Dualboot Two Hard Drives

[Signpost]

not that I have noticed. If they are its only a few seconds.

[tech_tronic]

If i boot into an OS consistently the time remains constant but if i boot into ubuntu then back to windows or visa versa the time and date is off...? i think its because i switched the drives around on the mobo?? anyone got any ideas as to what could be causing it? Thanks

[confused57]

If i boot into an OS consistently the time remains constant but if i boot into ubuntu then back to windows or visa versa the time and date is off...? i think its because i switched the drives around on the mobo?? anyone got any ideas as to what could be causing it? Thanks

I had the same problem switching between Windows & Ubuntu, this solved it for me:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...00&postcount=5

[simon303]

I followed these instructions

First, disconnect your Windows drive, then connect the drive you want to install Ubuntu on as the primary IDE master drive. After installing Ubuntu, allow the updater to install all the necessary updates, this may take awhile. Shutdown your computer and reconnect your Windows drive as slave, then restart, your computer will boot into Ubuntu.

You will need to edit your menu.lst file:
(Open a terminal, copy & paste one line at a time, press "enter" each time)

cd /boot/grub
sudo cp menu.lst menu.lst_backup
gksudo gedit menu.lst

The first line changes to the grub directory, the second line makes a backup of your menu.lst file, and the third line opens the menu.lst file using the gedit text editor.

Copy and paste the following lines above the line
###BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

title              Windows XP
root               (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
map                (hd0) (hd1)
map                (hd1) (hd0)
chainloader        +1

Note: If grub gives an error when rebooting, you can try rootnoverify (hd1,0) instead of root (hd1,0) in the second line.

To automatically display the grub menu at bootup, find the line

hidden

and replace with

#hidden

To adjust the time grub is displayed at bootup, change the timeout(in seconds)...I'd suggest 10 seconds(default is 3).

Quit and save settings.

Now i have a computer that should boot with either winXP or ubuntu (winXP by default)
But it only boots ubuntu, when i try to boot winXP it goes to the loading windows screen, then very rapidly flashes a blue screen error (at least it looks like a blue screen error) then reboots the computer

any ideas??

[confused57]

Post the output of:

sudo fdisk -l

the -l is a small "L"

and the boot entries of:

gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst

Did you try rootnoverify, instead of root...and possibly remove the savedefault line? Does your Window's drive boot OK, if selected to boot first in bios when still connected as slave?

[simon303]

i tried rootnoverify, when i unplug the linux drive and boot XP off its drive (still connected as slave) it boots XP fine

[confused57]

i tried rootnoverify, when i unplug the linux drive and boot XP off its drive (still connected as slave) it boots XP fine

Did "sudo fdisk -l" show your Windows on the first partition? Have you checked in bios with both hard drives connected to see if both drives are recognized correctly & enabled?

You might want to download the Super Grub Disk & see if it will boot your Windows(both drives connected):
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzo...bDiskPage.html

Other than root possibly pointing to the wrong partition or something in bios, I'm not sure what's going on with your system.

[simon303]

"sudo fdisk -l" does show the windows disk as hdb

It all seems to be working now, I disconnected the ubuntu disk and booted windows off the windows disk leaving it set as primary and it booted fine. Then reconnected the ubuntu disk and booted windows using the grub menu and its working fine. Think windows just needed to 'get used to' running off a slave.

Only problem is that when in one os i cant get at the other's disk

[fallencyi]

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has posted helpful info in this thread & confused57 for starting it.

I have been beating my head against a wall trying to figure this out. I found this thread & it for me with minor changes to the menu.lst file for the drive that windows sits on.

Thanks.

[Yellowdog428]

I just want to thank you!

I am new to Linux/ubuntu and after installing on a partition on my laptop I wanted to add it to a old Maxtor 40 Gig I had around on my desktop and it worked FLAWLESSLY!!!!!

Followed the instructions on your first post and I now have Ubuntu on my desktop!

Thanks again!
Cheers!