Hi,
~
I am trying to use Linux fdisk to prepare a disk to install Windows
98 afterwards
~
I need to set the following partitions
~
1.) primary ntfs (Windows XP)
2.) primary vfat (Windows 98)
3.) primary vfat (Windows Applications)
// - - - - - - -
4.) extended
5.) logical vfat (Data)
6.) logical ext3 (backup, maintenance ...)
~
After setting up my partitions using fdisk and using mkfs for each fs
type when I try to install Windows it is telling disk (partition) so
and so hasn't been formatted and then that it is corrupted and it
would abbort the installation ...
~
Then I found a very verbose fdisk dump
~
root@Knoppix:~# fdisk /dev/hda
~
The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 116301.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
(e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/hda: 60.0 GB, 60022480896 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 116301 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 ? 1920663 3757825 925929529+ 68 Unknown
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda2 ? 1319628 1854326 269488144 79 Unknown
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda3 ? 534712 1921977 699181456 53 OnTrack DM6
Aux3
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/hda4 ? 1383560 1383581 10668+ 49 Unknown
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help): v
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 1: head 102 greater than maximum 16
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 3: head 78 greater than maximum 16
Warning: partition 1 overlaps partition 3.
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 4: head 79 greater than maximum 16
Warning: partition 2 overlaps partition 4.
Warning: partition 3 overlaps partition 4.
Total allocated sectors -507114401 greater than the maximum 117231408

Command (m for help): q

root@Knoppix:~#
~
How could you achieve the intended fs layout?
~
Thanks
lbrtchx

See: comp.os.linux.setup: "Fedora and XP on 1 Disk", "Dual boot
question"

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:23:38 -0700, lbrtchx wrote:

> Hi,
> ~
> I am trying to use Linux fdisk to prepare a disk to install Windows
> 98 afterwards
> ~
> I need to set the following partitions
> ~
> 1.) primary ntfs (Windows XP)
> 2.) primary vfat (Windows 98)
> 3.) primary vfat (Windows Applications)
> // - - - - - - -
> 4.) extended
> 5.) logical vfat (Data)
> 6.) logical ext3 (backup, maintenance ...)
> ~
> After setting up my partitions using fdisk and using mkfs for each fs
> type when I try to install Windows it is telling disk (partition) so
> and so hasn't been formatted and then that it is corrupted and it
> would abbort the installation ...
> ~
<snip>
>
Just to be clear, did you start with a totally empty partition table and
were you using Linux's fdisk to initially setup the disk? The
partition table is cleared with the 'o' command, IIRC. Then, the next step
is to allocate space for each partition, as you apparently did.

Caveat: I am not running Windows 98. I ran MS-DOS, then Windows NT 3.51. I
skipped Windows 95 and Windows 98. MS should have skipped them too, IMO.

One more gotcha to watch out for:
Even if you did it exactly right, there could still be problems with
older OSs, such as MS-DOS and Windows 98. If the disk is larger
than the OS is capable of addressing then it may not see the total
capacity, or use an incompatible addressing mode. For today's large disks
you want to make sure that all OSs are using LBA. Otherwise, you
are asking for trouble- either right now or some time down the road.
You can put Windows98 on its own disk, or else forgo using it all, IMO.

The last time I saw this question, I posted this:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp....b9cd221a06d063

--
Douglas Mayne

On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:44:39 -0600, Douglas Mayne wrote:

> On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:23:38 -0700, lbrtchx wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> ~
>> I am trying to use Linux fdisk to prepare a disk to install Windows
>> 98 afterwards
>> ~
>> I need to set the following partitions
>> ~
>> 1.) primary ntfs (Windows XP)
>> 2.) primary vfat (Windows 98)
>> 3.) primary vfat (Windows Applications)
>> // - - - - - - -
>> 4.) extended
>> 5.) logical vfat (Data)
>> 6.) logical ext3 (backup, maintenance ...)
>> ~
>> After setting up my partitions using fdisk and using mkfs for each fs
>> type when I try to install Windows it is telling disk (partition) so
>> and so hasn't been formatted and then that it is corrupted and it would
>> abbort the installation ...
>> ~
> <snip>
>>
> Just to be clear, did you start with a totally empty partition table and
> were you using Linux's fdisk to initially setup the disk? The partition
> table is cleared with the 'o' command, IIRC. Then, the next step is to
> allocate space for each partition, as you apparently did.
>
> Caveat: I am not running Windows 98. I ran MS-DOS, then Windows NT 3.51.
> I skipped Windows 95 and Windows 98. MS should have skipped them too,
> IMO.
>
> One more gotcha to watch out for:
> Even if you did it exactly right, there could still be problems with
> older OSs, such as MS-DOS and Windows 98. If the disk is larger than the
> OS is capable of addressing then it may not see the total capacity, or
> use an incompatible addressing mode. For today's large disks you want to
> make sure that all OSs are using LBA. Otherwise, you are asking for
> trouble- either right now or some time down the road. You can put
> Windows98 on its own disk, or else forgo using it all, IMO.
>
> The last time I saw this question, I posted this:
> http://groups.google.com/group/comp....b9cd221a06d063

And, to the OP: You'll experience less problems by putting Windows 98 on
the FIRST primary partition, the C: drive, instead of XP. 98 "likes"
being on the C drive; Was designed to be on the C drive; Actually, was
designed to be the ONLY OS on the computer. Otherwise, you'll have to
"remap" the partition its on, so that 98 "thinks" it's on the C drive.

Now, as to your partition table, which is not quote here: Man, was it
screwed up. What in the world did you do??? Just delete everything and
start over. Since you need to have all the Windows partitions end on a
cylinder boundary, use cylinder numbers instead of megabytes, etc. to
tell fdisk the size you want the partitions. It's relatively easier, you
just have to do a little math conversion. When you "printed" the
partition table from within fdisk, it gave you the configuration of the
hard drive. The last line, Units = cylinders of "something" x 512 =
"something-else", is the key. The something-else tells you how many
bytes each of your cylinders is. Just that number divide it into how
many bytes you want the partition to be, and that will give you the
number of cylinders you want. If you get a fraction, round up to the
next cylinder. Now all your partitions will end on cylinder boundaries.
Also, the first primary partition starts on cylinder 1. Fdisk should
show this by default. Everything is numbered sequentially even the
logical partitions.

Now, after you've partitioned the drive, you need to set the filesystem
type or ID in the partition table: Just formatting the partition with
the filesystem you desire won't "write" the filesystem ID to the table.
You have to do it manually from within fdisk. Type "l" (lowercase L) and
a list of all partition IDs and their hex numbers will be shown. Write
down these numbers for the filesystems you want. Next type "t" Change
System's Partition ID, pick the partition number when asked, enter the
appropriate hex number, and so on until all partitions are done. Now,
type "p" to print the partition table to see, if everything is as you
want it. Check that one of the Windows partitions has the "boot" flag
set. Use the "a" command to set this. Which one is up to you. It won't
make any difference, if you're using the Linux boot manager (LILO or GRUB)
to boot your system. If you're using a Windows based boot manager,
follow their instructions.

If everything is as you want it, type "w" to Write (Save) the new
partition table, and exit fdisk.

Another suggestion or two: Install W98 first, XP second, and lastly
Linux, if you want Linux to manage booting. If not, when the Linux
installer asks if you want to install GRUB or LILO on the Master Boot
Record (MBR), say no. This will leave the Window's MBR of XP, since you
installed it second, intact, and XP should boot. You can then install
your 3rd party Windows boot manager to boot the other 2 OSes.

Good luck...

Stef

On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:03:56 GMT, Stefan Patric wrote:
> Since you need to have all the Windows partitions end on a
> cylinder boundary, use cylinder numbers instead of megabytes, etc. to
> tell fdisk the size you want the partitions. It's relatively easier, you
> just have to do a little math conversion.

Or download/burn this 50MB gparted live cd.
It will round to cylinder boundary.

http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...kage_id=173828