Triple Boot

[mikeszekely]

After I was given a slightly better computer to use as my main desktop, I decided to mess around with my old computer. Long story short, I decided I wanted to multiboot. It already had Windows XP, and I also installed Xandros Linux 4 on it. Later, I decided I wanted to throw OS X into the mix.

 

Currently, Windows XP and Xandros reside on the same hard drive. That hard drive is the Master on its IDE controller. Xandros already installed a Boot Manager (LILO, I think), so when I start the computer, I already have the option to start Xandros or Windows.

 

I installed Tiger on a seperate hard drive. I didn't have trouble booting from my DVD, and the Disk Utility didn't have a problem installing Tiger on that hard drive. However, since that hard drive is a slave, the BIOS doesn't include it as a boot option.

 

What I really want to know, I guess, is how/if I can modify the boot loader Xandros already put on the Master to include Tiger as a boot option.

 

Oh, and for the record, I've tried the boot manager that comes with Acronis Disk Director Suite. It didn't play nice with Xandros and generally made a mess of things... probably because Xandros installs its own boot manager? I don't know.

 

Any help would be appreciated. In the mean time, I set both hard drives to Master with the jumpers, then I physically unplug the Master end of the IDE cable and stick it in whichever drive I want to boot from.

 

Thanks.

[parm289]

Maybe you could try GRUB, or use the windows xp bootloader by editing boot.ini?

[wmarsh]

I did not realize Xandros still used LILO, but you appear to be right.

 

Here is an interesting link to an article which discusses dealing with this when triple booting with Grub based Fedora.

http://www.linux.com/feature/53296

 

What I would do is install Lilo to the boot sector of your Xandros partition.

I would then install grub to your MBR. Probably Xandros has a way to do this, I've never used that distro.

The above link tells you how to add Xandros to your grub menu.

 

Alternately, here is a guide for replacing LILO with GRUB in Xandros.

http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=29050

 

If possible I would make a tiny ext3 partition on unused space on your OS X disk using parted.

 

I would then move boot_v8 there (or if you can't make that to your Xandros partition) and add OS X to grub menu.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry606752

[mikeszekely]

I did not realize Xandros still used LILO, but you appear to be right.

 

Here is an interesting link to an article which discusses dealing with this when triple booting with Grub based Fedora.

http://www.linux.com/feature/53296

 

What I would do is install Lilo to the boot sector of your Xandros partition.

I would then install grub to your MBR. Probably Xandros has a way to do this, I've never used that distro.

The above link tells you how to add Xandros to your grub menu.

 

Alternately, here is a guide for replacing LILO with GRUB in Xandros.

http://forums.xandros.com/viewtopic.php?t=29050

 

If possible I would make a tiny ext3 partition on unused space on your OS X disk using parted.

 

I would then move boot_v8 there (or if you can't make that to your Xandros partition) and add OS X to grub menu.

http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?sho...mp;#entry606752

 

Thanks for the info. I'll look at the links you provided and maybe try replacing LILO with GRUB. I'll post back later with how it goes.

 

For the record, will it make much of a difference if I try Leopard on my OS X disk?

[wmarsh]

Thanks for the info. I'll look at the links you provided and maybe try replacing LILO with GRUB. I'll post back later with how it goes.

 

For the record, will it make much of a difference if I try Leopard on my OS X disk?

No, not if you boot with grub.

Tiger is easier with chainloading method.

[mikeszekely]

Well, I did a little more research, and I honestly think it might be possible, but I'm not 100% sure, to add OS X to LILO. But that's the problem, I'm not 100% sure, and even if I was, I'm not clear on how to do it. I guess, as comfortable as I am with Windows or OS X, I always feel like a fish out of water with Linux... that's why I wound up picking Xandros for my distro.

 

I might give it a go again later, but for now, I decided that the easiest solution was a physical one. I used a bracket to stick one hard drive into a 5.25" bay, then had both hard drive set as Master on their IDE channels. Then I can change which is the primary had drive in the BIOS. So, if I want Windows or Xandros, I pick that hard drive, then pick between them in LILO. If I want OS X, I just pick the other hard drive.