Dual-Boot XP/Ubuntu

[Lex224]

Hey all!

I've just found an interest in Linux and all this open-source stuff and would like to try it out. The distro of my choice is Ubuntu. I know how to install it and that for dual-boot but I have questions before I think about doing it.

- Do you need to install drivers for all your hardware? (I used the Live CD and everything seemed to work fine without).

- Is there a list somewhere on these forums about Linux apps?

- With Windows emulations etc, is it actually possible to play all my PC games in Linux, with the same performance as in Windows?

Thanks in advance for any help given! Much appreciated!

[GreenMartian]

- Do you need to install drivers for all your hardware? (I used the Live CD and everything seemed to work fine without).

- Is there a list somewhere on these forums about Linux apps?

- With Windows emulations etc, is it actually possible to play all my PC games in Linux, with the same performance as in Windows?

- The installed version is identical to the LiveCD. If it works there, then you won't need anything else :)

- Not sure..

- Some games will run fine, some will take a performance hit, and some would flat-out refuse to work whatever you do.

Have a look around at http://appdb.winehq.org/. That page only shows the top 10 of each category, but if you click on the category name (Platinum, Gold, etc) you will be able to browse the complete list of supported applications.

[Barney T. Administrators]

Hey all!

I've just found an interest in Linux and all this open-source stuff and would like to try it out. The distro of my choice is Ubuntu. I know how to install it and that for dual-boot but I have questions before I think about doing it.

- Do you need to install drivers for all your hardware? (I used the Live CD and everything seemed to work fine without).

- Is there a list somewhere on these forums about Linux apps?

- With Windows emulations etc, is it actually possible to play all my PC games in Linux, with the same performance as in Windows?

Thanks in advance for any help given! Much appreciated!

Ubuntu comes with most drivers that you'll need. And if you need others, there are "restricted drivers" repositories that Ubuntu uses..... just enable them with a checkmark........ but if your computer works with the Live CD, then all will probably be ok.

Linux apps? https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=198343 although I would use Ubuntu's Synaptic to get your apps. It is simple to use and the chances of errors are much less.

Running games are as as described above.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Good advice and info in the above two posts.

As for games, might I remind you that you are dual-booting Linux & Windows. Games designed for Windows will work better on Windows (with a few exceptions, like UT and Doom which are natively supported in Linux). For ease of install, configuration and use (at least at this time) keep the games in Windows. Many will work in wine and such, but I think that the additional headaches are a deal-breaker. I like my computing to be hassle-free. :p

[Mandy Pecly]

By the way, I personally don't like Ubuntu (and its variations - Kubuntu, Edubuntu...).

I have tried it for 3 months, but I found it too buggy. :pinch:

It's easy to use for beginners, but I prefer my Fedora 9. :rolleyes:

[1759]

If you need wireless, you may have to use ndiswrapper, which loads and uses the Windows drivers in Linux. Works well in 32-bit, but not so much for 64-bit.

Wine is mostly a miss for me. Better off dual-booting or running a VM.

[Lex224]

Thanks for the replies all! I've been trying to setup the dual-boot for a few hours now. I'm trying to find a good disk partition app as the one on the live CD isn't working properly and the other Linux live CD ones, gparted and parted magic, don't seem to get me anywhere.

I'll get there in the end!

My wireless seems to work just fine without any drivers installed. Also, the reason I asked about games was to see if there was any point in removing Windows and using just Ubuntu but I've come to my senses and realised it's just uneeded hassle. An XP/Linux laptop seems to be really cool! I'll use Linux mostly for everything but gaming, then switch to XP to play my games. Win/win?

[markwolfe Veteran]

Install as wubi, which doesn't partition anything, and creates a large virtual filesystem on your NTFS partition.

Or, if your partitioning tools aren't working, maybe you have a filesystem issue? :whistle:

Might be advisable to do a chkdsk /r in Windows, and do a defrag. Then, after that, you may find the Ubuntu partitioner lets you move the slider to make room for the install.

[White Cuban]

use Wubi. Period.

easiest failproof noobproof way :p

[Lex224]

Haha. I couldn't have read your replied before I installed it as I was spending ages organizing my partitions, which I needed to do anyways, not just for this.

I just chose to install it in my free space, which I made sure was about 15GB. As I've just loaded up, there's this wee 'Filesystem' thing. How do I install stuff on this? Like with Windows there's like C:\, D:\ etc but there's just this Filesystem thing.

Anyways, Ubuntu looks like it'll be fun to use, and now I get to customize it. Yay!

[markwolfe Veteran]

DOS designations of C:, D:, E: and so forth are nondescriptive and arbitrary. Is D: another partition on the same drive? Or is it a separate drive? Or even an optical or USB device? Does any of it really matter? :no:

The answer is "no". It doesn't matter if it is D: or E: (except if you change them in Windows, and important data was in one or the other for an app to run). What matters is the data in it. :yes:

Linux puts all in relative order from where the root (or / ) of the filesystem is defined. Everything is found from there. You can set your Creative MP3 player to mount at /media/creative_mp3. All your system executables put by the installer are in /sbin/. System configurations are in /etc/.

I have a little writeup I put into the FAQ section here at Neowin several years ago that covers some of the shock of a new filesystem organization. Find it here.

Hope that helps.

[Coldgunner]

I just want to ask something here...

I installed XP as per usual on a partition of its own, then ran the ubuntu installer, installed on its own partition again and the grub boot loader. Now grub won't load windows, any ideas?

[markwolfe Veteran]

Boot Ubuntu.

Post the output of a sudo fdisk -l command (that is a lowercase letter "L", not the number one)

That will tell us exactly what partition is where.

Then also post the file /boot/grub/menu.lst (or the contents of the file)

That will show how GRUB is set up, and what it points to boot.

[Coldgunner]

this is what I got for sudo fdisk -l, the /boot/grub/menu.lst command won't work

Disk /dev/sda: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00000001

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

/dev/sda1 * 1 31126 250019563+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

/dev/sda2 31127 36481 43014037+ 5 Extended

/dev/sda5 31127 36256 41206693+ 83 Linux

/dev/sda6 36257 36481 1807281 82 Linux swap / Solaris

[SVG Veteran]

Do gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst to get the details of that file

[Coldgunner]

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)

# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),

# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub

# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num

# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and

# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.

#

# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry

# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.

# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your

# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.

default 0

## timeout sec

# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry

# (normally the first entry defined).

timeout 10

## hiddenmenu

# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)

#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours

#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd

# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing

# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the

# command 'lock'

# e.g. password topsecret

# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/

# password topsecret

#

# examples

#

# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000

# root (hd0,0)

# makeactive

# chainloader +1

#

# title Linux

# root (hd0,1)

# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro

#

#

# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified

## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##

## default kernel options

## default kernel options for automagic boot options

## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z

## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.

## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro

## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro

## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro

# kopt=root=UUID=af34c6a6-35f3-4d58-b460-7f9ceffacd24 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries

## e.g. crashdump=1

# crashdump=0

## default grub root device

## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)

# groot=(hd0,4)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options

## e.g. alternative=true

## alternative=false

# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options

## e.g. lockalternative=true

## lockalternative=false

# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the

## alternatives

## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5

# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options

## e.g. lockold=false

## lockold=true

# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option

# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option

# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option

## multiple altoptions lines are allowed

## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options

## altoptions=(recovery) single

# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst

## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the

## alternative kernel options

## e.g. howmany=all

## howmany=7

# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option

## e.g. memtest86=true

## memtest86=false

# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system

## can be true or false

# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options

## can be true or false

# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic

root (hd0,4)

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=af34c6a6-35f3-4d58-b460-7f9ceffacd24 ro quiet splash

initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)

root (hd0,4)

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=af34c6a6-35f3-4d58-b460-7f9ceffacd24 ro single

initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+

root (hd0,4)

kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin

quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian

# ones.

title Other operating systems:

root

# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS

# on /dev/sda1

title Windows NT/2000/XP (loader)

root (hd0,0)/dev/sda1

savedefault

chainloader +1

[markwolfe Veteran]

It appears to be in there. You might need to use your arrow key to scroll down to it to see it.

The entry

title Windows NT/2000/XP (loader)

root (hd0,0)/dev/sda1

savedefault

chainloader +1

is pretty much it. Though the line root (hd0,0)/dev/sda1 is highly suspect. Did you add in the "/dev/sda1" part, because I am not sure it is correct.

Using sudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst (very carefully, since you are making system changes)

change that line to just

root (hd0,0)

then reboot to see if your XP entry works ok now.

[Coldgunner]

yup, I added that as I was trying something out.

The boot loader does list an NT/2000/XP install, but it just hangs on the starting dialog after you select it.

[markwolfe Veteran]

Well, let's boot the XP CD, and go to its "recovery console", which will allow you to type the special command

fixmbr

This will make it a Windows-boot-only PC again (for the time being). Make sure Windows is OK after the partition resizing that happened.

Once you get XP booting fine, we can worry about booting the UbuntuCD again and doing a grub-install to get dual-booting back.

[Coldgunner]

ok, my boot sector must have been really bad as even fixmbr etc didn't fix it, so I've re-installed windows and windows is fine atm. I've left a 40gb partition for linux to go on.