Cannot boot xp from grub in multiboot

[taitera]

I have a computer with windows 7, windows xp, and ubuntu. The problem is I can't boot xp. Whenever I try, I get a black screen. I would like to be able to boot from xp, 7, or ubuntu from grub

Here is what I have done:
1) Installed XP
2) Used gparted to shrink xp partition and installed ubuntu
3) Used gparted to shirnk xp partition and installed windows 7

At this point I am greeted with the vista bootloader and can only boot windows 7 and xp

4) So I use gparted from the ubuntu cd to restore grub

Now I can only boot ubuntu

5) So I edit my menu.lst file and under windows I change "rootnoverify (hd0,0)" to "rootnoverify (hd0,1)."

I really have no idea what i did but it works.

Now I can boot ubuntu, and when I click on the windows entry I enter the vista boot loader and have a choice between windows 7 and xp. The problem is when i try xp, I just get a black screen. But windows 7 works ok. Can someone help me fix this? I was hoping there was a way I can get back into xp somehow.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

Boot up Ubuntu and execute this in Terminal :

sudo fdisk -l

Post output here.
* Its small L in fdisk -l.

Post the contents of /boot/grub/menu.lst file too.

[taitera]

Hi, thanks you for replying


Here is the fdisk output:

Disk /dev/sda: 400.1 GB, 400088457216 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 48641 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x69737369

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1       35752   287176704    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2   *       35753       43388    61336170    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3           43389       48641    42194722+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5           43389       48420    40419508+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6           48421       48641     1775151   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Here is the last part of menu.lst

title		Ubuntu 9.10, kernel 2.6.31-16-generic
uuid		ba35fa11-b8a5-4e59-92e7-9d318e397535
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic root=UUID=ba35fa11-b8a5-4e59-92e7-9d318e397535 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-16-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.10, kernel 2.6.31-16-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		ba35fa11-b8a5-4e59-92e7-9d318e397535
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-16-generic root=UUID=ba35fa11-b8a5-4e59-92e7-9d318e397535 ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-16-generic

title		Ubuntu 9.10, memtest86+
uuid		ba35fa11-b8a5-4e59-92e7-9d318e397535
kernel		/boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title		Microsoft Windows 7
rootnoverify	(hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader	+1

When I pick "Microsoft Windows 7" I enter the vista boot loader with xp and 7

[devils casper]

GRUB Bootloader is working fine. Problem is in Windows Bootloader only. Remove GRUB using SuperGRUB CD/USB. Windows Boot Menu will appear on startup. Fix Windows XP/7 dualboot.
You can re-install GRUB through SuperGRUB CD/USB easily.

[taitera]

ah, I see thanks. This may be out of the scope of this forum, but how can I fix XP/7 dualboot? I uninstalled grub and tried "fix windows mbr" in the super grub disk but xp still doesn't load.

[Charles4809]

AFAIK the partition with XP on it should be flagged as bootable. The only bootable partition you have is sda2 (Win7?)
I'm not sure about this, but I think gparted can set this bootsflag for you.
Hopefully this helps.
Charles.

[yancek]

Windows 7 and xp have different bootloaders and win 7 should detect and boot xp. You would have to go through several configuration/editing steps to do the reverse.

Probably the easiest thing to do to fix your windows bootloader from win 7 is to download EasyBCD which was created to modify vista/win 7 bootloader and has the capability to boot other systems including Linux. After fixing the windows bootloader, you can re-install Grub if you wish.

Download EasyBCD 1.7.2 - NeoSmart Technologies

[buccaneere]

This might be a problem with default inode sizing of different OS's.

I don't remember the solution - I think it was a patch for GRUB version. I had the problem once with SuSE 11.1, and other Linux distros. Windows 7 has a different inode size, I believe, and has a problem with some GRUB versions...

[Lostfarmer]

Have a questions.
1) When you boot into Win7, can you read the XP partition ?

[taitera]

Thanks for all the replies.

AFAIK the partition with XP on it should be flagged as bootable. The only bootable partition you have is sda2 (Win7?)
I'm not sure about this, but I think gparted can set this bootsflag for you.
Hopefully this helps.
Charles.

The strange thing is, that partition that is flagged as boot is the windows xp partition(sda1 is 7, sda2 is xp)

I believe that windows 7 installed its boot loader in the windows xp partition. I tried using the windows xp recovery console fixboot command on the windows xp partition. When I restarted my computer, I got a black screen, just as if I was loading xp before. I used the windows 7 disc to repair windows 7, and I'm back to where I started.

I have a feeling that the trouble lies in XP, it just won't boot for some reason. The trouble started after I installed windows 7, followed by grub(although I'm not sure which is the culprit)

Probably the easiest thing to do to fix your windows bootloader from win 7 is to download EasyBCD which was created to modify vista/win 7 bootloader and has the capability to boot other systems including Linux. After fixing the windows bootloader, you can re-install Grub if you wish.

I will have to try this. Would this be able to fix windows xp?

Have a questions.
1) When you boot into Win7, can you read the XP partition ?

Yes I can read my XP partition just fine. I could probably try to back up the partition and reinstall windows xp in that partition to see if it works. But I am still interested to see if I can boot without doing that.