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General discussion

XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake

Mar 13, 2004 3:20AM PST

I have a couple of Installation questions: 1) Which is installed first and if Linux can I still install XP on C.?,2)Have been using NTFS,Does Mandrake recognize this format? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Richard

Discussion is locked

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Re:XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake
Mar 13, 2004 3:37AM PST

A small problem is that drive C: is not C: until an OS boots and assigns such a letter. In fact, the concept of a drive letter is pretty much a Microsoft OS contrivance. It may seem that I'm being a bit nitpicky but as you dive into filesystems and other OSes, you'll understand that Kansas is not so flat after all.

The usual is to partition space for XP, install it on that partition (it's not called C: until the OS boots!) and then boot the Mandrake CD and take it's offers to install. A dual boot menu will be setup for you to use.

There isn't much to research here since the last time I did this, I mostly clicked OK or answered very simple questions.

About NTFS, Mandrake 9.2 does that fine, but you won't use NTFS as the native format for the Linux partition. Hint: Use what the install offers...

Bob

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Re:Re:XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake
Mar 13, 2004 3:57AM PST

Thanks for quick response Bob, I think That covers it. Now if I could just Download Mandrake instead of waiting for disks.

Richard

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Where the Linux Mandrake 9.2 download is.
Mar 13, 2004 4:05AM PST
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Re:Where the Linux Mandrake 9.2 download is.
Mar 13, 2004 12:19PM PST

Thanks again Bob, with dial-up I think I will pass!

Richard

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Re:XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake
Mar 14, 2004 12:29PM PST

Your NTFS issue wasn't answered so here is your answer. NTFS is read only under Linux. You can not write to it, but you can definitely read and copy from. If you need to transfer from your Linux partition to your Windows partition you will need to create a virtual FAT partition to swap between the two. Check this site if you just would like to experiment with Linux without actually having to install it:

www.knoppix.org and www.PHLAK.org

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Try...
Mar 14, 2004 8:09PM PST
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Re:XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake
Mar 14, 2004 7:39PM PST

If you are running the latest and greatest hardware, (especially video card,) there is a good chance you will encounter problems with Linux. Make sure you obtain the newest Linux release possible. Don't give up if one particular flavor of Linux does not work. Mandrake has the advantage of being able to read files on NTFS, which Red Hat cannot mount or read from.

My system will not work with Mandrake 9.2 or the Mandrake Move CD (bootable CDOS, like Knoppix), but my system does work, just fine, dual booting XP Pro with Red Hat 9.0 (go figure). And, Knoppix 3.2 and 3.3 both work beautifully. Knoppix also reads and writes to FAT32 or NTFS. (Be careful writing to Windows partitions under Linux, as you can cause damage.)

With Mandrake 9.2, everything goes fine until the final installation is done and Linux tries to load video drivers, at which point the display become unreadable. I cannot use X-Free to load VESA drivers without being able to read the screen. With the Mandrake Move CD, the OS ends up "killing itself" before the loading is complete.

I have downloaded Mandrake 10.0 (just released), but have been too busy to try it out. It might work... we'll just have to try it and see when I have spare time.

If your system is older than mine, Mandrake 9.2 may work just fine. If yours in newer, don't bother trying. Here's what the main components in my system are:

Albatron 865PE Pro
P4 2.4C 800 Mhz HT
1 GB Crucial DDR400 Dual Channel Config (512x2)
256 MB Radeon 9600PRO
80 GB Maxtor SATA/150 HDD (2)

Hope you find this helpful.

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Re:Re:XP Dual Boot with Linux Mandrake
Mar 21, 2004 8:19PM PST

Just to follow up on my previous post... I installed Mandrake 10.0 in a dual boot config with XP Pro. Unlike Mandrake 9.2, it works, but only in VESA video mode. There is still no 3D graphics acceleration, so games like Chromium and Tux Racer will not function. If you don't care and don't have a need for 3d graphics acceleration, you'll be happy as a lark.