Dual Boot Windows/Linpus using Backup Image (Download Here)

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mercado79

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Hi all. I spent an ungodly amount of time getting together a working Linpus backup image for whoever is interested in setting up a quick Windows/Linpus dual boot (or in my case Windows/Linpus/Ubuntu triple boot). Once restored, you'll boot up into the initial configuration screen.

Rather than re-type everything (I had wrist surgery last week!), please checkout my site here:

http://lifeisasketch.com/wordpress/?p=6

The downloads and tips sections will get you started.

The image was created using the free version of Macrium Reflect 4.2 and then compressed to save space/bandwidth.

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

Warning: when restoring the image, Reflect asks if you would like to replace the boot record using the image or a generic XP record... Don't!

***************************

Download image file here:

http://lifeisasketch.com/files/acer_linpus.7z

File has been compressed in 7-zip format.

Compressed file:
name = acer_linpus.7z
MD5 = 6a78f2cfa5838c2df2828ffc76e5d60f
size = 937,440 kb

Uncompressed file:
name = Acer1_LinpusClean-00-00.mrimg
MD5 = f00fdfda8502f702c01c2cf7cb212306
size = 1,231,949 kb

***************************

Note:
Macrium Reflect does not allow you to restore the image to a partition smaller than the original. This image was made while the partition was approximately 3.98 gb.

Finally, if anyone is able to help share the load, please PM me!

Enjoy!

EDIT - 7/21/2009
I migrated my site over from Drupal to WordPress and so the original URL above has been updated to reflect the change.
 
I will gladly be a tester on this.

A few questions first.

Question 1. Is your machine already dual booting? If so, when you boot into Linpus does everything work? (Wi-Fi...Sound?)

Question 2. Do I need to go ahead and wipe out the XP on my system and make the partitions like you described? (This is no problem since I have a backup copy of XP anyway) OR do I simply pop in the recovery cd (I have an external CD drive) and let Linpus install and then boot up my Puppy Linux CD and go into Gparted and make the partitions like you described. How does this work?

Question 3. I noticed you mentioned a shared swap partition. Shared by what? Windows AND Linpus? How is this possible? That would be ultra cool. Can you explain that further?

Question (concern) 4. I am unfamiliar in using any windows programs for dual booting. Can you give me a step by step? I'm really really new to this stuff but I learn fairly quickly.

I really appreciate what you are doing and I can't wait to have my machine set up like this. Do you think it would be easier to just install ubuntu and figure out the wireless drivers? I've followed the "how to's" on this site to no avail, however.

Thanks,

sgtslwilson
 
sgtslwilson said:
Question 1. Is your machine already dual booting? If so, when you boot into Linpus does everything work? (Wi-Fi...Sound?)
Click to expand...

Yes, my machine is triple booting actually - Windows/Linpus/Ubuntu. The version of Linpus is the same one that comes with the Linux Acer Ones so... yes, everything works perfectly.

Question 2. Do I need to go ahead and wipe out the XP on my system and make the partitions like you described? (This is no problem since I have a backup copy of XP anyway) OR do I simply pop in the recovery cd (I have an external CD drive) and let Linpus install and then boot up my Puppy Linux CD and go into Gparted and make the partitions like you described. How does this work?
Click to expand...

No, you definitely don't have to wipe XP! This was the main reason I had for creating this image. I would however recommend that you defrag your Windows installation and then create the partitions according to the steps described on my site. Using any partitioning software (I used a bootable Ubuntu cd which I transferred onto a usb flash drive), shrink the Windows NTFS partition (you won't lose any data) and create the linux swap and ext2/ext3 partitions in the newly available space. Once you have the partitions made, use Macrium Reflect to restore the image onto the ext2 partition.

Question 3. I noticed you mentioned a shared swap partition. Shared by what? Windows AND Linpus? How is this possible? That would be ultra cool. Can you explain that further?
Click to expand...

By shared swap partition, I meant that you can have any Linux installations on your hard drive use the same swap space. In my case, it was Linpus & Ubuntu. I have read that you should be able to use Linux partitions for your page file (possibly using Ext2 Installable File System for Windows (http://www.fs-driver.org/) though I'm not sure what the benefit would be.

Question (concern) 4. I am unfamiliar in using any windows programs for dual booting. Can you give me a step by step? I'm really really new to this stuff but I learn fairly quickly.
Click to expand...

I put together a short guide on my website in the "Tips" section. I personally use Winimage's free Bootpart utility.

Do you think it would be easier to just install ubuntu and figure out the wireless drivers? I've followed the "how to's" on this site to no avail, however.
Click to expand...

I installed Ubuntu and was able to get wifi working by following the howto's, but even though I love using Ubuntu and have used it on my desktop for years, it is no where near ready to use on the Acer One...yet... Try the Linpus install... you won't be disappointed.
 
I can't wait to get started on this. I get off work in a couple of hours and I'm going to try it. I've secretly downloaded your recovery iso image to a thumbdrive what I'm at work so I should have everything I need to get started. The only thing that scares me is the boot utility that I have never used before but hey....it's just software. heh.

I'm a little confused about something though...I know on other computers when I boot Puppy Linux (you should try it..really user friendly) It only asks for an ext2 partition, although I give it a swap partition as well. I noticed that on Ubuntu and Xubuntu there is an ext3 partition...a swap partition...and then another partition described as a "logical drive" instead of primary.

Eh, doesn't matter...I'm going to follow your directions to the letter tonight and cross my fingers. I'm just hoping the partitions don't have to be exact down to the bit in order for it to work correctly.

I'll let you know how it goes and post any problems that I think others might have. If there is anythign I can do to help let me know.

(lol...ps....how cool is linpus? It looks sort of close to Xubuntu with the xfce desktop and all...what repositories will I still be able to use?...just curious)

Thanks,

sgtslwilson
 
don't stress the boot utility. it doesn't overwrite anything at all (that's why i use it :) ). worst case scenario, you select the the wrong partition in the bootpart tool and Linpus doesn't boot. you'll still be able to go choose windows from the boot prompt and try setting it again.

as for the question about primary vs. logical partitions, my understanding is that Windows will only install on the first Primary partition on a hard drive. Also, a hard drive can only have a max of 4 primary partitions so... when I set this up, I resized the Windows partition (primary) and created logical partitions in the remaining space just to be safe. Linux can be installed on any type of partition (primary or logical). as for file systems, windows can use ntfs or fat32 while some distros use ext2 (Linpus) and others use ext3 (most including Ubuntu).

lastly, you don't have to set up your partitions to exactly the same size. the key is to have the same number of partitions at least until you get to the linpus one. anything more than that can be added after it on the drive. for example, windows on partition 1, swap on 2, linpus on 3, then whatever you want... 4, 5, 6, etc.

Good luck with this! I really hope it works well for you.
 
Thanks a lot for making this information available. I am now downloading the image file.

I would like to have Ubuntu installed as well.

I had read twice your posts, I have a few questions,

1.-what happened with the recovery partition of your aspire one?
2.-What is the meaning of shrink the Windows NTFS partition? I am not a native english speaker :oops:
3.-Do you have a reference webpage with an easy way to create a live usb ubuntu drive and partitioning the hard disk drive with it?
I have tried some webpages, but until now,

1.-I have not achieved to create a image file of my recovery partition with the bootable sysreccd usb
2.-I have not achieved to create the live usb ubuntu thumbdrive.
:oops:

Please help me! :cry:
 
friendwilder said:
1.-what happened with the recovery partition of your aspire one?
2.-What is the meaning of shrink the Windows NTFS partition? I am not a native english speaker :oops:
3.-Do you have a reference webpage with an easy way to create a live usb ubuntu drive and partitioning the hard disk drive with it?
I have tried some webpages, but until now,

1.-I have not achieved to create a image file of my recovery partition with the bootable sysreccd usb
2.-I have not achieved to create the live usb ubuntu thumbdrive.
Click to expand...

i removed the recovery partition during this process (backed it up first but decided not to restore it). the linux recovery disk completely wipes out anything on the hard drive which is why i created this backup image for you to use.

by shrink, i mean to make the original windows partition smaller by resizing it with a partitioning tool.

to create a bootable linux usb flash drive, simply use unetbootin. you can create one for most modern distros, not just ubuntu.

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

also, you mentioned you haven't been able to create a image file using sysreccd. you might want to try using macrium reflect.
 
Hi, its me again. I worked on this most of the night and early into the wee morning despite having to be at work at 6:00am.

Here is my experience so far.

Ok, I downloaded the image and its an image file....not an iso so I wasn't sure what to do with it. So, I installed the program you suggested on my AAO and transferred the image to my AAO with a usb stick. I figured this should do it since I needed to have the program to open it already installed on the computer anyway. Well, when I clicked on the image file I got an error message telling me that my program license had expired. What? I just signed up and downloaded it less than an hour ago. I couldn't make it go away.

Well, I also downloaded an Acer Linpus recovery disk from somewhere else on this site that WAS an iso file and what I figured I'd try was installing that and then later shrinking the partition and installing windows. It was at this time I ran into another problem. I booted an Ubuntu live cd as you suggested and started the partition manager. I then instructed it to shrink the ext2 partition to 25 mb and create a new NTFS system thinking I could install windows on that and then come begging for your help when it came time for a boot manager.

I have no idea why but it would absolutely not shrink the partition. I kept getting errors.

So, right now I'm typing to you from my AAO 120gb model using Linpus Lite, which was on the disk. (pretty cool OS! everything works!)

Anyway, I'm at work right now but the plan for tonight is to try and figure out why I cant shrink the partition down.

Does my plan make sense or am I missing something I should be made aware of. Won't hurt to try, I guess. I now have a functional windows xp home disc...and I can find all the drivers at this site. I also have a functional AAO Linpus backup disc. But, as of right now, it's either one or the other. I still haven't figured out how to dual boot both.

Is there any way to use the imaging program? How was I supposed to get the image file to my disk? Was I supposed to use it inside of the windows I was already running? That's where I got confused.

Anyway, I'm rambling and I'm sorry if this didn't make any sense but now Im stuck at square one but I have Linpus this time instead of XP.

Can you help me with this Rubicks cube?

Thanks,

sgtslwilson
 
Well... welcome to the headache I had hoped to spare you! You should have been able to restore the image you downloaded from me from within Windows. Thats how I did it and it took minimal time. As for resizing the Windows partition, I've seen the errors you encountered too. I think the issue has to do with whether or not the partition was mounted (in use...kind of). Using Partition Manager (aka Gparted), right click on the drive you want to resize and chose unmount. Then try resizing again.

Windows has to be installed on the first partition and creating space at the front of the drive now that Linpus is there might be impossible.

Linpus is nice though, right!? I like it a lot. :) OK... gotta get back to work.
 
Hey thanks!

I actually did umount the partition first and it still wouldn't shrink it. Ah, anyway, Im going to use the gparted live cd tonight and start from scractch.

Earlier today I followed instructions on this site and now I have a button that will allow me to switch desktops from the Acer stock to xfce....really cool! My point being, I was browsing the repositories and I saw a gui boot manager that I downloaded.

So, tonight, after work I'm starting from scratch. I'm going to try and recover your image..and then partition my drive and start over. But, I have to tell you....Besides my scanner and printer....I'm beginning to think more and more that there aint a whole lot in windows that I need that Linpus/Xfce doesn't provide.

I may talk myself into just keeping Linpus all by itself on here and dedicate it as a true Linux netbook with realatively lots and lots of storage (compared to the SSD models). I have 2 other laptops that I have windows on and that I can scan from.

Come to think of it....the only reason I really need windows on here is just cuz I'm stubborn and I want to figure it out!.....Hmmm...now if I can just get Ubuntu to make my wireless card work....lol.

Anyway, I appreciate your efforts and I'll let you know how I do.
 
Thanks for all your hard work :)

I seem to be having a problem though. When I choose Linpus in the boot menu, it just freezes and does nothing. Here is a screenshot of my bootpart:



I chose #2. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance.
 
In your example, number two would be right. The problem however is that your partitions are not set up the way I had suggested so, the settings in the image, /boot/grub/grub.conf (boot menu) and /etc/fstab (disk/partition mapping) are pointing to the wrong partition.

So, you can either reformat your drive to be 1) ntfs -- 2) swap -- 3) ext2, or install the ifs ext2 windows utility and edit the two files i mentioned above to point to the correct partitions. You'd probably just have to swap the numbers used by the swap partition and ext2 partition.... can't be sure though.
 
After getting some great feedback, I updated the instructions on my site including some new warnings and images. Hope it helps answer some questions you might have.
 
I am already dual booting windows/ubuntu (Ubuntu is working great) but would like to add the option for Linpus Lite, especially for the fast boot times. I am using Ubuntu's grub boot loader for os choice on boot. Has anyone else tried this and have any hints on adding Linpus using my existing grub boot loader, without screwing up my existing configuration? It would be really cool to have all 3.

thanks in advance
 
if you use my image, you should be able to have ubuntu detect the linpus partition by re-running grub. after it detects linpus, you should browse to the linpus drive (either within ubuntu or by using the live cd/usb to edit it's fstab file. it may boot (with some errors) even before you do that.

to reinstall grub:

open terminal
type: sudo grub
from the grub prompt type:

find /boot/grub/stage1
root [whatever partition your ubuntu grub is on] i.e. (hd0,0)
setup [whatever partition your ubuntu grub is on] i.e. (hd0,0)
quit

whatever you do, do NOT run grub setup on the restored Linpus partition. I found this out the hard way! ubuntu stores grub menu settings in the /boot/grub/menu.lst file and it's version of grub looks for that file. Linpus uses the /boot/grub/grub.conf file. if you run grub setup on the linpus partition, it'll screw up the boot settings that are already on that partition. the find command above will see the linpus grub version installed on the linpus partition, but it does not know how to deal with grub.conf. be careful!
 
Hi again, after reading the added information in your webpage, it seems to me easier to get this working.
I am at the last step: Adding Linpus to the Boot Menu

In your tip's section I have read that you are using Ubuntu and the command you used in the cmd window is:

C:\bootpa26\bootpart.exe 5 ubuntu.bin Ubuntu

In my case, the dual boot will not include Ubuntu for this time, only Linpus. My command should be:

C:\bootpa26\bootpart.exe 5 linpus.bin Linpus

?

Where I can get the linpus.bin file? How I can move the linpus.bin file into a desired location?

Thanks again for your kindly support!
 
The .bin file is a file created by bootpart for the NT bootloader. After the command is executed, it will save the file in your bootpart folder.
 
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