[Q] Add Legacy GRUB Bootloader on External Device to WBM - Windows 8 General

Alright...I have a bit of a project going on here. I have a Lenovo S10-3t convertible touch tablet/netbook that I am creating a multiboot scenario for.
To help cover all the details, here are my disks and my partition setup.
640GB HDD as the primary drive
32GB SDCard as the secondary drive.
Primary HDD has these partitions:
MBR PARTITION SCHEME
Partition 1: Windows 8 Pro 64-bit (492.33GB) NTFS, with Win 8 bootloader
Partition 2: Mac OS X Snow Leopard (79.28GB) HFS+ Journaled, with standalone mini-chameleon bootloader
Partition 3: Linux Mint 15 64-bit (23.28GB) EXT4 Journaled, with GRUB2 on this same partition
Partition 4 (in extended partition): Linux Swap (1.27GB) ...swap space
The SDCard has these partitions:
MBR PARTITION SCHEME
Partition 1: Dedicated to ReadyBoost (5GB) FAT32
Partition 2: Android x86 4.2.2 (24.84GB) EXT3, legacy GRUB SHOULD be in the MBR of this disk
I am using the Windows 8 graphical bootloader to manage everything, as it is a touch-screen tablet, and I like having the touch support for the bootloader. So I would PREFER to use it if possible.
I have currently added entries for OSX Snow Leopard and Linux Mint Olivia to the Windows 8 boot manager, and all three OSes chainload properly to their respective bootloaders and are happy with each other.
So...my question is this...is it possible to chainload the Legacy GRUB bootloader in the EXT3 partition on the SD Card that has Android on it with the Windows 8 Bootloader? And, if so, will you walk me through this process?
WHY am I doing this? There's a couple of reasons...as this is a touch screen tablet I would prefer the convenience of having an option to boot Android from the touch-enabled Windows 8 Boot Manager instead of having to fold the screen away from the keyboard, press FN+F11 and selecting the SD Card as the primary boot device every time I want to go into Android. I could have android on a fifth partition on my HDD, but one of the reasons for having Android on flash memory is BECAUSE I have a mechanical HDD, and I use Android if I'm actively moving the laptop around in a rough environment (say, walking or in a moving vehicle for example, and the HDD would be off since it isn't needed). I know I could use an SSD, but I prefer having a mechanical HDD in my laptop for my own reasons.
I am using a combination of VisualBCDEditor and EasyBCD, and I cannot get either to see or acknowledge the existence of the EXT3 partition on the SDCard (though they all see the EXT4 and HFS+ volumes on the primary HDD, and the FAT32 partition on the SDCard...)

feherneoh said:
I'm almost sure that you are using EasyBCD, so just add NeoGRUB to Win8 Bootmenu, and configure it to set root to sdcard's proper partition and do a chainboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: Nevermind, I screwed up on the boot arguments and figured out what the problem was (I used windows' notepad to copy the arguments as opposed to Notepad++, which actually respects linux's formatting). I'm able to successfully boot Android chainloading from the Windows 8 graphical bootloader, to NeoGrub, and allowing NeoGrub to boot directly into the kernel. I appreciate the help. I will leave my previous post for future searchers that need help in doing this as well.
-----
Yeah, I mention at the bottom of my post that I'm using a combination of EasyBCD and Visual BCD Editor. I followed your suggestion and added NeoGrub to the list, and opened the menu.lst config file for it.
I copied the majority of the contents of the menu.lst from the "grub" folder in Android x86's partition and pasted it into NeoGrub's menu.lst (editing the harddrive and partition to reflect what it should be, of course).
It sees the kernel and ramdisk images, begins to load them, and then goes into an infinite loop of spawning dots across my screen (I can tell from experience that this means it isn't loading properly and the kernel halted). It seems NeoGrub doesn't support the "special" arguments that need to be passed to the kernel (that passes properly with the legacy GRUB loader), so I guess I need to figure out how to chainload GRUB from NeoGrub now. Back to square one, essentially.
Here is the menu.lst for the existing legacy GRUB on Android's partition:
Code:
default=0
timeout=6
splashimage=/grub/android-x86.xpm.gz
root (hd0,1)
title Android-x86 4.2-test
kernel /android-4.2-test/kernel quiet root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 video=-16 SRC=/android-4.2-test
initrd /android-4.2-test/initrd.img
title Android-x86 4.2-test (Debug mode)
kernel /android-4.2-test/kernel root=/dev/ram0 androidboot.hardware=android_x86 video=-16 DEBUG=1 SRC=/android-4.2-test
initrd /android-4.2-test/initrd.img

I notice in the JellyBean entry you have
Code:
acpi_sleep=s3_bios,s3_mode
I'm curious on what this and the "VGA=778" does. My "VGA" is set to -16 for whatever purpose it fulfills.
I'm assuming the acpi_sleep option allows the kernel to use the S3 sleep state for the hardware, like the same state other OSes use when you shut the lid? Currently all my Android install does is shut the screen off if I close the lid...and I'm fairly certain that's hardware-based anyway.

Related

creating 2 partitions on an SD card on a Mac fat32/ext2

Hey all. I was wondering how to format/create my sdcard with 2 partitions one fat32 the other ext2 on a mac. I used the search engine but cannot find anything.
I'm not a terminal noob but I can't figure out how to format/create the 2 partitions. I need help because I want to move my data from the g1 to the sdcard.
Thanks!
Install this http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsx/ and then reboot and use the Disk Utility in /Applications/Utilities/
this will not format a ext2 partition, it only allows you to mount it, your best bet is to d/l GPARTED or of you have windows in parallels use Paragon Partition Manager... this will not work if your windows is in a bootcamp partition, the other option is to use a pc (sadly hu?)
If it helps, I actually used an ubuntu live cd and installed gparted while booted to the cd... of course, i had already made the sdcard fat32 in windows but gparted allowed me to resize and format the remainder in ext2.
I've used the ext2fsx tool to partition my SD card on my mac. I don't think I had any extra software installed, and I just used the Disk Utility...
I'm also having trouble creating a valid partition. I'm using gparted on an ubuntu live cd but the sdcard doesnt like being messed with.
What disklabel are you using? [Loop / msdos / bsd etc]?
I think i've tried every combination and haven't gotten anywhere.
Also, i've read that the card class makes a difference, is this right or does it only effect the speed of data transfer?
Any help would be much appreciated!!
.//Yamthief

Possible? To copy a vista x64 to another partition and upgrade to 8?

Is it Possible? To copy a vista x64 installation settings programs and all to another partition and upgrade to 8? To have as a dual boot? I had 8 on as a dual boot but did not want to have to install all I use again.
If so how could this be done?
Sent from Ant's HTC 7 Mozart using XDA Windows Phone 7 App.
yes, it is possible. you will have to use a partition program to create a new partition on your hd. then put an image of your vista to the new partition. then just install win8 to the new partition. i would make a backup to the c drive first though.
so if i use the robocopy command from the disk an use robocopy C:\ G:\/e/esfraw/copyall/dcopy:t/r:0
that copies my install on c to my new partition g, but not sure if this sets g to active or not as been a while.
so would i then after doing this use upgrade install or custom install to upgrade drive g vista to win8?
I believe you can repartition an existing HDD with disk management in vista and up. Use to use a program called partition magic.
also make sure you have enough space on hdd have fun
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/partition-and-format-a-disk-in-windows/
1. Right click on the space listed as unallocated.
2. At the menu that comes up, click on the New Partition option.
3. You will now be presented with a wizard as to how you would like the partition to be created. At the first screen press Next.
4. At the following screen, determine if you need a primary or extended partition. For more information about these partitions you can read our partition tutorial listed above. Most people will be fine selecting Primary Partition. Select Primary Partition and press Next.
5. At the next screen you will be prompted to type in how much of the unallocated space you would like used for the new partition. In my example, my unallocated space is 26.43 GB, so I can choose to make a partition of that entire amount of only use half and save the rest for another partition. Regardless, of what you decide, you need to enter a size in the Partition size in MB: field, or stick with the default size, and press the Next button.
6. At the next screen select the drive letter you would like assigned to it, or use the default one given. When done, press the Next button. The drive letter that you assign here will be how you access the partition later.
7. In this step you will determine how you would like the new partition to be formatted. For the most part you are advised to use the NTFS file system. If you need a file system that can be readable by older operating systems like DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME, then you should instead choose the FAT32 file system.
8. Type a name in the Volume Label field that will be associated with this partition or leave it blank.
9. Finally press the Next button and you will come to a summary screen. Review how the partition will be created, and if you are satisfied, press the Finish button to complete the creation and formatting of your new hard disk partition.
My method was shorter and cloned current install to new partition but after that is the clone active or not. Also do I then use custom or upgrade option for win8?
Sent from Ant's HTC 7 Mozart using XDA Windows Phone 7 App.
Giving it a bash now taking hours to copy all 85 gigabyte across. It turned out active partition btw
Sent from Ant's HTC 7 Mozart using XDA Windows Phone 7 App.
you can use linux install tools.
you burn linux on a cd after you create a partition with linux tool, you install ubuntu.
after you boot on windows 8 USB/CD you delete and format the partition where's ubuntu and you install it
i do it work fine

[Gparted] Nook Simple Touch resize partitions non-destructive

!! Important: Make a backup of your Nook device first !!
Resize partitions
1. Download Gparted LiveCD
2. Extract onto FAT / FAT32 USB memory stick or burn to CD-ROM
3. If on a USB memory stick, run \utils\win32\makeboot.bat from the memory stick.
Do NOT run makeboot from a hard disk!
4. Boot computer from USB device into Gparted
5. Connect your Nook running Noogie of a Micro USB card (this will make the partitions visible to Gparted).
6. Resize the last partition (nr 8) labelled "data" (= Barnes & Nobles content)
Make sure to move the partition to the far right.
7. Move the next-to-last partition (nr 7) labelled "cache" without resizing it.
8. Extend the next-to-next-to-last partition (nr 6) labelled "nook" (Side loaded content) to fill the gap.
9. Remove USB cord, Micro USB card and boot your Nook.
10. In Settings you can inspect the amount of storage space.
I received errors when the partitions were about to be moved on the disk.
I changed the partitioning resize to field where it says "Align to:" from "MiB" to "Cylinder". After a 2nd attempt and doing each partition individually all worked out well.
For those only with Windows, download Gparted LiveCD iso image and use virtualbox to boot from it. It still worked well.
Edit: I successfully repartitioned two of my Nook Simple Touch using the method above + virtualbox + Gparted LiveCD iso.
Surprisingly, the size of partitions in my two NST were slightly different, suggesting that the physical size and location of partitions don't matter as long as their order and type in the partition table are as expected and the size is big enough to hold files there. I resized and moved the last three partitions as I wanted several times and made sure they work well.
Factory reset, upgrade to 1.2.1 (this seems to require the cache partition to be big enough to hold the firmware update file: something like 128MB worked for me), rooting all worked well with resized partitions. I ended up shrinking the cache partition down to 32MB and the data partition to 128MB, reserving 1.11GB for the side-loaded contents. I'm sure the system partition can also be shrunken, but I didn't go that far.
Why a live cd? Does installing gparted to whatever linux flavor you're using not work?
I don't use linux on my PC... only on hacked router & nas.
Goggles2114 said:
Why a live cd? Does installing gparted to whatever linux flavor you're using not work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So dump Noogie on a microsd card run noogie and while noogie's running plug nook into pc? Do you just plutg it in and it does everything auto, or does something in noogie need to be run? Does this work on a nook touch glow?
Sorry to sound so dense but rooted using NookManager.
Edit more to the point it's throwing up an error when trying to move sdb8 around. It shrank fine just won't move. Not sure why. Not getting any useful error messages. Just 'can't have overlapping partitions.'
Odd. I was able to move it twice and get it to behave. Yet do the same n one move and Nothing. Apologies for the rinning Log just. Meh. The rest of the partitions resized in one step. sdb8 was the one that needed two steps.
Aaaand Success. Showing up as having 913MB free as opposed to like 212 or whatever.
Edit: now I'm getting a constant 'low space' warning from nook (understandable.) And installing apps is hit/miss on if they'll actually install. Keeps claiming space issues.
Query. Do apps install to the BnN partition or where?
Good to hear another success story. In my case I squeezed all the way to 1.45GB for the side-loaded contents. boot/rom/system/cache/data partitions are shrunken, and factory partition is busted. I had to use fdisk instead of GPartED to completely recreate the partition table, though.
I think, apps are installed to the data partition (the 8th one) under /data/app. Before being installed it's downloaded to cache partition (the 7th one). In my case I gave 16M for cache and 128M for data. If you are low on the data partition and have some space left on the system partition, you can move apps from /data/app to /system/app.
Goggles2114 said:
So dump Noogie on a microsd card run noogie and while noogie's running plug nook into pc? Do you just plutg it in and it does everything auto, or does something in noogie need to be run? Does this work on a nook touch glow?
Sorry to sound so dense but rooted using NookManager.
Edit more to the point it's throwing up an error when trying to move sdb8 around. It shrank fine just won't move. Not sure why. Not getting any useful error messages. Just 'can't have overlapping partitions.'
Odd. I was able to move it twice and get it to behave. Yet do the same n one move and Nothing. Apologies for the rinning Log just. Meh. The rest of the partitions resized in one step. sdb8 was the one that needed two steps.
Aaaand Success. Showing up as having 913MB free as opposed to like 212 or whatever.
Edit: now I'm getting a constant 'low space' warning from nook (understandable.) And installing apps is hit/miss on if they'll actually install. Keeps claiming space issues.
Query. Do apps install to the BnN partition or where?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the point of doing all this?
You gave a list of instructions, but not the goal they achieve.
L_R_N said:
What's the point of doing all this?
You gave a list of instructions, but not the goal they achieve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which post are you referring to?
Troute said:
Which post are you referring to?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.c0.'s original post.
His instructions describe how to use gparted to resize the partitions on the NST to make full use of the memory available after you have rooted it. I've used gparted before so maybe they were clearer to me than to others but the thread title was the main clue.
Troute said:
His instructions describe how to use gparted to resize the partitions on the NST to make full use of the memory available after you have rooted it. I've used gparted before so maybe they were clearer to me than to others but the thread title was the main clue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kind of thought that Nook's internal 2GB flash is already sanely formatted (i.e. most space is dedicated to the partition that is mounted at /media). If that is not the case, then that should be noted in the first post. It would also be cool if it said exactly how much space each partition has (I think i saw these partitions back when i've used Noogie to make initial backup of my device, but i don't remember the details), and how much space you would gain, and on which partition (and where it is mounted).
L_R_N said:
I kind of thought that Nook's internal 2GB flash is already sanely formatted (i.e. most space is dedicated to the partition that is mounted at /media). If that is not the case, then that should be noted in the first post. It would also be cool if it said exactly how much space each partition has (I think i saw these partitions back when i've used Noogie to make initial backup of my device, but i don't remember the details), and how much space you would gain, and on which partition (and where it is mounted).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! i did the work 880MB for side loaded content now!!!
on one of my NST i had an issue resizing the FAT32 partition and i had to format it to make it work.
Other than that all went ok!
Thanks
How to maximize RAM available for apps
I found this easy to read table here.
I doubt that I will ever download books from B&N. I want to minimize the space for that. I infer that I should minimize partition 8 that gets mounted to \data. Is there a practical / actual minimum for this?
I see that anything I copy in from my PC over USB is going into media. 100MB should be more than I need. I could put in an SD card for this sort of thing if it grows.
My question is, which partition do I want to increase to make the maximum available to apps downloaded from the google marketplace?
If an application requires a minimum of 512 MB of RAM, which partition(s) do I need to set >= 512?
New additional question: Upon some further research, I see that you can use sd cards for swapfiles to increase system RAM up to a maximum of 4GB. Does anyone know if it is possible to use this built-in storage for the same purpose?
.c0. said:
!! Important: Make a backup of your Nook device first !!
Resize partitions
1. Download Gparted LiveCD
2. Extract onto FAT / FAT32 USB memory stick or burn to CD-ROM
3. If on a USB memory stick, run \utils\win32\makeboot.bat from the memory stick.
Do NOT run makeboot from a hard disk!
4. Boot computer from USB device into Gparted
5. Connect your Nook running Noogie of a Micro USB card (this will make the partitions visible to Gparted).
6. Resize the last partition (nr 8) labelled "data" (= Barnes & Nobles content)
Make sure to move the partition to the far right.
7. Move the next-to-last partition (nr 7) labelled "cache" without resizing it.
8. Extend the next-to-next-to-last partition (nr 6) labelled "nook" (Side loaded content) to fill the gap.
9. Remove USB cord, Micro USB card and boot your Nook.
10. In Settings you can inspect the amount of storage space.
I received errors when the partitions were about to be moved on the disk.
I changed the partitioning resize to field where it says "Align to:" from "MiB" to "Cylinder". After a 2nd attempt and doing each partition individually all worked out well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a little (maybe big?) problem. Can't partition with Gparted Live, as gparted scans my /dev/sdb (nook) infinitely. If I plug out my nook, other partitions (in my case: /dev/sda) become visible and ready. Looks like my nook hangs gparted. Tried on 2 different PCs and no effect. Tried different version of Gparted Live (i486 & amd64) - still nothing.
Of course noogie is inside the nook unit, ready and steady. Already made a backup of (non-rooted) device, plus partitions are visible in Minitool Partition Wizard on Windows 7.
What to do in this situation? Is Linux the only safe way to repartition device? Or maybe Minitool would be as effective and safe?
If Linux is the only way to go, how to make nook visible to Gparted?
Please, experts.
DJ Athlon said:
I have a little (maybe big?) problem. Can't partition with Gparted Live, as gparted scans my /dev/sdb (nook) infinitely. If I plug out my nook, other partitions (in my case: /dev/sda) become visible and ready. Looks like my nook hangs gparted. Tried on 2 different PCs and no effect. Tried different version of Gparted Live (i486 & amd64) - still nothing.
Of course noogie is inside the nook unit, ready and steady. Already made a backup of (non-rooted) device, plus partitions are visible in Minitool Partition Wizard on Windows 7.
What to do in this situation? Is Linux the only safe way to repartition device? Or maybe Minitool would be as effective and safe?
If Linux is the only way to go, how to make nook visible to Gparted?
Please, experts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Gparted doesn't work for you, I'd highly recommend Minitool Partiton Wizard - it's what I used to partiton my Nook. Nice, easy UI, too.
Yeah, I often work with Minitool, but is it as safe as Gparted when it comes to nook?
DJ Athlon said:
Yeah, I often work with Minitool, but is it as safe as Gparted when it comes to nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it is. Just make sure to make a Noogie backup before repartitoning.
Sorry for bugging you, but can't shrink userdata(ext3). What to do? Delete that partition and re-create it or...?
DJ Athlon said:
Sorry for bugging you, but can't shrink userdata(ext3). What to do? Delete that partition and re-create it or...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, delete and recreate is the way to go.
Please, people, help me
Write step to step guide for work with Minitool Partiton Wizard
I want to free the reserved space for B&N books of my NST ver. 1.2.1
The device is already rooted.
I installed Minitool Partiton Wizard on my PC, but after connecting it thru USB cable with my Nook, it only see "official" 240MBs.
Cannot find other around 750 MB reserved storage for B&N books ?
What to do
Explain to me, please

[Crazy Talk] Boot.... from ram? >:)

ok, so i use this for pubg on a laptop. the harddrive is so slow, but the laptop has 16gb of ram.
with an 8gb data partition, the whole of the PhoenixOS is about 10gb, that leaves the system 6gb to use, more than most android devices.
things like ubuntu and gparted can boot from ram. so i kinda started researching the concept, and decided i needed some help. anyone interested?
ideally it would boot to grub then copy an image to ram (containing all of PhoenixOS) then afterwards, when shutting down android, update the image on the harddrive assuming no power failures
ubuntu uses squashfs right? and from what ive read loads everything to ram in initrd.gz. is there an equivalent to that androidx86?
can we accompish this from grub?
Seems interesting . I extracted the initrd.img and found that the init file is actually sh a script . It runs in a busybox shell . So probably you could modify the script at the start and probably create a /dev/ram* block device and copy the contents of your PhoenixOS partition/image to the created ramdisk .

Phoenix OS v3.0.2.451 on an ext4 partition

Has anyone installed Phoenix OS v3.0.2.451 on an ext4 partition?
I installed it on a dual boot laptop yesterday, on a ext4 partition. I hadn't had time to check it out yet, only know that the default file manager don't see Linux partitions, but see only NTFS partitions. That's not a problem, as I keep most of my data on NTFS partitions, for both Linux and Windows to see (read/write) them.
This is an UEFI system.
It seems pretty snappy.
(I had both Remix OS and Phoenix OS quite sometime ago, but had removed them .)
Now on a MBR laptop, also on a ext4 partition...
Installed same version of POS on an ext4 partition of a MBR laptop. It has Debian Sid, few other Linuxes and older Windows 7 Home Basic in it. Works alright atm. Can't uninstall some Chinese only apps from Phoenix from both laptops. Its Stardust browser didn't want to work well in this, so installed Chrome from Play Store. But in the UEFI laptop, the Stardust browser worked quite well.
Installation was done manually in both laptops, the way it was done in the early days.
I find Phoenix OS 3.0.2...works better on a UEFI laptop. No idea why. In an MBR laptop, I can't highlight text in the web browser and copy, the mouse right click doesn't work. The right click doesn't work in the UEFI too, but text can be highlighted, especially in Opera, not in Stardust, nor in Chrome. Btw, Play Store is available.
Maybe I should write how I installed it in another thread?

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