HOWTO Triple boot
Linux-WindowsNT-Windows98
This assumes you will be starting from scratch and will
reformat/repartition. A bit of background on microsoft disk formats and
which OSs understand which.
WindowsNT FAT16 NTFS
Windows98 FAT16 FAT32
So it makes sense to use FAT16 for a dual boot system (at least for the
partition that the OS resides on) because both NT and 98 can understand it
natively. Linux can mount FAT16 and FAT32 with smbfs which has been
incorporated into the kernel. You could also make NTFS or FAT32
partitions, but they will not be shared by both OSs. The order of this
process is critical. Installing Win98 first then NT makes the NT boot
loader automatically configured for dual boot. Then installing Linux last
allows you to select between Win98/NT and Linux.
___Partition and Format____
Partition using DOSs FDISK. It is easiest to boot off of a Win98 setup
floppy and start FDISK from there. When questioned if you want large disk
support, choose no ('N') to ensure that you will partition and format
FAT16 and not FAT32 partitions. Partition disk as you like. I would
reccommend making a primary DOS partition to install both Win98 and NT on
and leave the rest as an extended drive to use for other logical drives
and for Linux. (If you have a disk of size greater than ~8GB you have to
make sure that the Linux boot partition lies completely below the 1024th
cylinder of the drive. See "Appendix for Large Drives" below for more
info.)
Here is how I partitioned a 6.4 GB drive: 2GB Primary DOS (C:) [ 2GB
logical DOS drive in Extended DOS wrapper (D:) 2+GB unpartioned free space
] You will have to reboot after partitioning, do so. Boot again, using the
Win98 setup floppy. Format the partitions you created using DOS's format
(i.e. 'format c:')
___Windows 98 Installation___
Boot off the Win98 CD and install it to the primary partition (or type
'setup' at the DOS prompt if your BIOS doesn't support booting from the
CD). Install Windows 98 with the options you would like. I installed Win98
into the default C:\WINDOWS directory.
___Windows 98 & NT testing___
Now you should have a dual boot machine with some free space in the
extended partition. Try and boot both OSs. The OS Loader should have
autoconfigured itself to recognize both Windows 98 and NT. Play around a
bit. Pat yourself on the back for making it 2/3 of the way through!
___Linux Installation___
Now install Linux. There are a billion books and HOWTOs on this subject so
I will keep it very simple. I will also wuss out and outline the simplest
install of the simplest Linux distribution. That is, I will use the case
of RedHat. I installed RedHat 6.0 onto my system. Make sure you have all
the info you need (IP #, possible monitor refresh rates, video card type &
amount of video RAM, network card type, etc.) Boot off of the RedHat CD
(again, use the appropriate boot disk if your BIOS doesn't support it).
Use Disk Druid to partition your drive, it is very simple and nearly
intuitive. Don't mess with the drives you have already formatted,
ESPECIALLY the primary DOS drive, unless you want to. Use the free space
to create at least a '/' partition and a swap file for your Linux setup.
It will then partition and format the disk for you. Choose what kind of
install you would like.
I usually do a custom install, where you can choose exactly which packages
get installed, but doing a 'workstation' or 'server' install may save
time. [NOTE: The RedHat server install uses ALL disk space
available and reformats the drive, while the workstation install uses all
available unpartitioned (or Linux partitioned) diskpace. I guess that
after having goe to all the trouble of having followed your excellent
partitioning instructions, people are gonna be less than pleased to have
their new partitions wiped by a server install.--thanks for the heads up
on this Steve]
Start the installation. Isn't that
nice? After the install is complete, the installer will
configure a few things. Among them are your mouse, monitor,
graphics card, and network card. Setup all that stuff and
give info where needed. Make sure you remember the root
password you chose!!! It is also a good idea to make a boot
disk. If you re-install Windows, you will need it to recover
LILO and access your Linux boot.
One of the last things will be to setup LILO. This is crucial. Choose to
install LILO onto the master boot record (MBR) of the main drive. It will
then ask you to choose the labels for the OSs to boot to and which is
default. There should be two options "dos" & "linux" and linux will be the
default. I used to change dos to the default and then used edit to rename
the labels to "win" and "lin". Your system will reboot at the end of this
all. Remove the boot disk you created. You should first see the following
prompt: LILO: If you hit you will see your options. Otherwise just
type one of the labels and it will boot into that OS. If you choose your
linux option, you will boot into Linux. Otherwise, if you choose your
windows option, you will then get to the OS loader which will ask you
which windows (98 or NT) you want to boot. Ergo you now have a triple boot
system!
___Appendix for Larger Disks___
If you have a disk which has more than 1024 cylinders even after being
mapped by the BIOS using LBA, then you have to worry about where you put
Linux. This occurs somewhere around the 8 GB mark. Lilo and the boot
partition must reside below the 1024th cylinder.
Here is an easy way to do this.
Partition something like this (assuming a 10 GB drive):
2GB Primary DOS (C:)
[ 2GB logical DOS drive in Extended DOS wrapper
(D:) 2GB logical DOS drive in Extended DOS wrapper
(E:) 2GB logical DOS drive in Extended DOS wrapper
(F:) 2GB logical DOS drive in Extended DOS wrapper
(G:) ]
Format all the partitions as FAT16. Install Windows 98 and
NT onto the primary partition. When you install Linux, use
DiskDruid to delete the first logical drive and repartition
it as your '/' and swap space. Now just install as normal.
This will ensure that Linux will reside below the 1024th cylinder.
You can always change some of the partitions to FAT32, NTFT,
or ext2 if you like later.
-Barron K.
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