Re: [TCLUG:2449] Boot from hard drive using NT bootloader?

[Chris Schumann <whizkid@dwave.net>]

I made a workaround using loadlin, since I think LILO will not work
because my Linux partition is beyond 1024 cylinders. I'm posting this for
those who might want to do the same thing.

I now have two options:

1. Start Win95 then run loadlin. Win95 tells me that it must run in MS-DOS
mode, and shuts down my machine. From then on, each time I select Win95,
it gives me a few seconds to "really" start Win95 by pressing ESC, and if
I don't, it starts linux. Neat.

2. Start Win95 but press F8 and select command prompt. Then run loadlin.
Next time I select Win95, it really starts Win95.

Chris

> From: Sandipan Panigrahi <pani@frontiernet.net>

> I am no good at reading fdisk output, but I think that NTFS lies in the
> first 8128 cylinders.. And fdisk is unable to actully handle the size
> which is
> why it prints 4096480+ and so is confused with the disk setup.
> 
> Now all of lilo documentation says that you must have lilo data in the
> first
> 1024 Cylinders of the disk. In your case when you copy the lilo file
> to NT somewhere on your C: drive it could get copied to any of the
> 8128 cylinders.
> 
> If the exact location on the disk where this gets copied happens to be
> beyond 1024 cylinder then you might be in trouble.
> 
> One work around I see immediately is the possibilty of having creating a
> small partition disk before the NT partion in the disk that  can be
> accessed by NT
> as drive D: or something and then installing lilo files here.
> 
> Another is to use "loadlin". Loadlin allows you to boot linux from
> within dos.
> It can be windows95 in the safe mode too.
> 
> Create DOS/FAT partition and install dos on it anywhere on the disk and
> copy
> loadlin and the kernel file onto there. Look at the instruction on how
> to 
> use loadlin. It is pretty straight forward.
> 
> Then in the autoexec.bat of that partion execute loadlin with the
> appropriate parameters.
> 
> Mark this drive to be bootable and voila you should in theory be able to
> use
> the NT loader to boot this drive which when it boots will run the
> autoexec
> which will boot linux without the use of lilo.
> 
> Let me know if this works out.
> 
> --
> regards,
> sandipan
> 
> > clue:
> > 
> > fdisk /dev/hdb prints this:
> > 
> >    Device Boot   Begin    Start      End   Blocks   Id  System
> > /dev/hdb1   ?        1        1     8128  4096480+   7  OS/2 HPFS
> > Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary:
> >      phys=(507, 255, 63) should be (507, 15, 63)
> > /dev/hdb2         7677     8129    10544  1217664   83  Linux native
> > Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary:
> >      phys=(658, 255, 63) should be (658, 15, 63)
> > 
> > This is an 8.4GB drive.  Could it have something to do with LILO's
> > 1024-cylinder limit? Is there a way to not use LILO?
> > 
> > Is LILO being fixed to use larger disks?
> > 
> > What else could it be?
> > 
> > Chris Schumann <whizkid@dwave.net>
> 
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Chris Schumann <whizkid@dwave.net>