ATI 9 with Linux

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by Ocky, Nov 11, 2007.

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  1. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Using ATI Home 9. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum so my
    apologies in advance.
    I have recently installed Ubuntu Linux on a second internal drive (XP is on
    the other drive) with ext3 primary partitions for /boot; /root; and /swap.
    Having read posts by KOl0 and MudCrab, I decided to create the abovementioned boot partition (100MB). On booting I get to choose
    Ubuntu, Ubuntu Recovery, Memtest or Windows XP (very nice).
    Being new to dual-boot and Linux I am confused as to what would happen
    if say I would restore my XP (C:\) partition and include the MBR. Would I then have lost the choice to boot into Ubuntu ?
    Furthermore if I wiped Linux from the second drive (incl. the /boot part.)
    I would then still be able to boot into XP as before setting up dual-boot ?

    Thanks for any guidelines.
     
  2. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    If you restore just the XP partition, it won't affect the MBR and GRUB will still boot. If you restore the MBR, and the image contains the XP MBR, then the GRUB MBR will be overwritten and the computer may boot right to Windows or it may not boot at all depending on how your partitions are setup. You will also lose the choice to boot into Ubuntu. However, if your backup of the XP drive (including the MBR) was created after you installed GRUB, then restoring the MBR shouldn't cause a problem.

    If you remove the /boot partition, then GRUB will fail when the computer boots because it won't be able to find its files. You'd have to do an XP bootfix to (or restore an XP MBR from a TI image) to fix the MBR to boot Windows.
     
  3. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Many thanks for your time and the useful explanation. All's clear now. :thumb:
     
  4. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Using ATI 9. Dual-boot Windows XP/Ubuntu Linux 7.10.
    Have created a seperate small boot partition as already mentioned
    to 'solve' the ATI restore 'bug'. So I have 3 partitions /boot;/root;/swap.
    However I have noticed that there is also a boot folder in root identical
    as far as I can see to the stuff in my /boot partition.
    I have imaged only my /root ext3 partition and am wondering what
    to expect on restoring this partition ( seeing the image of /root also
    contains the above-mentioned boot folder (/boot is path shown when
    opening the folder).
    MudCrab it would be good to hear your pov. I hope GRUB will find
    its files in the special /boot partition and not get confused. :)
     
  5. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    If you mounted /boot to its own partition, then you need to include that partition in your backup.

    It will aways show up in a "root" directory listing or when browsing when booted into Linux because Linux doesn't do drives. So, even though /boot shows up in "root", the files are not on the "root" partition.

    Just as your /home files are actutally on a different partition if you set the mount for /home to its own partition. (A lot of people do this to share the /home folder between different Linux installations.)
     
  6. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    OK, thanks for clearing this up for a newbie to Linux.
    Regards. :thumb:
     
  7. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Sorry for nitpicking, but I am rather confused. I refer to this:-
    This is what I am trying to avoid. Does your above not conflict with:-
    I have not included my sbd2 /boot partition in my backup image, to avoid
    the 'broken' stage 2 problem on restoring (which requires a repair of GRUB).

    Still in the dark - advice appreciated. o_O
     
  8. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Ocky:

    When restoring an image with TI you can choose which partitions to restore. So normally if nothing is wrong with your boot partition you would not need to restore it and thus you avoid needing to repair GRUB. You could, for example, only choose to restore the root partition or the root and home partitions. After restoration a repair of GRUB will not be needed and your PC will just boot right up.

    The advice to include the boot partition in a backup image is so that you have a copy of it in case something ever happens to your boot partition and you need to restore it. Hopefully you will never need to do this.

    By the way, it isn't very difficult to fix GRUB if this situation ever arises. All you need is a Live Linux CD of any flavor. Boot from the CD and go to a root console and do the following:
    Code:
    grub
    > setup (hdx,y)
    > quit
    Replace x and y with the actual location of your boot partition, for example, (hd0,0) for the first partition on the first hard disk.

    I just did this last night after experimenting with Kubuntu 7.10 for a few hours (trying to get the new kernel to suspend to disk correctly with my Thinkpad, unsuccessfully so far). When I was finished playing around I just restored the boot, root, and home partitions with TI, repaired GRUB, and now I'm back in business just like nothing ever happened.
     
  9. Ocky

    Ocky Registered Member

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    Aha ! Finally I understand - took a while though. :)

    Many thanks and regards.
     
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