On 2012-11-06 13:42 (GMT-0800) Adam Williamson composed:
we don't support the 'install Fedora then install Windows' case, and never have (no OS can, really, as Windows will always just squelch the MBR at install time).
This misstates what Windows does, and vastly overstates the amount of damage it can do when its behavior is planned for prior to beginning Linux installation.
It only "squelches" when its installer finds MBR code that is incompatible with the legacy PC BIOS standard, which is to say code that results from installing any portion of Lilo or Grub in the MBR code space. By using the PC BIOS standard code Windows puts there instead of replacing it with something totally foreign to the standard, the largest change of consequence Windows will make in the whole MBR sector is the flipping of two *bits* in the master partition table - described as changing the "active" partition from one primary to a different primary.
By creating at least one *primary* partition with a native Linux filesystem to serve as home for a "foreign" bootloader (Gru* or Lilo), Linux can be booted by starting with the exact same MBR code that Windows uses/installs/expects to find.
Windows' bootloaders are well enough understood that, for single HD BIOS systems at least, it should require no more than a relatively simple algorithm to create an additional entry in the Windows boot menu, forcing its menu to appear at each boot, and allowing the user to choose between Windows and Linux at boot time. Once this is done, it should make no significant difference whether Windows "squelches" the MBR by flipping two partition table bits. After it does so, it's a very simple and quick process to unflip them if it is desired to restore master boot loader status to the Linux bootloader installed on a Linux native primary partition.
http://old-en.opensuse.org/Bugs/grub#How_does_a_PC_boot_.2F_How_can_I_set_up_a_working_GRUB.3F http://fm.no-ip.com/PC/install-doz-after.html -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- test mailing list test@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/test
