Tri Boot (Xp/Troppix/backtrack)

[BlackNinja]

"Give a man a fish, and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and give up your monopoly on fisheries."-some guy


So Atheros chipset based cards are having mystery issues.
Thanks to 50F03 I found out Troppix 1.2 had a stable HD install.
Thanks to Katch and muts I learned all about Lilo and what happens if you botch it.

Hardware:
Dell Latitude D600 (ipw2100 disabled)
PM 1.3ghz
256 ram
20gig HD

For dual boot skip steps 3 and 6

Step 1: Get plenty of rest and then, partition your HD.
-I made one NTFS, two Linux ext3, one swap, and one FAT32 with the leftover space. A FAT32 partition is by no means necessary but both Linux and Windows can read as well as write to it. This comes in handy for Dictionaries, capture files, password dump files, documentation ect.

Step 2: Install Windows to your NTFS partition.
-If you cant do this without help, stop right now, AOL pwns you.

Step 3: Install Troppix to one of the ext3 partitions.
-Boot up the Troppix (1.2) livecd and use the HD installer in "start menu>system".
-Remember which hda it installs to.
-On the first try I installed Troppix last with GRUB, it caused BackTrack to lockup instantly when attempting to boot. I didn't try to find out why.

Step 4: Install Back|Track.
-Boot up the livecd and use the HD install.
-Install it to the other hda. (Not the one with Troppix or strange things happen.)
-Reboot into Back|Track

Step 5: Installing Lilo (Thanks to Katch and muts.)
-Code:

liloconfig

-follow the GUI - choose simple, your resolution and install to mbr
Lilo will complain and fail but do not worry!
-Code:

nano /etc/lilo.conf

-Dont cheat and use the text editor or you'll never learn.

-Change
-Code:

label = back|track
root = current
read-write

Step 6:-Add
-The hda# should be whichever you installed Troppix to.
e.g. I screwed up and made "root=" the same hda# as BackTrack...It didn't work.
-Code:

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /mnt/hda#/boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hda#
label = Troppix
read-write
# Linux bootable partition config ends



Step 7:Save and exit

-Code:

lilo


-It should then say,

"Added Windows, Troppix, and back|track."

Step 8: unmount - reboot & pray
-As soon as you are in:
-Code:

passwd

-And choose a new root password.

For dual boot skip steps 3 and 6

Now you're on your own.

[atomicflounder]

Tried this, got up to step 4, installing BackTrack. I got the install done, setup another partition for it, formatted it Fat32. Told Backtrack to go onto that partition, now, when I go to boot the system hangs on:

Freeing unused kernel memory: 216k freed
Warning: unable to open an initial console.

been staring at it for awhile now, nothing happening. I am far from a linux guy, wanted to get this on my XP lappy for troubleshooting/testing stuff.

Any ideas???

[BlackNinja]

If I understand correctly you moved your Backtrack install to the FAT32 partition, no? Any OS you install must stay in the original partition. I dont know if copying it back to the ext3 partition will work but give it a go and let us know.
If it doesn't:
-Format the FAT32 partition and reinstall Backtrack to the ext3 partition.
-Your WinXP install should be fine.
-Be sure you're following the directions in order:
1:Make all partitions. (NTFS for XP, ext3 for Linux, Swap for Linux, FAT32 if youve got extra space to play with.)
2:Install WinXP.
3:Install Backtrack(/Troppix if you need the atheros card inject/capsupport)
4:Install and configure Lilo.

-WinXP (NTFS) cannot access any Linux partitions for reading or writing. The partitions/drives put simply, dont show up.
-Linux (ext3) can access an NTFS partition for reading only. NTFS drives/partitions show up, and you can copy from them, but can't paste or create any new files to them.
-The Fat32 partition is optional. Nothing gets installed here. Both NTFS and ext3 can read and write freely to a FAT32 partition/drive.

[atomicflounder]

ok, so how do I format the blank partition, totally unformatted, as an ext3 partition?

May seem like a stupid question, my apologies.

[BlackNinja]

I normally use Norton Partition Magic, because its quick and easy, but it has fudged me a few times. I wouldn't buy it again.
You should go this route instead, its free and better:
-Boot into Backtrack
-K (start) menu>Backtrack>Qtparted
-Maximize that little window. On the left theres a box that lists the HD's in your computer. Should be "/dev/hda" click that and on the right it will list all your partitions, (if any). Right clicking on the bar at the top gives you options to format, resize, move, or create different partitions.

[atomicflounder]

ok, I'll try that, do you really think that's what's wrong? Just a matter of getting the partitions right?

[BlackNinja]

Thats what I gather.
I'm not there so its hard to tell.
After you do it twice it'll be like riding a unicycle, you'll never forget but you'll still break stuff.
Take your time.
Dont smash stuff.

edit:Check your PM's

[linux_nub]

thx for the tutorial black ninja! i'll make sure to give it a try when i have some spare time...

[NoTeu]

Hey man!

I really wanna thank you for this! It's working perfect! i have 1)- Windows XP; 2)- Caixa Mágica (portuguese distro based on suse); 3)- Back|Track

Once more, thank you!

great job!

[uhudla]

I first installed kubuntu

here my print output from

sudo fdisk /dev/hda

Gerät boot. Anfang Ende Blöcke Id System
/dev/hda1 1 486 3903763+ 83 Linux -> Backtrack Partition
/dev/hda2 487 3525 24410767+ 83 Linux -> Kubuntu Partition
/dev/hda3 3526 3648 987997+ 82 Linux Swap / Solaris --> Swap Space

I used the partition tool that comes with the kubuntu installer
All three Partitions on my 30GB hda are primary. 3GB for Backtrack, 26 GB for Kubuntu, Rest for SWap
No Bootflag set. No Entrypoint chosen for the Backtrackpartition.
All exept the Swap are ext3-filesystems.

After successfull installation of kubuntu i booted into backtrack.
Use the installer with the following config

source: /boot
install to: /mnt/hda1
MBR to: /dev/hda

After installed BAcktrack. Reboot Backtrack from hd.
Open a shell.
type
nano /etc/lilo.conf

Here is my lilo.conf

boot = /dev/hda
prompt
timeout = 30
bitmap=/boot/splash.bmp
change-rules
reset
vga = normal
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = current
label = BackTrack
read-write
image = /mnt/hda2/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-9-386
initrd = /mnt/hda2/boot/initrd.img-2.6.12-9-386
root = /dev/hda2
label = Kubuntu
read-write



You can use the symbolic links in the "/"-directory instead of accesing the vmlinuz and initrd image directly.

Then the Kubuntu Part of lilo.conf would look like

image = /mnt/hda2/vmlinuz
initrd = /mnt/hda2/initrd.img
root = /dev/hda2
label = Kubuntu
read-write

After saving the lilo.conf. type lilo. You should see BackTrack added and Kubuntu added

reboot and you should now be able choose the kernel you want to boot.
If the 3 Seconds are too short for you simply change the timeout in lilo.conf



greez uhudla