[TriLUG] help with install

[Scott Thomas]

Jon, thanks for the tips.  The specific Compaq I have is a Presario
2286.  wrt the boot params, I just use the default, -ie I didn't specify
any.  

As you suggested, I did some searching and found one helpful posting wrt
Linux on a Presario 2266.  this guy installed Linux first, then went
back to install Windows.  Which leads me to believe there may be an
issue wrt which disk linux is installed on.  Also, I suspect there may
be a 2nd IDE controller built into this machine, (there's a 2nd
connector on the motherboard, which I connected the 2nd drive to) but
the documentation that came with the machine doesn't mention IDE
controllers. -it doesn't go into that level of detail. 

I do have one question that's a bit embarrassing to ask... how do I boot
Windows from a DOS startup floppy?   It's been awhile since I tried
something like that.  Also, 'fdisk' doesn't appear to be available with
Windows XP, at least I haven't found it yet.  I'm  still searching.
Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the help,
-Scott 
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jon Carnes [mailto:jonc at nc.rr.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 11:45 AM
> To: sthomas at myfamily.org; Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] help with install
> 
> On Mon, 2003-09-22 at 09:37, Scott Thomas wrote:
> 
> > I'm trying to install RH 9.0 on a Compaq Presario (with Cyrix MII
> > processor).  Since my kids also use this machine to play educational
> > games, I've added a 2nd disk to install RH on, and will keep
WindowsXP
> > on the 1st drive.   The installation went smoothly.  However, after
I
> > rebooted, the machine just hangs.  It reads the boot floppy, and
> > starts to load the kernel, but after about a screen full of
messages,
> > it just stops.  When I tried to boot Windows, GRUB starts, but then
it
> > too just hangs.  All I get is a black screen with "GRUB" at the top
> >
> >
> >
> > so can any of the more seasoned RH gurus out there please give me a
> > hint what's going wrong?
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > --
> > Scott Thomas
> 
> What's the exact model number of the Compaq Presario?  I've read of
> folks having a *lot* of problems trying to get Linux on these boxen.
> 
> Grub allows you to edit and look at each of the boot commands for each
> choice.  If you could post those, it would help us help you.
> 
> In a worse case scenario you should be able to get the XP install
> booting again by booting with a Windows Disk and then re-writing the
> Master Boot Record
>   fdisk -mbr
> 
> (you might have to blank the mbr first - there are some nice write-ups
> of this on the net).
> 
> When done with that make sure the Partition with the Windows install
is
> still marked as active.
> 
> Good Luck - Jon Carnes