dual boot system: partition table problem, XP does not boot anymore
hi all! I've got a huge problem: I have an IBM T41 notebook with a 40G harddisk. I had XP and Mandrake 10 on it, and both systems booted and ran well. Then, i installed SuSE Linux 9.0 over the Mandrake distro, and since then, Win XP does not boot anymore: the XP startup logo appears for 2 seconds and then i get a bluescreen telling me STOP 0x000000ED - UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. I am totally puzzled, because i did not expect the SuSE installation routine to mess up my partition table or MBR, since all the messy work (resizing NTFS, re-partitioning, etc.) has been successfully completed when i installed Mandrake, and both systems (XP, mandrake) have coexisted peacefully. Therefore i thought installing SuSE over mandrake will be a piece of cake. Here is my current hard disk layout: ------------------------------------- Disk /dev/hda: 5168 cylinders, 240 heads, 63 sectors/track Units = cylinders of 7741440 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0 Device Boot Start End #cyls #blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 0+ 1081 1082- 8179888+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/hda2 1082 4706- 3625- 27401472 5 Extended /dev/hda3 4707 5167 461 3485160 83 Linux /dev/hda4 0 - 0 0 0 Empty /dev/hda5 1082+ 2147- 1066- 8058424+ b Win95 FAT32 /dev/hda6 2147+ 4242- 2095- 15838168+ 83 Linux /dev/hda7 4242+ 4706- 464- 3504784+ 82 Linux swap I can boot Linux (which is on /dev/hda6) and it runs well, and interestingly, i can access both windows partitions from Linux (/dev/hda1 as /windows/C, / dev/hda5 as /windows/d). BTW, SuSE installed the GRUB boot manager, so i thought maybe this has something to do with it. I used YAST2 to change it to LILO, but this did not help either. To sum up: I am left now with a non-booting XP and a working linux system. However, i need XP for my job. I have read that i can run a CHKDSK from the XP recovery CD, but i am hesitating for 2 reasons: 1. i fear that this will make linux unaccessible to me (kill the grub bootmanager, etc.) 2. i have to get the XP CD from the Sysadmin, who will get mad at me when i explain the situation :-] what do you think causes my problem? how can i fix it? What would you do in my situation? Thanks! Joe PS: i don't blame SuSE, Linux or MS for this. I am fully aware that partitioning and disk resizing etc. should not be done by filesys rookies like myself...!
On Sun, 2004-05-16 at 13:33, Joe Peer wrote:
hi all!
I've got a huge problem: I have an IBM T41 notebook with a 40G harddisk. I had XP and Mandrake 10 on it, and both systems booted and ran well. Then, i installed SuSE Linux 9.0 over the Mandrake distro, and since then, Win XP does not boot anymore: the XP startup logo appears for 2 seconds and then i get a bluescreen telling me STOP 0x000000ED - UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME.
I am totally puzzled, because i did not expect the SuSE installation routine to mess up my partition table or MBR, since all the messy work (resizing NTFS, re-partitioning, etc.) has been successfully completed when i installed Mandrake, and both systems (XP, mandrake) have coexisted peacefully. Therefore i thought installing SuSE over mandrake will be a piece of cake.
Here is my current hard disk layout: -------------------------------------
Disk /dev/hda: 5168 cylinders, 240 heads, 63 sectors/track Units = cylinders of 7741440 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
Device Boot Start End #cyls #blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 0+ 1081 1082- 8179888+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/hda2 1082 4706- 3625- 27401472 5 Extended /dev/hda3 4707 5167 461 3485160 83 Linux /dev/hda4 0 - 0 0 0 Empty /dev/hda5 1082+ 2147- 1066- 8058424+ b Win95 FAT32 /dev/hda6 2147+ 4242- 2095- 15838168+ 83 Linux /dev/hda7 4242+ 4706- 464- 3504784+ 82 Linux swap
I can boot Linux (which is on /dev/hda6) and it runs well, and interestingly, i can access both windows partitions from Linux (/dev/hda1 as /windows/C, / dev/hda5 as /windows/d).
BTW, SuSE installed the GRUB boot manager, so i thought maybe this has something to do with it. I used YAST2 to change it to LILO, but this did not help either.
To sum up: I am left now with a non-booting XP and a working linux system. However, i need XP for my job. I have read that i can run a CHKDSK from the XP recovery CD, but i am hesitating for 2 reasons: 1. i fear that this will make linux unaccessible to me (kill the grub bootmanager, etc.) 2. i have to get the XP CD from the Sysadmin, who will get mad at me when i explain the situation :-]
what do you think causes my problem? how can i fix it? What would you do in my situation? Thanks!
Joe - If you didn't change the partitioning (and you've confirmed this for yourself by knowing that nothing has changed), then perhaps it is just the mbr that has gotten messed up for Windows. Unfortunately, you will need a Windows XP cd to try to repair it. Boot with the XP cd and choose the first "R" for Repair. This will get you to the Recovery Console. Unless you set an administrative password, the default is blank (yes, yes, I know this is lame). Once in the Recovery Console, you'll probably want to do: fixmbr fixboot bootcfg Here's the link to an explanation of the Recovery Console commands, or just Google "XP Recovery Console commands". http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-... Now see if you can get into XP. Of course, you will then have to boot with the SuSE cd and reinstall Grub. Good luck, Malke -- "And that's how we learned our lesson!" - Bender
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sunday 16 May 2004 07:14, Malke Routh wrote:
On Sun, 2004-05-16 at 13:33, Joe Peer wrote:
hi all!
I've got a huge problem: I have an IBM T41 notebook with a 40G harddisk. I had XP and Mandrake 10 on it, and both systems booted and ran well. Then, i installed SuSE Linux 9.0 over the Mandrake distro, and since then, Win XP does not boot anymore: the XP startup logo appears for 2 seconds and then i get a bluescreen telling me STOP 0x000000ED - UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME. <SNIP> I got that same schtick when I had Gentoo on my HP box. What I had to do was go into the Safe zone & use System Restore to a date before loading the distro ...and that cured it in my case. Hope it will for you, as well.
...CH Avoid doing business with 'The Link' ISP. SuSE Is All U Need Linux user# 313696 Linux box# 199365 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFAp3Wl1rD/PgIdojIRAmoxAKCwgHHq8iz4yAOI6P9HedUNxuMP4wCfXVVA iOvs4H4tH55I9gGkRBxl1ZY= =V6uW -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
If all else fails you can attempt to wipe out the system (remove all but, leave the screwed windows in C:)and blame it on a virus in the MBR. This will at least save your skin. -- Thom Nuzum Realtor Technology Services Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland.
On Sunday 16 May 2004 21:33, Joe Peer wrote:
hi all!
I've got a huge problem: I have an IBM T41 notebook with a 40G harddisk. I had XP and Mandrake 10 on it, and both systems booted and ran well. Then, i installed SuSE Linux 9.0 over the Mandrake distro, and since then, Win XP does not boot anymore: the XP startup logo appears for 2 seconds and then i get a bluescreen telling me STOP 0x000000ED - UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME.
I most often see this in XP when hardware (mostly the motherboard) has been changed. XP boots so far, then when it comes to use its own native drivers for hard drive access, they no longer work for this hardware so it can no longer see the boot volume. Not much of a clue with a laptop I suppose, since you're hardly going to be swapping the main board of that for one with a different chipset. You could also try taking a look at the MS info on this error http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q297185& just to see if it helps. Martin
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 You needn't be afraid of chkdsk... I never had it trash my bootloader. If it does, you can still boot using the Live-CD. It just takes a little longer. - -- ...CH Avoid doing business with 'The Link' ISP. SuSE Is All U Need Linux user# 313696 Linux box# 199365 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFAp3cw1rD/PgIdojIRAp5rAKDFltBWP4nWlLCAXeRvaDRm7Jz4uQCfX5SQ Ka27KwKi3uXYImMFExpZGps= =+OK5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (5)
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C Hamel -
Joe Peer -
Malke Routh -
Martin Farmilo -
Thom Nuzum