can't boot W7 after installing Mageia 2

[bj]

Newbie. Need help.
Dell Studio 17, windows 7 Pro.
Downloaded iso, checked md5, booted from dvd, installed into pre-existing partitions, put boot on hda1 (windows 7) partition.
Added hda1 (windows partition) to boot list.

Grub comes up fine, but boot to windows goes to a memory & system check program. System refuses to boot windows.
Put boot on hda5 (/), still same problem.

also, seem unable to connect to internet. Tried Wired Ethernet, Cable Modem, and Wireless (Wi-Fi) -- all gave same result: problem with test. So can't update.

Cable wire goes to Brighthouse (ISP) modem, then to Linksys wireless router. All works fine on this Toshiba computer, and did work fine on the Dell.

1) how to get W7 to boot again -- even if that means no Linux (not my preference). Maybe I need a seperate machine for Linux.
2) how to get on-line in Mageia 2.

Thanks for any help.

[spiky001]

Hi

Is this a new install? If so did you have a wired connection when you installed?
Maybe post output of

Code: Select all

lspci

As for booting windows not sure what has happenned there.

[bj]

thanks for responding, Spiky001.

(forgot to say: system is 64-bit, so using Mageia 64-bit.)

had Madriva 10.2 installed already, so used those partitions to newly install Mageia 2.

that modified the W7 boot sector, I guess.

any clue how to remove Grub and get the W7 boot sector back to its original state?

[am I supposed to respond with 'Reply' or 'Quick reply'?]

[spiky001]

Hi

You will need the windows boot disc to reinstall/repair boot loader
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/32523/ho ... -problems/

[bj]

Spiky001,
Oops! -- failed to mention: no wired connection. The Dell has been wireless for over a year.

I downloaded to this machine some missing software. I transferred the zipped file (.xz) to the Dell, but can't just copy into /root/... .
Tried to set up a local file/folder as an update source, but failed -- maybe I did it wrong. How can I add missing folders and files that promise to get me on the net?

The Dell is a refurb -- no disk with it - ie, I have no W7 boot disk.

As dumb as I've been, I did do a backup of my account before installing Mageia. I could copy that into this machine and use the Dell entirely for Linux. But that's a drastic measure especially since this one isn't mine.

[spiky001]

hi

You should be able to boot the dvd in live mode without installing then you should have wireless while running on cd.
What OS did you download files for?

Just as a side note Mageia3 is released saturday I hope if you want/need to reinstall might be worth waiting.

[bj]

booting from dvd gives a menu
boot from HD
install Mageia
Rescue
(something else)
chose 'Rescue' = menu:
...
restore windows boot
lists : 0: <grub> on <sda>
1: <grub> on <sda5>
which disk/part. would you like to overwrite with Windows bootloader? (enter the number)

entering '0' does nothing.
entering '1' gives: "I'm going to overwrite boot loader on <sda> with Windows boot loader"
"OK? press Enter to continue"

pressed enter

0+1 records in
0+1 records out
396 bytes copied

re-booted into, guess what, windows!!!

but now there's no way to boot Linux except from dvd, and that only seems to allow for Install, not run.

this is a bug in Mageia as far as I can see. Thank God they thought to include 'Rescue' and 'Restore' of boot loader.
this was a seriously anxiety-ridden day.

Thanks for your help.

PS - I've periodically tried to switch to Linux (Mandrake, Mandriva, now Mageia) and found it wanting in one way or another: want VB-like development capability, found it in GAMBAS, but hasn't been complete enough. Wanted to try it again, but ...

someone needs to address the problems I encountered:
1. with trying to boot to windows 7 from grub
2. difficulty accessing the web with wireless router -- the missing software should be included.

Thanks again -- your intent to help kept my spirits up.

[benmc]

Hi bj.

Due to the licensing requirements of proprietary software, the full dvds of Mageia1+2 do not include wi-fi, Nvidia graphics or AMD graphics drivers.
How-ever, the Mageia-3 dvd does give you the option to install the proprietary drivers, due out tomorrow.

If you download and burn a Live-Cd it will have the wifi drivers and you can check to see if Mageia-2 is right for you.
Note that the Live-Cd does not have a lot of the software on it that is on the dvd. Its a swings and roundabouts thing.
As you are a former Mandriva user you " know " that you will have to add the on-line repositories for updates and software.

The M3 installer also has quite a few options regarding your choice of bootloader and where it is installed.
Before you start the install, i suggest that you make a rescue dvd from your Win7 and just check to see if the router needs a password to let you onto the internet.

I have done the reverse install that you have - Win7 onto a Mageia computer with no ill effects, just had to reinstall grub because Windows believes there is Only One Operating Sytem.

K.r.

Benmc

[jkerr82508]

The M3 installer also has quite a few options regarding your choice of bootloader and where it is installed.

On a system with one hard drive and Windows 7 already installed, the defaults for the boot-loader suggested by the Mageia installer are probably correct. They were for me. (It's always a good idea to have a rescue disk for any Windows system, whether or not one is dual-booting.)

bj's mistake was placing the Grub boot-loader on a partition instead of in the MBR. I think that the Mageia installer would have suggested placing it in the MBR.

Jim

Edited to correct typo

[spiky001]

Hi

Thrre is an option on the dvd to run as livecd

[jkerr82508]

Thrre is an option on the dvd to run as livecd

Fro Mageia 3 there are KDE and Gnome Live DVD's. I don't think that the full installer DVD can be run as live.

Jim

[spiky001]

Hi

I ran 3 rc as live

[jkerr82508]

You were using the KDE live DVD (which can be used to install the software that is included in the live image). The full 4GB installation DVD cannot be run as a live system.

Jim

[spiky001]

Hi

Yes you can run live dvd. It wont let me upload a pic ".png"

You get 3 options when dvd loaded
Boot mageia3
install
boot from HD

[jkerr82508]

That is the ~1.4GB Gnome Live DVD not the ~4GB Installer DVD.

http://www.mageia.org/en/3/

For Mageia 2, there were no live DVD's just live CD's. Hence bj's Mageia 2 DVD is the installer DVD.

Jim

[spiky001]

Hi

Sorry thks for putting me straight

[mhoke63]

I had a similar issue. Is windows on a seperate hard drive? If so, which hard drive is set to the primary boot drive in your BIOS? Could you post what you get when you run this (as root):

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fdisk -l

From that, could you post which drives have the installs on them. Also, it would be helpful to see what you have in your grub menu file. Open that up with vi and post results (as root)

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vi /boot/grub/menu.lst

type ":q!" without quotes to exit without making changes to file, even if you accidentally made changes, it won't save them.