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Installing OpenSUSE 13.1 along Windows XP and Windows 7 ,on the same HDD

Vezina

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After a little tinkering i have managed to have them all up and running.
For anyone interested i will shortly describe how i did ,maybe someone else wants to have it done.

The machine used is based on a AMD FM2 APU 5600K and a Gigabyte A75 chipset based mobo.
The HDD used is a old WD 750G Black and BLANK.
SATA controller set to IDE Mode and not AHCI.

Only this HDD should be connected at his point.
Then you can reconnect the others ,but before ANY important OpenSUSE update disconnect the other HDD-s ,if they have OS-s installed on them ,to avoid boot issues.
After the updates you can reconnect them.Just a precaution measure.

I am not using UEFI in my BIOS ,i mean devices are set as non UEFI in the BIOS ,even if the BIOS supports the feature.It annoys me so i just set in the boot list only non UEFI.
When installing i also chose the pure DVD optical unit and not the UEFI one.

To be able to install all this successful i have used GParted Live CD first as using partitions made within XP installation or OpenSUSE gave me problems ,no Windows OS-s being detected..
XP always makes one primary partition and the rest logical.
W7 created only primary from what i ve observed so this OS-s should not be used for partitioning to obtain satisfaction.

So i started GParted live and partitioned the HDD to have 3 primary partitions and some logical ones in the extended area.
One was for XP ,one for Windows 7(the second) and the last primary one for OpenSUSE.One of the extended partitions was of only 2Gigs and intended for the Swap in OpenSUSE ,the rest NTFS partitions for stuff.

The ones to be used for XP and W7 were preformated in the same GParted to NTFS as otherwise the XP installer would not recognize them for installation.

After finalizing the partitioning i have installed XP.
Then installed Windows7.At this point Windows 7 boot will show 2 entries one for Older (XP) OS and another for itself.

The last one to be installed is OpenSUSE 13.1 from the x64 DVD media.
After starting the OpenSUSE installer you will reach the point for partition management ,you will be suggested with what it wants ,most of the time wrong partitioning suggestions

You will need to uncheck the suggested Home partition field and then click on the Edit button ,the last one on this page.
Now you will be shown the partitions ,click refresh/rescan so the OS to show you the existent partitions and not the suggested ones along the existent.

Edit the 3-rd primary partition so it will be formated ext4 and mounted as root (/)
Edit the 2Gigs partition to be SWAP and mounted as SWAP

Now you will have a partition list that includes the root and Swap to be formated.

Continue to the next step .Take a look at the boot section so GRUB 2 is installed on the /root partition and not MBR ,then look in the the software section and check what you want to install in there.
Continue until first reboot is required.

At this point invoke the BIOS bootstrap so you select exactly the HDD you are installing as if the DVD is booted you will again enter in a Installation loop ,the things you ve done in the first stage.This DVD automatic boot may depend on the BIOS settings.

Choosing the HDD as boot device manually after the first restart you will enter in the second stage of the installation ,the last one.
Skip whatever it shows regarding network tests and you will reach the desktop.

Go in the Yast ,insert the password you ve set when prompted and enter in the Network Settings to set up DNS servers ,Gateway IP ,then set the network card IP and enable firewall for it.
If you are using PPPOE you will need to let the DVD in and set a DSL connection .

Afterwards ,in the KDE OpenSUSE start menu type App and choose Apper ,check for updates, install them reboot ,reenter Yast and in the Online Update add to the existent repositories the Packman repository as the default one (a lot of guides on the net for how to do it).For mp3 support Packman is required even for Amarok ,the default audio player.
In the same Online Updates you will be able to search for software in the Search tab ,XBMC ,Audacious or whatever you may want.Kaffeine is included ,but if you want DVD support for you movies install Kaffeine KDE3 as VLC will not play them neither XBMC.
Some of the usual software may already be installed ,like Firefox or Virtual Keyboard ,check the start menus

If you will restart you will notice the GRUP 2 boot menu that shows you the entry for Windows 7 boot menu as well.

Enjoy the tri-boot :)
Over & Out !

AMD FX (APU-s included) users should install - KB2645594 & KB2646060 under Windows 7

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2.MSI A88X-G41 PC Mate + A8 5600K + Hyper TX 2
3.Gigabyte F2A75-D3H + A4 5300
4.ASUS AM1M-A + Athlon 5150