linux/Windows XP boot problem

[Aymeric Duclert]

Hi all,

In short :
----------
How can I prevent Windows XP (or "HP recovery") to replace lilo in the
MBR ? This is very probably more a Windows than a linux question.


The gory details :
------------------
I have a new PC (HP Pavilion t390.fr) with Windows XP Home edition
preinstalled (and no XP CDROM, of course, the beginning of the
problems !). As I cannot reinstall the PC from scratch, starting with
linux, and then Windows as I usually do, I had to shorten the big NTFS
partition, and install linux on the free space obtained, with lilo as
a boot loader (with lba32 option because the /boot partition is beyond
the 1024 cylinders limit ...).

No problem booting on linux.

When booting on Windows, it very sees that the MBR has been touched
and asks me either to reinstall the whole system or to "repair the
system". No option to avoid doing at least one of these 2 choices
(even if recovery desactivated in the system panel). The screen is in
entitled "reinstallation systeme pour PC HP" (it's in french) and
mentions a reference to SoftThinks and version 5.0.33. Both choices
result in Windows rewriting on the MBR and replacing lilo without
being asked (In fact, I don't even know is it is Windows or the HP
recovery tools that seem to be installed alltogether !)

Of course, I can boot linux from a floppy, but it is quite tedious
since I'm nearly uniquely a linux user (I just keep Windows to
maintain the PC warranty, not to use it !)

Any advice or solution is wellcome.

Aymeric Duclert

 

[Bit Twister]

Hi all,

In short :

Quite using it.

This is very probably more a Windows than a linux question.
Yes.


Of course, I can boot linux from a floppy, but it is quite tedious
since I'm nearly uniquely a linux user (I just keep Windows to
maintain the PC warranty, not to use it !)

Any advice or solution is wellcome.

boot linux with floppy or cd 1 rescue mode and re-install lilo into
mbr.

man lilo

 

[Steve Nielsen]

Niether a Windows nor a Linux issue, it's an "HP Recovery" issue. You
need to find how to turn off it's monitoring of the MBR.

Steve

 

[Aymeric Duclert]

[snip]

.... Both choices
result in Windows rewriting on the MBR and replacing lilo without
being asked (In fact, I don't even know is it is Windows or the HP
recovery tools that seem to be installed alltogether !)

Of course, I can boot linux from a floppy, but it is quite tedious
since I'm nearly uniquely a linux user (I just keep Windows to
maintain the PC warranty, not to use it !)

You can configure the Windows boot loader to chain to lilo, instead of
the other way around.

See
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux+NT-Loader.html

Thanks for your answers.

Of course, I could reinstall lilo each time the PC is rebooted under
Windows (since Windows reinitialize the MBR each time lilo touches it
!), but it would be quite tedious ...

I tried the procedure indicated by Allen in
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux+NT-Loader.html :

1/ Creation of the bootsect.lnx (dd if=/dev/hda6 of=/bootsect.lnx
bs=512 count=1 in my case)
2/ Copy of the bootsect.lnx file in C: under Windows
3/ Modification of the boot.ini file (including attrib flags) to add
the line :

C:\bootsect.lnx="Linux"

Result :
--------
The Windows loader works, it allows to boot under XP, but if I choose
linux, a black screen appears and nothing happens any more ... as if
it could to find the file.

I checked that the bootsect.lnx file is ok (size + procedure included
in the howto.html, and of course, it is).

I also tried to put the bootsect.lnx file in D: (a fat32 Windows
recovery partition which is under the 1024 cylinders limit), modifying
the boot.ini file accordingly, but the result is exactly the same !

 

[Aymeric Duclert]

Niether a Windows nor a Linux issue, it's an "HP Recovery" issue. You
need to find how to turn off it's monitoring of the MBR.

Yes indeed, that seems the problem. I searched quite a bit but as I'm
not very familiar with Windows, I did not find any way.

If somebody has an idea ...

Aymeric

 

[Timothy Murphy]

Of course, I could reinstall lilo each time the PC is rebooted under
Windows (since Windows reinitialize the MBR each time lilo touches it
!), but it would be quite tedious ...

What version of Windows?
I never heard of that happening.

 

[Aymeric Duclert]

What version of Windows?
I never heard of that happening.

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 1.

But I'm pretty sure now it's not an XP issue, rather a "HP recovery"
problem, since I have already installed lilo on another computer with
XP without any problem. They must have a tool that oversees the MBR
and reinstall it without any means to deactivate the process. Of
course the HP customer support says they do not support linux and
recommend not installing dual boots ...

But my issue is now solved by chaining windows boot loader and then
lilo.

Aymeric