Well this has happened with most of the Linux distributions that I’ve tried to install and run. What happens is that I install Linux okay, then it tells me to reboot. Fine. Theoretically (and from what I’ve heard), Linux is supposed to boot instead of Vista initially right after you first install Linux. Well, no such luck. I install Linux then when I reboot, I go right into Vista. I don’t even get a ‘What OS Would You Like To Boot Into’ or anything. Why is that? I’ve spent the past couple days trying to get Sabayon, 64 Studio, and recently, Kubuntu to run, but all in vain. I can boot into the Live CD, I can install the OS, but then I just can’t boot into it. The only Linux that ever worked for me was Mint and Ubuntu (which I personally didn’t care for), but I want to try other Linux distributions before I say ‘Mint is for me’, especially Sabayon, because I think Sabayon is better than Mint (in my opinion from what I’ve experienced on the Live CD). Mint doesn’t have a KDE version either (at least none that I’m currently aware of. If someone could point me to a link to a x64-bit KDE Mint, that’s be great. I’ve already tried googling it, so please don’t suggest that) and Kubuntu IS the KDE Ubuntu. The only two things that I can think that are a problem are;
1) Linux is being installed on a separate hard disk (but this shouldn’t be a problem seeing as Mint and Ubuntu worked perfectly) and
2) The Linux drive is being formatted in ext3 (which also should not be a problem I would think)
Can anyone help me? I’m really on my last string with Linux at this point, but I don’t want to give up already, however I’m just about ready to.
I would write a really long line of text, but it would just be mainly jargon. So to make a long story short; when I switch to Linux as the boot drive, I still can’t boot into it and it says something along the lines of ‘insert bootable media and restart’ or something like that.
Also, my main hard drive is on SATA and Linux is on IDE, so I can’t really physically switch them (as far as I know at least)
If it is being installed on a seperate hard disk, and you’re still booting into windows vista after install, this means that your bios is set to boot to the wrong drive. I don’t know what factor allow ubuntu and mint to work in this regard- but regardless, how you fix this is you hit delete as your computer comes up, go into the bios’s boot settings- and put the drive containing linux to the top of the list. This should make your computer load grub instead of vista’s bootloader, and grub should allow you to boot into either vista or the specific distribution of linux you are using.
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Linux should be on your first bootable disk. Windows does not (and doesn’t want to) play nice with Linux.
Make sure the Bootloader is on the MBR of the first bootable disk.
Take the disks out and swap their position on the IDE cable or whatever and make sure they are jumped correctly.
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You’ll need to either change the boot order or add the linux install to your Vista Bootloader. On a lot of motherboards you can also choose which drive to boot from at startup (for example asus motherboards you hit F8 then select a drive).
Edit: You might need to install a bootloader like GRUB onto the Linux drive, if that doesn’t help, recheck your partition setup (unless this was done automatically)
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It looks like you did not install grub (the linux bootloader) on the MBR (master boot record); the very first part of the master hard drive. Windows puts its bootloader there and controls the boot process.
You have a couple choices; reinstall grub to the MBR, see the first link.
Get supergrub to setup the MBR the way you wish. See the second link.
Edit the windows bootloader to include linux. See the third link.
Good luck
http://www.unixmen.com/linux-tutorials/140-how-to-reinstall-grub
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
http://www.ditii.com/2007/04/24/how-to-add-linux-to-the-vista-bootloader/
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there are tutorials via google for installing linux on a second HDD (it’s easier shrinking Vista and placing both on the SATA drive; using the other as storage)
you could install ubuntu and run anything through virtualbox
the fact that ubuntu and its derivative installed okay should tell you something about ubuntu (its the best out there)
KDE may look a little better but user-wise it is dodgy – you can do a great deal to have gnome looking a lot sexier (btw, and no offense but they both use the same apps (dolphin, konqueror, quanta plus, konversation, ktorrent (kde apps that work fine with gnome – the ones that don’t aren’t worth having) so when does the desktop really matter?
Try Ubuntu with gnome for a while (look at miro, screenlets, gnome-do (its docker whatsit), chromium (google chrome), virtualbox ose (there’s 2 – meaning use this one), Opera integrates IRC) and see what you can do with it.
This link may take a little time to get. There’s a lot to it – some good some bad.
http://www.gnome-look.org/
One example I quickly found. It’s not /that/ bad. There must be others.
http://www.gnome-look.org/content/preview.php?preview=2&id=106608&file1=106608-1.jpg&file2=106608-2.jpg&file3=106608-3.jpg&name=Azenis
I do hope you choose Ubuntu. You do know you can make your own Distro, don’t you? You should come across some good sites like Lifehacker. They do all the trial and error (lol then you do it again)
Sorry I can’t help with having an OS on each drive because I feel they should be on the main HDD like mine are – but it can be done. Once the installs are done the bootloader can be configured manually via live cd. I’ve done this with them on the same drive (you’re just altering a text file). One person said it: windows won’t play nice so Linux didn’t want to until Ubuntu.
Good Luck with windows or Linux but especially with Linux. : )
http://www.unixmen.com/linux-tutorials/140-how-to-reinstall-grub
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
http://www.ditii.com/2007/04/24/how-to-add-linux-to-the-vista-bootloader/
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