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[Guide] Triple Boot on two hard drives: 30 Steps (GRUB4DOS)


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Triple Boot on two hard drives in 30 Steps, with GRUB4DOS:

iATKOS.v7/XP/UBUNTU.v9.06 (Leopard + WinXP/Ubuntu)

Success is sweet, I'm sharing this step-by-step tutorial as a way to give back some of the mojo I've received. For those of you who regularly need XP (and for it to remain stable and autonomous) in your multiboot system …

 

* It is assumed that you have had success installing all three Operating Systems separately. My "customize" settings are given for iATKOS v7, below, in case this information is helpful.

 

  • Goal: MBR boot sectors remain unchanged on all Operating Systems.
  • Goal: Each HDD can boots independently (e.g. if one is removed).
  • Goal: Removal of Ubuntu partition doesn't affect XP/Leopard, removal of either XP/Leopard will not affect Leopard/XP booting (removal of XP affects Ubuntu, but it's easy to recover Ubuntu's GRUB boot, and Ubuntu is free open source, with many solutions).
  • Goal: Preferably for the novice, no use of Ubuntu Terminal, no copying or pasting of extra boot files into Leopard, no special/extra boot partitions are created.
  • Result: 1-click quick-boot of Leopard or Ubuntu, timed auto-boot of XP.

:plane:
Sound good? Let's go.
:robot:

Hardware used:

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L, Video card: ASUS EN8600GT, CPU: Core2Duo, RAM: 4 gig Transcend DDR2, HDDs: 2 WD 750gig SATA drives, DVD/RW: LG SATA. Microsoft USB Wired Keyboard, and Microsoft Wired USB 2-button/scroll mouse.

SATA Drive positions on Motherboard:

HDD0:

This HDD is plugged into SATA 00 on the motherboard. It will contain: WinXP + Ubuntu 9.06. The method is to install GRUB4DOS into C:\ (the root) of WinXP, and add a GRUB4DOS option to the "boot.ini" (boot configuration file) of WinXP.

 

HDD1:

This HDD is plugged into SATA 01 on the motherboard. iATKOS Leopard installs here, with Chameleon 2 (rc.1) bootloader in an EFI partition.

DVD/RW is plugged into SATA 02 on the motherboard.

 

Needed Software: iATKOS v7, WinXP, Ubuntu 9.06 CD or DVD (LIVE CD option is used once), GRUB4DOS, a Text Editor better than Notepad. (I use the freeware "Notetab Light")

 

 

Install instructions, Part 1:

 

Step 1. Check/Update the bios.

Step 2. Gently unplug the SATA cable of HDD0 at the drive.

Step 3. Set bios to boot CDROM, boot iATKOS. Follow main install instructions here (and bless 'em for a saint):

MICKEY MOUSE GUIDE TO INSTALL iATKOS v7

http://uphuck.ggrn.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4145

Step 4. iATKOS process. After boot up, press "Continue", select "Disk Utility" from the top menu. My configuration is: "3 partitions" with a partition scheme like this: part. 1: HTFS+(journaled) 100gig; Part. 2: HTFS+(journaled) 100gig; Part. 3: FAT32 (for the remainder of the drive). The rationale: 1st part.=OS system, 2nd part. for MAC software/data storage, 3rd part. for sharing and future whatever's]. Don't forget to name each partition (without spaces).

Step 5. Close Disk Utility. Before OS install! Click "CUSTOMIZE" I kept all default settings, except: unselected DSDT, selected ACPI > x86 ACPI, selected Drivers> VGA > nVidia > EFI String for nVidia > DVi/DVi, selected OHR, selected NTFS-3G. (The combo of ACPI and OHR solved my restart/shutdown issues).

 

Note. If anyone feels the above settings could be improved upon please post in this thread.

Step 6. Install OS into Partition 1 (named by you). When install ends, let iATKOS restart by itself. On restart expect a failure to load and a "restart" screen. Restart, enter bios, switch the HDD to boot before CDROM. You may get another restart screen, but after that the system should boot stably. Sign up an account, create a password, you are a Hackintosh user. Finish tweaking Leopard to your satisfaction, then shut down the PC. Oh yeah, everything works.

 

Step 7. Unplug the SATA cable of HDD1 (Leopard). Plug in HDD 0 (Don't forget to unplug HDD1)!!

 

Install instructions, Part 2:

Step 8. (optional) I used a GParted boot disk to erase all partitions and set the HDD0 drive unpartitioned/unallocated. You can use Hiren's Boot disk, etc., or do nothing (not a cause for concern if the drive is new/unused. XP and especially Ubuntu manage formatting pretty well in the present situation).

Step 9. Install WinXP, create a single partition for the install when you come to the XP partition/format menu. I set a size of 100gigs, and did a 'quick' format in NTFS.

Step 10. Finish the install and set up XP to your heart's content. It will be helpful for the Ubuntu install later to give your "C:" drive a name.

Step 11. Now things get a bit deeper, please get familiar with GRUB4DOS. After failing at all sorts of options for multiboot techniques and sleepless nights of sweaty reading, this post proved a revelation, and convinced me to give GRUB4DOS (G4D) a try:

 

Ed Lo -- InsanelyMac Protégé (Mar 17 2009) (post #36) from this thread, begun September 19, 2008: "Boot Leo with chameleon from Grub, mission impossible?" http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=126885

 

& these links among many helped me to grasp Grub4DOS (aka G4D):

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/...all_windows.htm

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/multiboot.htm

http://diddy.boot-land.net/grub4dos/files/boot.htm#linux

 

Step 12. Place the G4D folder on your new WinXP desktop. Copy the two files "grldr" and "menu.lst" to C:\

 

Step 13. Open Explorer. Go to: Tools > Folder options > View. Make sure "Show hidden files" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files" is unchecked.

Step 14. Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced > Startup & Recovery > Click: "Edit". (Or go to C:\ and drag the boot.ini file into your text editor.) Add this line at the bottom of the boot.ini you are editing:

C:\grldr="GRUB4DOS"

Here is my edited boot.ini (I changed timeout to '5', changed the name of Windows to "Microsoft WinXP", these are flexible options):

[boot loader]
     timeout=5
     default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
     [operating systems]
     multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft WinXP" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
     c:\grldr="GRUB4DOS"

Step 15. You are done with boot.ini. Save & close it. Time for the matter of the "menu.lst" which points G4D, via "grldr" to the various partitions and drives. Open (drop) the "menu.lst" file into your text editor, and copy/replace what's there with this:

# This is a sample menu.lst file. You should make some changes to it.
     # The old install method of booting via the stage-files has been removed.
     # Please install GRLDR boot strap code to MBR with the bootlace.com
     # utility under DOS/Win9x or Linux.
     # color blue/green yellow/red white/magenta white/magenta

     color light-blue/blue light-red/red light-green/green light-magenta/magenta

     timeout 12
     default 0

     title Mac (i7)
     chainloader (hd1)+1
     rootnoverify (hd1,2)

     title Ubuntu 9.04
     # find --set-root /vmlinuz
     kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=b2f1fa03-1bc0-474f-b890-b2af3b5ffa8d ro quiet splash
     initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

     title WinXP
     chainloader (hd0,0)+1
     rootnoverify (hd0)

     ##########END_LIST#####################################

A couple of points here, the timeout number will change, mine is 12 sec. for testing. Your Ubuntu kernel and initrd config (data) will also change from the above. I will explain that later.

 

Step 16. Save the "menu.lst" – make sure the extension is "menu.lst" (not "menu.lst.txt"). Take your disk out of the DVD drive, reboot. On reboot, you should next see a boot menu appear with these two lines:

 

Microsoft WinXP

GRUB4DOS

Try clicking on the top line "Microsoft WinXP" first. XP should boot up. Reboot, when the boot menu appears again, click on "GRUB4DOS" which takes you to the G4D menu. Click on "WinXP" at the bottom of the list. You should be returned back to the XP boot menu. Cool. Shut down.

 

Step 17. Plug in HDD1 (the iATKOS Leopard drive). Enter BIOS menu: Check that HDD0 has boot priority over HDD 1 -- so you will get the boot menu you just made, and make the first booted device HDD not CDROM. Restart. Moment of truth: boot and select 'GRUB4DOS > Mac (i7). Chameleon/Leopard should boot. Now restart, select XP this time, and it boots.

 

You have dual boot, XP/MAC on two drives. If you remove one drive, the other will boot normally. Cool. :moil:

Install instructions, Part 3 (last):

Step 18. Now for Ubuntu, which is more complicated.

SHUTDOWN. UNPLUG HDD1! (Leopard drive). Turn on, enter the BIOS, make CDROM the first boot device, boot up XP just to check the boot system and to open the CD drive bay. Place the Ubuntu install disk into the bay, restart.

Step 19. The Ubuntu install disk boots up. Choose your language and then "Install Ubuntu" from the list. Ubuntu loads, A few minutes later, choose your language again, click "Forward" choose your time zone, then keyboard type, the Partitioner opens.

Step 20. Click the radio button, ""Specify partitions manually (advanced)", then "Forward."

Step 21. Time to make partitions for Ubuntu. I will keep it simple with an EXT3 partition for the OS and a smaller partition for the swap file. "/dev/sda1" (ntfs) is your winXP partition. Make sure you don't mess with it. The rest is unallocated "free space". Click on the free space, and "New Partition" button at the bottom left. Select "logical" and I set my partition size at 60gigs (60000). Select "Ext3 journaling system" and click on the "mount point" arrow, select "/" (which is root). Check the "format" box, if it's not checked for the partition.

Step 22. Click on "free space" once again and "New Partition" again, "logical" and 5 gigs (5000), for "Use as" select "swap area". Click "Forward." Fill in the data, name, password, etc. Click "Forward."

Step 23. At the "Migrate" screen click "Forward" again, this brings you to the "Ready to Install" screen. IMPORTANT!! In the lower right corner click on "Advanced." The "Boot Loader" appears in the middle of the screen. The location (for Linux GRUB, which boots Ubuntu) must be changed from the default setting, or your G4D install will be ruined. Click on the right side of the dialog box which has the line with (hd0), and select "/dev/sda5" -- i.e., the same partition as your Ubuntu install is located -- if you're not sure it's /dev/sda5 go back (you can do this in Ubuntu) to the partitioner, and start over. This time make a note of the install partition location. I think this info. also appears on the "Migrate" screen. When you have set the new location for GRUB, click "Install."

 

Ubuntu installs, it takes a while.

Step 24. After the install completes, restart with the Ubuntu install disk in the DVD drive (your Ubuntu install isn't bootable yet, not to worry). When the Ubuntu install disk boots, select the top line: "Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer".

Step 25. Shortly, you are live-booted into the live Ubuntu desktop. In the menu at the top, Click on "Places" > "Computer." This opens a File Browser. Double-click on "60.0 GB Media" (this is your Ubuntu install on the hard drive). If it asks for your password, use what you entered during your Ubuntu install. Double-click on "boot" > Double-click on "grub". See the file "menu.lst". Click on it, right-click and copy (or drag) to the desktop. Rename it (right-click > rename) to "menuBB.lst.txt".

Step 26. In the File Browser which is still open, double-click on the name of your XP drive. Then drag "menu.lst.txt" into the box with your files (this is root (C:\) in XP). You are done. Restart, and take out the Ubuntu install disk on exit (the drive bay auto-opens).

Step 27. Boot into WinXP. We need to get the Ubuntu boot information off of the "menuBB.lst.txt" file you just copied into the C:\ partition. Open "My Computer," double-click on the C:\ drive, and open "menuBB.lst.txt" in your text editor, and then also open the "menu.lst" (of G4D, also residing in C:\ remember) in another window of the text editor.

Step 28. Check again the code in "Step 15" of this post, and look at the final result of the Ubuntu boot info entry in "menu.lst". We need to add in the kernel & initrd information to boot your particular Ubuntu flavor:

 

title Ubuntu 9.04

# find --set-root /vmlinuz

kernel [
need this kernel info
]

initrd [
need this initrd info
]

In "menuBB.lst.txt": scroll way down toward the uncommented (no # marks at the front of lines) bottom of this file, to the first Ubuntu entry. Mine reads:

title        Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
     uuid        b2f1fa03-1bc0-474f-b890-b2af3b5ffa8d
     kernel        /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=b2f1fa03-1bc0-474f-b890-b2af3b5ffa8d ro quiet splash 
     initrd        /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
     quiet

Copy/replace only the kernel and initrid lines of "menuBB.lst.txt" into your "menu.lst" Ubuntu entry (If you used my "menu.lst" do a 'replace'):

kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=b2f1fa03-1bc0-474f-b890-b2af3b5ffa8d ro quiet splash 
     initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

You are done with "menuBB.lst.txt" so close it.

 

Step 29. Now in your "menu.lst" Ubuntu entry, uncomment this line (remove the sharp symbol# from) "find --set-root /vmlinuz". Your Ubuntu entry now looks like:

title Ubuntu 9.04
     find --set-root /vmlinuz
     kernel  /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=b2f1fa03-1bc0-474f-b890-b2af3b5ffa8d ro quiet splash 
     initrd  /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

The line "find --set-root /vmlinuz" will search and find the partition of your hard drive where Ubuntu boot (Linux GRUB) resides. (You can keep this entry as-is and it works, though each time there will be a couple seconds of searching for the Ubuntu grub boot partition/folder. We can change this later.) Save your "menu.lst".

 

Step 30. On reboot select "GRUB4DOS" and then select "Ubuntu 9.04". You can observe the search, and see the drive and partition info of the Ubuntu boot briefly appear onscreen. If you partitioned as I have, you'll see "(hd0,4)". (Whatever it is, that info is entered in the Ubuntu entry of the G4D "menu.lst" as seen in Step 15.) Save "menu.lst" restart and on boot select "GRUB4DOS > Ubuntu 9.04. Ubuntu then boots. Exit from Ubuntu, shutdown the PC. Plug in HDD1 (the Leopard drive). Test out the three OS boots. At this point, you have a triple-boot system.

 

Done!

:weight_lift:

 

Optional:

(I) GRUB4DOS Ubuntu entry. You can comment out (or remove) "find --set-root /vmlinuz" (add # in front of the line), and insert the drive boot info [e.g. "(hd0,4)"] in the kernel and initrid lines (See the example in Step 15); Ubuntu will boot a bit faster and less visibly this way (but be aware it will need changing if you add/delete partions before the Ubuntu partition in the future -- obvious I guess).

 

(II) You can read about G4D default boot options &display options (jazz up the GRUB4DOS boot GUI).

 

(III) Change the timeouts to suit.

Setting G4D to timeout=0, default=0 (Leopard), A quick 'one-click' solution is found. Select G4D at the boot prompt and it directly boots Chameleon/Leopard. If you don't select anything, the XP boot.ini timeout is in effect and eventually boots XP. But what if you want to have Leopard auto-boot? There are some advanced methods to investigate, which I didn't try.

 

(IV) G4D has the ability to hide/unhide partitions. For instance, hiding HTFS+(journaled) partitions from Ubuntu and XP, and Ext3 partitions from Leopard. Instructions are here:

 

Great good fortune is possible, thanks to all the brilliant and dedicated coders and hackers who have made this possible for a novice such as myself. I have tried to write the kind of guide I've searched for in vain, researching this project. It might be too simple for many on this forum, but useful for the novice like myself, I hope. Please offer your thoughts, suggestions and especially corrections. I wish you equal success with your multiboot projects! :chef:

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