Convincing Grub to dual boot WinXP from an extended partition

[nyenyec]

---

Hi,

I'm trying to put together a dual boot (Win/Lin) PC with Ubuntu 5.1.

I had a Windows XP installation on an extended partition, than installed Ubuntu.

Now I'm trying to convince GRUB to boot my WinXP installation, but had no luck so far.
Honestly I can't really figure out Grubs numbering scheme and have no idea how to refer to an extended partition.

I attached a screenshot from gparted.

This is how I try to load WinXP from Grub:

/boot/grub/menu.lst:

title Windows XP
root (hd0,4)
makeactive
chainloader +1
boot

These are the error messafes I get when I try to boot this:

Booting Windows XP
root (hd0,4)
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7

When I change it to hd0,5:
Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82

When I change it to hd0,6:

Error 22: No such partition

So how do I tell Grub to boot WinXP from the 2nd logical partition of an extended partition?

Thanks,
nyenyec

[budman7]

The (hd0,4) one is correct.

hda1 = hd0,0
hda2 = hd0,1

And so on

Instead of using just root, try "rootnoverify"

[Weedman]

Hey, why does "root" work sometimes, but other require "rootnoverify"?

The easiest way I remember the partition numbers is minusing 1 from the partition #. eg. hda2=hd0,1

But of course, that's not the point (or is it?)

[budman7]

Hey, why does "root" work sometimes, but other require "rootnoverify"?

I have no idea.
With Suse, the "root" command works just fine.
In Fedora, "rootnoverify" is necessary.
Probably something to do with being able to read NTFS by default.

[nyenyec]

The (hd0,4) one is correct.
Instead of using just root, try "rootnoverify"

Nope, it didn't work. I simply get:

rootnoverify (hd0,4)
makeactive

Error 12: Invalid device requested

[towy71]

Windows likes to think it's the only OS on a computer so if you map the drive in grub windows thinks it's the only OS

title DOS Boot Disk
	map (hd0,0) (hd0,4)
	map (hd0,4) (hd0,0)
        rootnoverify (hd0,4)
	chainloader +1

you might have to vary the (hd0,4) to get it to work but something along those lines is the way to go

[budman7]

Could you post the complete contents of your menu.lst?

less /boot/grub/menu.lst

Then just copy and paste.

[nyenyec]

Could you post the complete contents of your menu.lst?

Here it is:

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.           
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		3

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specifiv kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery mode) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## nonaltoption boot targets option
## This option controls options to pass to only the
## primary kernel menu item.
## You can have ONLY one nonaltoptions line
# nonaltoptions=quiet splash

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-10-386 
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-10-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-10-386
savedefault
boot

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-10-386 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-10-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-10-386
boot

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-9-386 
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-9-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro quiet splash
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-9-386
savedefault
boot

title		Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.12-9-386 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-9-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-9-386
boot

title		Ubuntu, memtest86+
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin  
boot

title		Windows XP
rootnoverify	(hd0,4)
makeactive
chainloader	+1
boot

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

[nyenyec]

Windows likes to think it's the only OS on a computer so if you map the drive in grub windows thinks it's the only OS

title DOS Boot Disk
	map (hd0,0) (hd0,4)
	map (hd0,4) (hd0,0)
        rootnoverify (hd0,4)
	chainloader +1

you might have to vary the (hd0,4) to get it to work but something along those lines is the way to go

Well, using the exact lines above I still get:

Error 12: Invalid device requested

[budman7]

The only thing I noticed in there is the "boot", that does not need to be there.
Other than that the entry looks good.