Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Converting Poor Man's install to dual boot

  1. #1
    Member registered user
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Bellevue, WA
    Posts
    83

    Converting Poor Man's install to dual boot

    I looked for articles in the Documentation and around the forum and couldn't find anything specific. Maybe I'm wrong and someone can point me to the right URL. Here is the situation:

    1. Why I did what I did: My previous experience with dual boot Linux was always bad (~9y), Knoppix pivot_root HD install looked like a safe method and I did it. Anyway, now I am a Knoppix fan and dual boot would be the way to go (I have been unlucky with my choice of hardware and some peripherals only work under Windows).
    2. My current partitions are:
    Code:
    /dev/hda - hda1: fat
    /dev/hdb - hdb1 : fat, hdb2: swap and hdb3: ext2
    3. I boot from CD, do the mkdir ...; mount ..., etc ... and I'm on Knoppix. I want to be able to choose at boot time which OS and go on with my life.
    Question: Can someone provide me with the detail steps to get it done? I'm not afraid of backing up/modify boot sectors. I've done it before, I'll do it again (plus I have a removable HD to backup everything and restore in case of major disaster )

    Thx,

    --GN

  2. #2
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Posts
    205
    You've done the hard parts, partitioning and installation - the rest should be a piece of cake for you!

    What you want to do is install a bootloader that can boot various operating systems in the Master Boot Record on hda. By far the most common two in the Linux world are LILO and GrUB. Knoppix comes with both, LILO v. 22.6.1 and GNU GrUB v. 0.95.

    Start by checking out the short manual pages of their installation programs:
    • $ man liloconfig
      $ man grub-install
    The more extensive documentation that's referred to in these pages isn't part of the Knoppix installation, though.

    You'll probably want to tweak the configuration that LILO gives you by editing /etc/lilo.conf directly. You can fiddle with a GrUB installation interactively by just typing grub at a console prompt.

    -- Ed

  3. #3
    Member registered user
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Posts
    30

    Re: Converting Poor Man's install to dual boot

    Quote Originally Posted by gnarvaja
    I looked for articles in the Documentation and around the forum and couldn't find anything specific. Maybe I'm wrong and someone can point me to the right URL.
    I came up with some instructions to dual boot Poor Man's Install with any flavor of Windows using GRUB, here:
    http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Hd_Based...ing_GRUB_on_HD

    The emphasis for me (for simplicity) was using the minimum number of partitions I could while also NOT using the Windows partition for KNOPPIX -- so I went ahead and put the persistent home, KNOPPIX image files, GRUB files, and even the saved configuration all on the same partition. Contrary to some opinions I've seen up here, KNOPPIX will allow the partition with the image file (i.e., "fromhd=" partition) to be writable if you have also designated it has the Persistent Home partition (i.e., "home=" partition). In fact, that part works great -- the only problem I am having is that KNOPPIX 3.7 doesn't seem to like me using "myconfig=" (i.e., the location of my saved configuration files) also point to that same partition. Still working on that -- I'd swear on a couple installations it does always work, but I can't figure out what the pattern is (maybe it only works with KNOPPIX 3.4 installations, or maybe it is something about what got saved in my config files -- still trying to figure it out). In the mean time, the benefits of having all of it together in one partition outweigh this nusisance; for now, I'm lazy (and stubborn -- I can just put the config files in another partition - that works!) and just put any stuff I want initialized (network, programs, etc.) in the KDE Autostart folder.

  4. #4
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    981
    I would just try installing lilo to the MBR from your Knoppix install. You may have to edit /etc/lilo.conf to get everything to boot.
    Here is my lilo.conf for an example:
    Code:
    boot=/dev/hda
    map=/boot/map
    vga=normal
    default="Linux(new)"
    prompt
    nowarn
    timeout=100
    #message=/boot/message
    menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
    lba32
    
     
    # Boot Kanotix on hda8
    image=/boot/vmlinuz
     append="lang=us apm=power-off hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi hde=scsi hdf=scsi hdg=scsi hdh=scsi quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix"
     root=/dev/hda8
     label="Linux(new)"
     read-only
    
    # Boot Knoppix26 on hda5
    image=/mnt/hda5/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.6
     label="Linux(old)"
     root=/dev/hda5
     initrd=/mnt/hda5/boot/initrd.img-2.6.6
     append="lang=us apm=power-off ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init nomce nofstab quiet wheelmouse"
     read-only
     
    # Boot Knoppix24 on hda5
    #image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.26
    # label="Knoppix24"
    # root=/dev/hda5
    # initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.26
    # append="lang=us apm=power-off ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init nomce quiet nofstab wheelmouse"
    # read-only
    
    
    # Boot Kanotix console mode on hda8
    image=/boot/vmlinuz
     append="knoppix 2 lang=us apm=power-off hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi hde=scsi hdf=scsi hdg=scsi hdh=scsi quiet BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix"
     root=/dev/hda8
     label="Konsole"
     read-only
    
    
    # Boot Knoppix26 console mode on hda5
    #image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.6
    # label="Konsole"
    # root=/dev/hda5
    # initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.6.6
    # append="knoppix 2 lang=us apm=power-off ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init nomce nofstab wheelmouse"
    # read-only
    
    
    # chain boot Kanotix through grub on hda8
    other =/dev/hda8
     label="Kanotix_"
     
    # Boot Windows on hda1
    other=/dev/hda1
     label="Windows"
     table=/dev/hda
    
    # Boots Knoppix 'toHD' install on hda1
    image=/mnt/hda1/bootlinux/isolinux/linux24
     label="backup"
     initrd=/mnt/hda1/bootlinux/isolinux/minirt24.gz
     append="home=scan myconfig=scan fromhd=/dev/hda1"

Similar Threads

  1. Poor Man's Install on a VFAT boot with LILO
    By Radfahrer in forum Hdd Install / Debian / Apt
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 07-07-2005, 04:29 PM
  2. How To boot without CD after Poor Man's Install
    By prehis in forum Hdd Install / Debian / Apt
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 09-15-2004, 04:44 AM
  3. 3.4/2.6.6 Poor Man's (to/fromhd) install; boot with USB?
    By j.drake in forum Hdd Install / Debian / Apt
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 08-29-2004, 07:51 AM
  4. "Poor Man's Dual Boot" with KNOPPIX 3.4
    By pau1knopp in forum Hdd Install / Debian / Apt
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-17-2004, 10:27 PM
  5. HOWTO: Poor Man's Dual Boot PC!
    By A. Jorge Garcia in forum General Support
    Replies: 18
    Last Post: 10-02-2003, 09:41 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


Apple iMac  24-inch, Apple M1 chip 8 CORE  CPU 8GB 16GB RAM 2021 Released picture

Apple iMac 24-inch, Apple M1 chip 8 CORE CPU 8GB 16GB RAM 2021 Released

$1149.99



Intel - Core i7-13700K 13th Gen 16 cores 8 P-cores + 8 E-cores 30M Cache, 3.4... picture

Intel - Core i7-13700K 13th Gen 16 cores 8 P-cores + 8 E-cores 30M Cache, 3.4...

$364.99



Intel - Core i9-13900K 13th Gen 24 cores 8 P-cores + 16 E-cores 36M Cache, 3 ... picture

Intel - Core i9-13900K 13th Gen 24 cores 8 P-cores + 16 E-cores 36M Cache, 3 ...

$519.99



Intel - Core i9-12900K Desktop Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unloc... picture

Intel - Core i9-12900K Desktop Processor 16 (8P+8E) Cores up to 5.2 GHz Unloc...

$347.99



Intel - Core i7-12700K Desktop Processor 12 (8P+4E) Cores up to 5.0 GHz Unloc... picture

Intel - Core i7-12700K Desktop Processor 12 (8P+4E) Cores up to 5.0 GHz Unloc...

$242.99



HP ELITEDESK 800 G2 MINI -  INTEL CORE I5-6500 @ 3.20GHz / 8GB / NO HDD picture

HP ELITEDESK 800 G2 MINI - INTEL CORE I5-6500 @ 3.20GHz / 8GB / NO HDD

$39.95



2010 Apple Mac Pro Dual CPU Tray | 8 Core 2.4Ghz 2x Xeon 6gig ram picture

2010 Apple Mac Pro Dual CPU Tray | 8 Core 2.4Ghz 2x Xeon 6gig ram

$85.99



AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor picture

AMD Ryzen™ 7 5700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor

$163.00



HP EliteDesk 800 G5 Mini - 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700T 8-Core, 16GB DDR4 Memory picture

HP EliteDesk 800 G5 Mini - 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700T 8-Core, 16GB DDR4 Memory

$135.00



NVIDIA Quadro 8GB, Intel 8 Core, 128GB RAM, 1TB SSD Video Editing Gaming PC picture

NVIDIA Quadro 8GB, Intel 8 Core, 128GB RAM, 1TB SSD Video Editing Gaming PC

$759.99