how to add second linux to a dual boot?

[samkupar]

hi i am using debian with win98 with lilo on mbr.
how do i install fedora or any second linux and be able to use all three?
will the swap partition be used by second linux as debian is not used,or i have to create a second swap partition also?
which one is better in such a case-grub or lilo?
regards
samkupar

[aaa]

I think grub is far better than lilo, once you get around the different names. Whatever you use, you will need to add an entry to it's cfg file. With lilo, you need to run 'lilo' to apply changes.
The linuxes can share swap.
For more help, please elaborate on your configuration (hds,partitions), the new configuration you plan to have, and whether you want grub or lilo.

[samkupar]

hi
ok,as far as the configuration is concerned
amd-athlon,40gb hdd(12,6,6,5,4 + 7,0.3) last two having debian root and swap,while rest are win 98 and common ones respectively.
now may be'll use the 4gb partition to load another linux flavour(fedora) and use the same swap.right now its lilo on mbr...but any one shall do i.e lilo or grub..but don't wanna loose debian again.

[aaa]

Fedora will probably install grub. If you don't want to lose debian, do this:
install fedora, telling it to put grub in it's root partition.
edit the debian lilo.conf. Add an entry to load from the Fedora partition the same way it is done with Windows partitions. Now, after applying changes, there will be a Fedora entry in lilo that goes to grub. Edit the grub cfg to load Debian. When the grub loads debian fine, boot Fedora and run 'grub-install /dev/hda' to use grub instead of lilo.
For partitions: from what you posted, I can only guess what the partitions' names are. Run 'fdisk -l' to get a more comprehensive description.

[samkupar]

hi
do i have to again make partitions within the 4gb space where i want to load fedora less the swap partition?
does the second linux automatically know where the swap partition is?

[aaa]

You will have to delete the Windows partition and create a Linux one for Fedora. This can be done  during the installation. Make sure you know the partition's name in Linux (don't want to delete the wrong one). 'fdisk -l' will list the partitions.
Whether the swap will be recognized automatically is up to the distribution. I'm not sure if Fedora recognizes swap automatically, but you can tell it which is the swap partition during installation if it doesn't recognize it by itself..

[dragoncity99]

It will in fact detect all ur linux partitions, using the current swap partition however from what i know is when u initialize in the inittab file.

U can actually use a new swap as well hehe, but u must declare it in inittab file which swap partition u want to use. That's just my suggestion.

[wombat53]

I apologize for this cross-posting (and the wordiness), but this  posting probably belongs in this thread:

I have a question re: chained multi-Linux boot loading, starting from WIN NT BootLoader, and here is some background. I am an old-timer, but not a UNIX/LINUX expert....

Using advice given here, last year I created LINUX partition on a WIN XP machine (perhaps with Partition Magic, it's not
important), installed SLACKWARE 9, and WIN now offers me dual boot options on startup, the second option being to
boot Linux. This second option derives from me making a manual entry to WIN boot.ini, pointing to a small file containing a copy of the Linux Boot Sector on the Linux Boot Partition (/dev/hdfa6, as it happens). This Sector was copied from the
Linux Boot partition with:
dd if=/dev/hda6 bs=512 count=1 of=bootsect.lnx, as documented by Ricky, and I think "aaa" in this Forum. It works
perfectly, with WIN NT Bootloader enabling the LILO option, which currently has only one OS defined , booting by default (or ENTER key) to the single SLACKWARE LINUX. {For those new to this world, and wanting to keep WIN in place as I was, I strongly recommend following this procedure, by the way}.

Now, I need to install a second LINUX, while maintaining the current dual boot process that is in place. (Very simply, I am working with IBM's DB2 UDB V8.2, and its install scripts etc. assume "standard" RPM-based package management, and SLACKWARE's seems to be "non-standard" (indeed, it is not RPM based, but it does support the RPM command...imperfectly...This has been the subject of postings and inquiries, and even an IBM DB2 DeveloperWorks article, but I have found that they are
incomplete. For those who are interested, the only way around is to convert all the .rpm packages to native format .tar.gz
(or .tgz) with a SLACKWARE utility, and install the packages manually ("installpkg") , thereby bypassing the entire IBM
install procedure, which I am not too pleased about. This has caused me unending pain, a great learning curve...and a
desire to be more "standard"). I have become the package management expert I never wanted to be!

So I have acquired another LINUX (REDHAT Professional Workstation, which was the only REDHAT in the store!).
I have huge book by Sobell, and I have all the RedHat manuals, but I am speculating that a) they will probably assume
only one LINUX (let alone a pre-existing dual-boot setup) and b) regardless, a group such as this has more real-world
experience. I figure my question cannot be new, or difficult.

I am more than happy to keep LILO.
What is the best way to go about this install please? And to keep the current setup in place?
In short, to install another LINUX, on a presumed new partition (again, Partition Magic, whatever), and have it made known to LILO ? Or, perhaps a new REDHAT install might create a new LILO (and .conf) and put himself there (and perhaps lose what I have)? I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter. So long as one can modify the lilo.conf correctly, execute lilo, and then copy the boot sector to WIN as described above? That's OK too, so long as I can continue boot to LILO from WIN (as I do now), and identify what will now be two (2) LINUX OS's. I am just not familiar with these multiple levels of indirection on OS's on which am no expert. I am reluctant to meddle too much, since I now do have something that works, and you know what they say ("If it aint broke ......)
IBM's DB2 is my livelihood, on MVS, OS/2, WIN and now flavors of UNIX/LINUX, so this is not a hobby!

[Ricky]

hmm.. i think i have already answered your question in other post where you have asked this separately.