My original problem (summarized):
Having a problem installing both WindowsNT and Digital UNIX on an
AlphaServer 4100. I want to put each O/S on its own disk. Each installation
of the respective O/S seems to wipe out the boot block of the O/S that was
already installed.
Thanks to the following for responding. My results to the various
suggestions are included.
Alan Davis - Setting up a dual-boot NT & DU is tricky. NT will probe the
disks and see one that it doesn't recognize and ask if you want to brand it
--- don't! Also make sure you re-load the console f/w between boots. I was
definitely reloading the console between boots - seems like it does this
automatically anyway.
Dr. Blinn - VERY strange problem which shouldn't be happening. [Never a
good sign when Dr. Blinn says this! ;^)]
John Francini - On the Windows NT side, when and if you run Disk Manager,
MAKE SURE you DO NOT anser "Yes" to the dialog box that that comes comes up
for disks that WNT doesn't understand, EVEN THOUGH it says "This is a safe
operation to do." It's only safe if you're ONLY running WNT!!! This is
absolutely true, although I hadn't done this.
Alan Nabeth - Suggests pulling out the other O/S's disk while installing
the respective O/S. Ultimately this is what I ended up doing and it solved
the problem!
Peter Reynolds - You must run the ECU for the relevant O/S before booting,
even if you don't have any ISA/EISA cards in your machine. This sounded
promising but didn't do the trick.
Tony Miller - Suggests getting the latest alpha firmware. I already had
this loaded.
Marie-Claude Vialatte - Seemed to be having the exact same problem with WNT
& Solaris on x86 (i.e. boot blocks getting blown away) and suggested the
following:
1- install Windows-NT
2- copy boot block to a floppy
3- install Solaris
4- copy back boot block from floppy to hard disk
And now, with LILO, we are able to boot in either systems.
I didn't get a chance to try this but it sounds like it might work.
Joe Fletcher - Suggests carefully checking ARC console for errors and
explore other diagnostics available from ARC console. I did check for
errors and try some of the utilities present but didn't find anything
relevant.
Conclusion:
I really don't know what happened and can't completely rule out 'pilot
error'. I believe there is some trickiness here - if you're installing both
NT & DU be careful. Ultimately I just pulled the disk out once the O/S had
been installed to be absolutely safe. Now that they O/S's are installed on
both everybody seems happy.
Received on Wed Feb 17 1999 - 15:59:03 NZDT