Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

[nilsA]

Re: SATA mulit boot problem

In a terminal window

sudo fdisk -lu

should resolve the question of whether Linux can see the drive on the added controller card.

Both drives, all partitions found.

[vinnywright]

Re: SATA mulit boot problem

I would suggest all the windows installs go on the primary drive and the linux on the secondary as linux dosent care where it's booted from.

VINNY

[dibl]

Re: SATA mulit boot problem

I would suggest all the windows installs go on the primary drive and the linux on the secondary as linux dosent care where it's booted from.

VINNY

This is the way I used to do it when I was dual booting. It might be possible to simply change the sequence in BIOS. But it also might be the case that drives connected to the motherboard SATA connectors are always seen before drives on the PCI card controller.

[nilsA]

Re: SATA mulit boot problem

I haven't looked at this in ages (since GRUB 2 first came out in 8.10).
However, you might check my how-to, see what's there:


GRUB 2: A Guide for Users
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3117206.0

In Reply #1, the topic:
-- Windows Topics -- booting
--> drivemap command: XP on a non-first hard drive

Thanks, this led me to the part where how to boot XP on a non-first disk.

I made a file in /etc/grub.d called winstart.

In this file I put:

# Windows XP on sdb1 (= (hd1,1)
menuentry “Windows XP on sdb1, by chainloader” {
drivemap (hd0) (hd1)
drivemap (hd1) (hd0)
set root=(hd0)
chainloader (hd1,2)+1
 }

That is, I changed hd1,1 to hd1,2, as XP is on sdb2.2, not sdb2.1.

Then I did the execute:

sudo chmod 744 /etc/grub.d/winstart

and

sudo grub-mkconfig

Did not work.

Then I looked at the "forbidden" file, grub.cfg.

There I find that the three parts regarding the second drive (sdb) is like this:

First line:

insmod part_msdos

(all three).

Second line:

insmod fat

(Dell utilies, partition 1)

insmod ntfs

(XP)

insmod fat

(Dell recovery)

Third line:

set root=' (/dev/sdb,msdos1) '

(Dell utilies, partition 1)

set root=' (/dev/sdb,msdos2)'

'(XP)

set root=' (/dev/sdb,msdos4)

' (Dell recovery)

Fourth line:

(... no floppy, identical except the number after the set=root part)

Fifth line:

drivemap -s (hd0) ${root}

(All)

Last line:

chainloader +1

(All three.)

Two problems, at my sadly lacking level of understanding (or misunderstanding):

- Did the winstart file do anything at all?

- These three sets seems so identical, except the file system. FAT for those booting and NTFS for the one that does not; and

msdos1

vs

msdos2

,

msdos4

for the partitions.

So, I'm still at a loss regarding what to do next?

[nilsA]

Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

Well, sort of.

I put both hard disks on the on-board SATA controller, and left the new SATA controller to the DVD writer.

Then, booting into *buntu and doing

grub-mkconfig

in console, and everything is fine.

Well almost.

Here is the problem:

The new controller seems to be incompatible with the BIOS. I can use it in *buntu, Win7, XP. But I cannot boot from the DCD ROM.

Small problem.

[dibl]

Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

Good job troubleshooting it. Somewhere on Ubuntu Forum is a "Incompatible Hardware" list, or "Unsupported " or something like that. You might do someone a favor by posting the brand and model of that PCI SATA controller there.

[nilsA]

Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

Good job troubleshooting it. Somewhere on Ubuntu Forum is a "Incompatible Hardware" list, or "Unsupported " or something like that. You might do someone a favor by posting the brand and model of that PCI SATA controller there.

It should be a GRUB2 incompatible list, I guess. *buntu, XP and Win7 have drivers:

Sunsway/ST Lab PCI SATA 2P eSATA/SATA, SiL3512

[dibl]

Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that's it a BIOS issue, really. I'm 99% confident that Grub gets all of its information about bootable devices from BIOS. I have the same problem with a PCI SSD and the BIOS on my Asus motherboard.

[nilsA]

Re: SATA multi boot problem - sort of SOLVED

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that's it a BIOS issue, really. I'm 99% confident that Grub gets all of its information about bootable devices from BIOS. I have the same problem with a PCI SSD and the BIOS on my Asus motherboard.

I'll second that, be it that I'm not an expert. There are signs that the controller board messes with the boot process when I try running the recovery partition. The PC will go into the famous blue screen.

I have not tried to remove the controller in order to verify that; I'm a little fed up after a week end and a couple of afternoons trying to understand and fix this.