handbook will
stand you in good stead as you continue with FreeBSD.

Jud

And yet another vote for GAG, this time from a newbie! ;)
I have a FreeBSD/Windows 98/Windows XP system, and although I 
once had it booting from a FBSD loader, GAG was so easy to install and 
configure that I've switched over.  It works very well, and it's very easy to 
use.  Just copy the program to a floppy and boot with it.  Use the setup 
menu to add your OS selections, add a descriptive name for each (and 
even a different icon to distinguish them!), install your choices to the 
hard drive from the menu, and off you go.
~John


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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP

2003-07-31 Thread JacobRhoden

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 02:29 am, Jud wrote:
   My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
   Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is this
   true?
 
  I believe both statements are true.
  Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important one.

 Jerry's right and so's Adam.  I happen to be using GAG right now, because
 it's pretty automagic and I have a slightly complicated setup.

I installed XP, then FreeBSD on my machine and it all works fine with the 
FreeBSD boot loader. That said maybe I should try GAG, the font is a bit 
ugly, but at least the XP partion on boot time wouldnt appear as '??'.

(:
 

JacobRhoden - http://rhoden.id.au/
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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP

2003-07-30 Thread Jerry McAllister
 
 Hello,
 
 I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it.
 I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD.
 My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
 Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is this
 true?

I believe both statements are true.
Anyway, you can boot XP with FreeBSD's MBR and that's the important one.

jerry

 
 
 
 
 -- 
 Best regards,
  Avivmailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 
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Re: Dual booting FreeBSD and Windows XP

2003-07-30 Thread Adam
On Wed, 2003-07-30 at 12:41, Aviv wrote:
 I have a computer with Windows XP installed on it.
 I want to dual boot it with FreeBSD.
 My question is: does FreeBSD's boot loader support loading XP?
 Because I've heard XP doesn't like it's MBR being overwritten. Is this
 true?

Save yourself hassle and just use GAG. It's easy and it works.

http://gag.sourceforge.net/

-- 
Adam [EMAIL PROTECTED]

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