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    #1

    Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub [Solved]

    Hey everyone.

    So, I'm a Windows skills teacher, currently researching Windows 7, using Vista primarily, and teaching myself linux using Kubuntu. (That's why I want to set up a seemingly ridiculous triple-boot situation.)

    I've successfully triplebooted the system once already, but I didn't like how I had to use both Grub and then the Windows Boot Loader. I was hoping there's some way of using Grub for everything.

    I read through the HOW TO: Grub Methods Toolkit and found something somewhat relevant-- adding Windows to Grub if it's not on the primary HD/Partition--mapping and all that-- but since I have only one hard drive, I'm not sure if it applies here.

    I have tried manually adding the Windows 7 partition to menu.lst, but when I tried selecting it on boot, it didn't work.

    My hard drive is currently blank and I've got the three installation disks sitting around me, so any and all ideas on how to approach this are welcomed! This is my temporary plan for partitioning my hard drive (many thanks to this forum for the advice on partitioning):

    Code:
    [------------320GB HDD (297GB formatted)-------------]
[Primary][Primary][Primary][--------Extended---------] <--type
[--sda1-][--sda2-][--sda3-][--sda5-][--sda6-][--sda7-] <--partition notation
[ .06 ][ 150 ][ 100 ][ 10  ][ 34  ][  1  ] <-- in GB

sda1	/boot			60 MB
sda2	Windows 7		150 GB
sda3	Windows Vista	100 GB
sda5	/			10 GB
sda6	/home			34 GB
sda7	/shared		1 GB
    Ideally, I want to eliminate the Windows Boot Loader and have Grub list Kubuntu, Vista, and 7 in one menu so that I can boot directly into each one from there. Is this possible? Any advice on a possible setup, including my partitioning idea above, would be helpful. (BTW, I know that Windows likes being the first partition on the HDD, but since only one will have this option, I'm hoping it's possible to just have the boot as the first primary partition-- not very important if it can't work that way).

    Thanks!
    Tags: None
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    #2
    Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

    Have you looked at Supergrub (http://supergrub.forjamari.linex.org/)? I did something similar to your plan last year, when I was triple booting XP, Vista, and Kubuntu, and I ran into problems with the MBR getting confused. Supergrub kept everyone in line.

    Good luck!
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      #3
      Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

      Thank you for the swift response! I'll take a look and post on here after I try it out-- thanks again!
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        #4
        Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

        You can get most of this between 7 & Linux from my how to:
        -- How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
        http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0


        However, frankly, with Vista, I'd personally use a better one, the bible on it for now:
        Vista *** The definitive dual-booting guide: Linux, Vista, 7 and XP step-by-step
        http://apcmag.com/dualboot

        Yes--you can go 100% with GRUB, if you wish. Easy to do -- see apcmag.
        Some of us mutli-boot a dozen or more OSs, including Windows.
        The apcmag link will carefully outline and walk you through ALL your options.

        Partitioning:
        Partitioning—how to, Rog131:
        http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090704.0


        Post back if you get stuck--we have a lot of dual/multi-booters here who can help, but I really think the apcmag has detailed it pretty well, and my how-to gives principles of using GRUB.

        You only need the map commands if Windows is on a non-first hard drive (a HD that is NOT set to boot first in BIOS). In general, always much easier if Vista is in the first partition, but, well, anything is possible (I think).


        Welcome to the forum.

        I see you already found the section Documentation > How-To's, a good resource, as is the forum here.

        An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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          #5
          Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

          Is it important for your purposes to have the Microsoft products on the real hardware platform, e.g. accessing the graphics card directly, accessing memory and the hard drive directly?

          If those things are not key to your need for those OSs, then I'd strongly suggest installing them on a VM and running them with VMWare Player. It happens that I have Win XP and Win 7 on VMs, but I could easily add a Vista VM if there was some need to do it. Here's a screenshot:

          http://www.kubuntuforums.net/index.p...o_show&ida=249

          An advantage is that you can run them all at the same time, as you can see. They also access both the host Linux system and the other Windows computer on my home network, via Samba and Windows networking.

          The only disadvantage that I can think of (besides losing Qqmike a consulting opportunity with your Grub menu ) is that you can't run apps that directly address your hardware -- overclocking utilities, defraggers, and stuff like that. Here's the how-to on VMWare Player:

          http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3095339.0


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            #6
            Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

            Thank you for your advice, everyone.

            @dibl
            I appreciate the idea, but I'd prefer to avoid virtualization. I've never had an application of it that performed at speeds comparable to a normal installation, regardless of the program used (MS VPC, VMWare, many versions, many OSs).

            @Qqmike
            Thanks for the welcome! I have read both of those guides before, but didn't remember seeing anything specific to avoiding the Windows bootloader. I see this page using the EasyBCD -- is that to what you were referring?

            Another question for everyone...

            This is my current setup:
            Code:
            [-----------------320GB HDD (297GB formatted)-----------------]
[Primary][Primary][Primary][-------------Extended-------------] <--type
[--sda1-][--sda2-][--sda3-][--sda6-][--sda5-][--sda7-][--sda8-] <--partition notation
[ 50  ][  .1 ][ 50  ][ 15  ][ 50  ][ 129 ][  4  ] <-- in GB

sda1	Windows Vista	50 GB
sda2	/boot			100 MB
sda3	Windows 7		50 GB
sda6	/			15 GB
sda5	/home			50 GB
sda7	/mnt/shared	129 GB
sda8	swap			4 GB
            Where should I install the bootloader (advanced options at the end of the Kubuntu setup)? Just sba? Or where I'm putting "/boot"?
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              #7
              Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

              Originally posted by lightheat

              @dibl
              I appreciate the idea, but I'd prefer to avoid virtualization. I've never had an application of it that performed at speeds comparable to a normal installation, regardless of the program used (MS VPC, VMWare, many versions, many OSs).
              No problem -- I understand -- Qqmike can help you with Grub.

              However, FYI, I did benchmark, on the same hardware platform, a native Win XP installation and a VMWare Win XP system, running a hog of a MS Visual FoxPro database, doing file-verify-reindex. The benchmark showed the VM performed at 95% the speed of the native installation. That's pretty close, for most purposes.
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                #8
                Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

                "I see this page using the EasyBCD -- is that to what you were referring?"

                --Yes. And as it says there, you don't have to do anything further.

                In MY how-to, the SECTION on "Re-installing GRUB" --> that's the basic technique for installing GRUB anywhere you want it to be. Thus, even if you have to use a live CD to perform repair work, you can always use GRUB files from anywhere to install the GRUB bootloader to anywhere.
                SECTION 3: Re-installing GRUB: the cure for many problems.


                Advanced button -- Step 6 of the Manual method:
                To specify the MBR of the sda drive, you would choose
                sda
                (I don't like how that works in 9.04, but no one asked my opinion: it should be something like (hd0) etcetera, ad nauseum)
                To specify the boot sector partition 1 of sda, you'd use sda1. And so on.


                Where to put GRUB?
                /boot partition?
                => I have never used a FULL real /boot partition., which properly should contain both the GRUB files and the kernel and initrd files. Too complicated for me (for various reasons). I use, instead, a dedicated separate GRUB partition that contains only the GRUB files (not anything else).
                In my how-to:
                SECTION 9: Making and using a separate GRUB partition
                => That shows you the principles of using GRUB files to install GRUB to anywhere.
                Same works for a /boot partition.

                BUT, the way the installer works, hmmm.....
                I would have GRUB installed to the MBR of sda:
                sda
                Afterwards, I would build that separate GRUB (or /boot partition) as explained in SECTION 9. Good tips in SECTION 9 about simplifying menu.lst using the configfile statements.
                Then re-install GRUB (again) to the MBR of sda using the GRUB files in your separate GRUB (or /boot) partition.

                An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                  #9
                  Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub

                  Thanks again for the help.

                  Unfortunately, as I figured with multiple failed Grub edits and trying out both EasyBCD & SuperGrubDisk, Grub is incapable of booting individual Windows OSs; instead, it "chainloads" them (of course, now I finally figure out what that really means). All EasyBCD & SuperGrubDisk did was modify the Windows bootloader, which by this point is what I'll probably end up doing.

                  Thanks for the help , anyway! I'm sure I'll be using your guide in the future. =)
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                    #10
                    Re: Triple-booting (9.04, Vista, 7) using ONLY Grub [Solved]

                    "Unfortunately, as I figured with multiple failed Grub edits and trying out both EasyBCD & SuperGrubDisk, Grub is incapable of booting individual Windows OSs; instead, it "chainloads" them"


                    Of course. Why do you think GRUB uses
                    chainloader (hdx,y)+1
                    to boot the Windows OSs?

                    GRUB (Stage 1) goes into the MBR (446 bytes of the 512)..
                    The Windows' loaders are in their respective Window partition boot sectors (by default they are there).

                    GNU GRUB Manual 0.97
                    http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...ode/index.html
                    4 -- Booting
                    http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...g.html#Booting
                    An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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