Subject: Linux and NT HOWTO

From: Bill Wohler <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 15:14:27 -0700

[Someone suggested I make this into a HOWTO.  I'm happy for someone
  else to do that.  In the meantime, I'm posting a new revision with
  minor changes to step 3 and 7.]
  
  "You hear maniacal laughter..."
  
  Under no circumstances run NT's disk administrator to format
  partitions.  It asks if it can write a signature "which will cause
  absolutely no harm."  When it did this, it hosed the partition table
  and neither NT nor Linux booted afterwards.  Therefore, you'll
  probably be limited to one FAT NT partition unless NT 4.0 fixed
  these things.  Also remember that even if you do get the Disk
  Administrator to work, you'll want at least one small FAT partition
  to use as a staging area for exchanging files between Linux and NT.

  If I read my notes right, the following is a fine distillation of
  many days and nights of pulling out my hair to get things working:

  Note that step 6 is pertinent only to the following setup: Debian
  Linux 1.1, Linux 2.0.0, HP Vectra XU 6/150, Adaptec AIC 7880 Ultra
  (BIOS 1.2S-HP), Quantum Fireball 1080S, Phoenix compatibility BIOS
  GG.06.02.  NT 3.5.1.  The examples show a SCSI disk (/dev/sda);
  substitute /dev/hda for your IDE drives.

  1. Install Linux (hold off on installing everything until you win
  the Linux/NT battle).  Do all your disk partitioning in Linux,
  including your NT partition (make it FAT).  I was not successful at
  making more than one NT partition.  I also made it the first
  partition, but I don't know if that is essential or not.
  
  2. Add the "linear" flag to /etc/lilo.conf, change boot=/dev/sda (I
  was not successful at installing LILO on the Linux
  partition--/dev/sda3 in my case) and run "lilo".  If your partition
  table is screwed up by NT you'll either need to use "ignore-table"
  or follow the directions in Step 7.  See also "fix-table".  The LILO
  HOWTO is your friend.  You'll have to use the editor ae.  You'll
  live.

  3. Save the MBR with this: dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/fd0 bs=512 count=1
  Use a floppy.  Trust me.  Also do this each time you change the disk
  partition table.

  4. Install NT, part 1.  When it goes to reboot halfway through the
  process you'll boot into Linux.
  
  5. Add NT stanza to /etc/lilo.conf, e.g.:
  
	other=/dev/sda1
	label=NT
	table=/dev/sda

   and run lilo.
  
  6. Reboot, select NT from LILO, and finish NT install.  You'll need
  the "Boot Disk XU, HP Vectra AIC 7880 Driver A.01.02" floppy to
  install the ethernet drivers and the "XU/VT Drivers and
  Documentation" CD (directory video/disk4 if a recall correctly) to
  install the video drivers for the Matrox MGA Millennium.
  
  7. Back to Linux, run fdisk and ensure you don't get "partition
  doesn't end on cylinder boundary" on your Linux partitions.  You'll
  still have this error on the NT partition though, but this seems to
  be OK.
  
/dev/sda1            1        1      322   329301    6  DOS 16-bit >=32M
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary:
     phys=(321, 39, 9) should be (321, 63, 32)

  Cfdisk reports strangeness, but it seems OK:

                                          Unusable                      0.04*
 /dev/sda1                 Primary        DOS 16-bit >=32Mb           321.59*
                                          Unusable                      0.39*

  If you do get the cylinder boundary warning on your Linux
  partitions, it is sufficient to use cfdisk to do something innocuous
  like changing the boot sector.
  
  If, however, NT has really screwed you over and cfdisk can't even
  run, complaining that it cannot open /dev/sda, then you'll need to
  take more extreme action.  You'll need that MBR you saved
  previously.  Clear and restore the MBR (but not the signature) with:

	  dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
	  dd if=/dev/fd0 of=/dev/sda bs=510 count=1

  8.  Install the rest of Linux.  Easy, huh?

  If you prefer to have NT write the MBR instead of LILO, you may have
  to resort to the following to clear the MBR first:
  
  a) dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1 (in Linux) or perform
     a low-level format with the SCSI utilities.  I've heard that a
     low-level format of an IDE disk is fatal, so don't do it.
  b) fdisk /mbr (you've obviously already created a DOS boot disk that
     contains fdisk).
  c) delete NT partition and create it again in NT install.
  d) continue with NT install.

Bill Wohler <[email-masked]>   ph: +1-415-854-1857  fax: +1-415-854-3195
Say it with MIME.  Maintainer of comp.mail.mh and news.software.nn FAQs.
If you're passed on the right, you're in the wrong lane.