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Now I would like to install Ubuntu and BackTrack on the same external hard drive. I do not want Ubuntu live, because I use it often and I need it installed. However, I don't care about BackTrack.

I also need a swap and a Windows partition for windows access.
Im giving backtrack 7 GB, Ubuntu 15GB and swap 1GB, the rest is for the Windows partition (total of 111GB)

The Problem

  1. When Installing: BackTrack is having problems installing and every time it says grub failed and when booting it says "grub rescue". This is due to me installing grub on a logical partition and not on the first partition. So when MBR loads grub it points to the wrong partition, but i still need it on a logical partition as I will explain further below.

  2. When Using It Live: *Grub* has a problem with syslinux and they over write each other and then don't recognize one another so its one or the other. 

My Solutions

I'm new to the whole boot thing and studied all this yesterday so correct me if im wrong:

  • Ubuntu uses grub, and all live cd use syslinux (I would also like to know the difference between isolinux and syslinux). 

  • The BIOS loads the IPL part of the MBR and that is where grub (or syslinux) is, in the first byte of the first partition. And that's also where syslinux (or grub) goes and they over write each other. Well I thought how about making an *extended partition and put Ubuntu and BackTrack in logical partitions and then set their boot loader to their own logical partition. So that would mean: syslinux would be on sdb5 and grub would be on sdb6

  • However if i do that then i would need a third program to be written in the IPL of the MBR so that it would load the other two from sdb5 and sdb6 (these are just examples)

My Question

  1. Is any of this possible?
  2. And what would be the bootloader that would load syslinux and grub
  3. How would install Backtrack and syslinux on sdx n with universal usb installer or unetbootin (I thought maybe if i left all the other space unformated then windows would just recognize the one partition and install BT there, but what about syslinux?)

And sorry i made it so long, if anyone has any suggestions do not hold back. I'm at a dead end here so please help me.

Info:

Ubuntu 13.04
BackTrack5 R1 GNOME
I'm running Windows 7 and Ubuntu 13.04
I already have Ubuntu live and BackTrack live USB

And what I wrote up there was the extent of my knowledge of bootloaders, so please don't think I'm one of those extreme tech people, and please give a little detail and not just "install grub on the MBR". I don't know anything about any bootloaders specially grub.

Poria Amirian
  • 11

1 Answers1

1

After 2 weeks of research:

  1. Make live USB of Ubuntu and Backtrack, to do so download Ubuntu and backtrack and use UnetBootin or Universal USB Installer (I used second one) to make live usb

  2. Run Ubuntu live and open Gparted: When system is turning on press F12 (or what ever your system accepts) to get to boot menu and select your usb flash, once Ubuntu starts choose try ubuntu and when desktop loads press Ctrl+alt+T and run command sudo gparted

  3. Make the partitions:

    1. On the top right corner select drive, then right click each partition and unmount, once done delete all partitions.

    2. Right click the free space and add new partitions, Primary, what ever space left as FAT32, 1GB swap area
      At least:
      17 GB, Extended partition
      10 GB, Logical, ext3
      7 GB, Logical, ext4

  4. Now press accept to apply changes

  5. Boot into BackTrack

  6. Click the install icon on desktop
  7. Press forward until you get to partitions
  8. Choose the last option (Advanced)
  9. Right click the 10GB Ext3 partition and change
  10. Format to ext3 and mount point /
  11. Click forward
  12. Click advanced and make sure its pointing to sdx and not sdxn (sdb1)
  13. Install
  14. Boot into Ubuntu
  15. Choose install
  16. When given the choice pick something else (advanced)
  17. Click the 7GB ext4 partition and click change
  18. Choose ext4 and mount point / and click ok
  19. Make sure that on the bottom, where you select where to install bootloader, you choose the same place as the other one (sdx not sdxn)
  20. Install
Anwar
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Poria Amirian
  • 11