In <39337AFB.44F6B631@goingware.com> Michael D. Crawford (crawford@goingware.com) wrote:
> Hi,
> I need to know how safe NTFS writing is because I have a really stupid
> problem. Or maybe I don't and there is an easier solution.
> My problem is that I partitioned my disk all wrong, and I have NT
> installed on my first partition, and my Linux partition crosses the 1024
> cylinder limit, so I can't reliably install new kernels there.
You can. Use GRUB or the VERY LATEST LiLo. Just not I'm using system where
bootable Linux partitions not just crosses the 1024 cylinder limit but
STARTS above 1024 cylinder (just disable GRUB's check for "BIOS LBA
support" - it's bogus).
> I work around this OK as is instructed in one of the Howtos. I have my
> second partition a Windows FAT partition, and I moved my /boot directory
> there and put a symlink from the linux /boot. The linux kernel and boot
> code now supports booting of a FAT partition as long as you give it a
> Unix filesystem to mount root on.
> Further, rather than using lilo to boot my machine, I use the NT boot
> manager. This is easily done by using lilo to install the boot block
> into the superblock of the root partition, then I do this to get my
> bootsector:
> dd if=/dev/hda3 of=bootsect.lin bs=512 count=1
> then I copy bootsect.lin to my fat filesystem, _then_boot_into_nt_ then
> copy it to my NTFS partition, where the NT boot menu is already set up
> to expect that for a boot sector for linux, then reboot again.
> This is OK for everyday use but when trying out various kernel options
> and getting all the latest patches it's a real drag. And honestly I
> hate windows. It just pays the bills. When I'm playing with Linux I
> really don't want to have to look at The Work of Bill in between tries.
> An alternative I've seen references to is to use lilo to boot NT. If I
> could do that I'd be happy. My whole fat partition lies within the 1024
> limit.
> But what I'm asking in this question is how safe it would be to mount
> the NT partition writeable and copy the 512 byte file over the existing
> 512 byte file. That should be safe as these things go but the note in
> the kernel config help is pretty extreme in its warning.
Ok. It should be safe but this code REALLY can explode badly in any second
if you'll enable writing. Better grab GRUB if you want to play with kernels.
I've used LiLo an booted NT from it before I switched to GRUB - it worked
fine as well: just add NT boot partition in LiLo/GRUB menu (just like DOS
partition should be added).
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed May 31 2000 - 21:00:24 EST