I finally got it : A HOWTO on installing Vista + Linux + MediaDirect

I finally was able to install Vista, Linux as well as MediaDirect 3.3 on my brand new 1520 and get it all going without any problems.....

EDIT: See the note below for my current status

The first things that you need to have are :

MediaDirect CD
Vista Install DVD
Acronis Disk Director Suite (hopefully a licensed copy) (I used version 10 but version 9 may also work - havent tried the v9)

Plz do not make use of partition magic as it has problems supporting multiple Extended partitions on the same disk. I do not know about gparted and using that in place of Acronis is your own risk. Also I state here it uses Multiple Extended Partitions but I aint sure it and still I need to do more research on it and let you know

Do follow my steps carefully without skipping any and also the most important thing is back up all your data from the hard drive as you will be wiping out its contents completely....

Here is how I did it :

First Insert the MD3 CD into your CD drive and press F12 while you power on your laptop

Select Boot from CD/DVD drive

It will boot into MediaDirect DOS Setup and give you 3 options (1,2 and Q)

Choose the 2nd option

It will ask to enter a size for the main partition ( C: ) give whatever size you wish. The rest will be allocated to D:

Then it will ask to confirm - give YES and it will perform the rest of the operations and ask to REBOOT

NOTE: From now on till when I tell you to do not boot your PC by pressing the MediaDirect button on the keyboard or you will have to start from scratch again

Then before rebooting insert the Vista DVD in the drive and again press F12 during the boot time

Select Boot from CD/DVD drive

Now you will be brought into Vista Setup

Install Vista on the C: partition and do not touch any other partitions and continue with the Installation

After the install is complete load all the device drivers and install Acronis Disk Director Suite

Now you will be able to see 4 partitions in it namely :

• A small EISA Utility partition
• The Vista C: Partition
• D: Partiton
• 2.5 GB MediaDirect Partition

NOTE: Do not in any case touch the small utility partiton, the Primary C: partition or the last MD partition or you would have to start from scratch again

Now all you have to do is perfom these operations - Shrink that D: partition leaving roughly around 10 GB of unallocated space (you may choose a lesser size depending on your linux distro and amount of packages you will be installing in Linux)

Also if you need more Windows paritions you split up D: into as many you want and create them all as logical too

In that unallocated space create the Linux Swap partiton (if you have 1 GB or less RAM) and as many linux partitions you desire.... Note that all the partitions must be created as Logical Partitions only and not as Primary

After you have completed this step you may very well install MediaDirect CD from within Vista

After finishing the install shut down your system and now boot your system using the MediaDirect button

The first time MD loads it takes some time and after it starts find out if everything works properly

Thats all to getting MD setup and now you can install Linux without any pain

Boot using the Setup CD/DVD of your favourite Linux Distro and install it

NOTE: Avoid creating partitions from the Linux Setup here and merely format the already created Linux partitions

Also make sure you install GRUB on the first sector of the "/boot" partition (if you create one) or the "/" partition

One more thing is note down the size of this partition as it will be required to configure to boot Linux from Vista's bootloader

Then after you continue with your setup and restart you will find that it boots into Vista

So what you do now is download EasyBCD from here : http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

Install it and add an entry for Linux in the Boot Loader

Then choose GRUB as the bootloader

Give a name to the Boot option

Now you need to choose the partition to boot for linux. This is fairly easy as we have already noted down the size of this partition earlier. You can easily find it from that list. It will be almost at the end of the list hopefully.

Then click on Add Entry and thats all you have configured Linux booting as well

Now restart your system to see whether you are able to get the boot menu and boot into Linux from there

Also you can adjust the timeout for autobooting from EasyBCD as well

Do let me know of your queries and I am always here to help you out.... Also I state it here itself that some steps in this process I have taken insurance just to be on the safer side.... So dont ask me why I've asked you to do so but it is all for the Better Good okay

 

Okay I've updated this post now... Plz all comments, queries and rep are welcome.... Do let me know your +ve/-ve feedbacks...

 

Great how to. thanks

 

Hmm thanks for your comment dude

 

Good post but sorry to say that this method is not new. If you try to google "multi boot or dual boot vista and linux + media direct I'm sure you will get a handful of similar methods.
I still cannot understand why dell makes it sooo complicated OS installation. If for some reason your mediadirect fails to boot or hangs you cannot reinstall into the media direct partition-you have to go thru the process above! I tried that once and it will say that meida direct is already installed.....

 

This set of instructions may not be entirely unique, but it is easier to follow than some I've seen -- especially for someone who's never dealt with Media Direct 3.3 before.

 

I cannot create the logical partitions through my present Vista with exactly the same set up!!! Its frustrating me.

Is Acronis free? Im cheap.

 

Congrats, you made that Dell Harddrive your b**ch

 

@Ash Hi Fi Zone,

"Now all you have to do is perfom these operations - Shrink that D: partition leaving roughly around 10 GB of unallocated space (you may choose a lesser size depending on your linux distro and amount of packages you will be installing in Linux)

Also if you need more Windows paritions you split up D: into as many you want and create them all as logical too"
------------------------

I have partitioned, my HDD to C:, D: and I installed the Vista OS to C: drive, Now please tell me how to repartition the D: drive to sub partitions?

Thanks in advance....

 

Believe me I couldnt find much info for doing that for MediaDirect 3+ though I found a couple for doing the same with MD 2.x

And I found it the hard trial and error way unlike following procedures written by someone..... I crashed my complete laptop also a couple of times during this and am willing to give more insight also into how this MD works as far as I've learnt from this exercise..... That is the whole point of this thread.....

Also most of the links retrieved by google for such a search was merely ppl asking for help with the same but got no proper replies.... Can you link me with one such page on the web which describes almost the same steps (even if in less detail) for achieveing Win + Linux + MD ? I do not wanna act like I invented or discovered something which no one has ever done but just wanna help ppl here....

 

I believe you have done it by booting using the MD cd.... Now use Acronis to shrink the size of D: and from the unused space obtained create logical partitions as you need.... But do not touch the MD partition under any circumstances....

 

Ok Im confused....

I decided to tackle this this morning and am unsure on several things...

First I made an iso of Ubuntu no problem. But...Will I be ok with 64Bt?

The download said AMD64Bt but the process relates that that is the file for AMD/Intel 64bit.

Then I made an iso and usb copy of the latest Grub (.9667)
I am not sure of the versions or the extension I should download as i have seen different extensions when making the download.

My usb version is grub-1.95.tar.gz. I have also downloaded
super_grub_disk_english_usb_0.9667.tar.bz2 on my usb.

Am I ok so far?

Next, relating to my installation procedure. I have related previously that I cannot create a logical partition in a new D drive for some reason. Thoughts? It there a free partitioning program that can help?

Also, I have read that it is simpler (since Im not starting from mediaDirect, to not initially install MediaDirect but rather, install it later from within Vista. What would be my initial installatiuon then Vista, Ubuntu then grub?? Thoughts? Or...would I initially use MD3 to just set up the partitions? I have a 64Gb SSD and am hoping to pull 20GB Vista 64Bit, 20Gb UBUNTU, then at least a 10GB data partition logical then the ubuntu swap logical and so on. Thoughts?

Tx ahead. Its my Ubuntu day and Ill wait lol

Oh and also...Dell removed Ubuntu drivers. is this going to throw a wrench in things?

 

Hmm flamenko sorry abt the late reply but you have asked a lot of qns in a single post

Ok regarding your previous post first - Vista's partition manager actually shows me the wrong info regarding my partitions.... It actually displays my MD partition created by the MD cd as a Primary one but in fact it is a logical partition in an extended partition

My Hard Disk structure looks like this :

• 50 Mb or so - Primary - Dell Utility Partition
• 40 GB - Primary - C: - Vista
• 107 GB - Extended
  • 24.5 GB - Logical - D:
  • 24.5 GB - Logical - E:
  • 24.5 GB - Logical - F:
  • 24.5 GB - Logical - G:
  • 1 GB - Logical - Swap Partition for Linux
  • 8 GB - Logical - ext3 partition for OpenSuse Linux
• 2 GB - Extended
  • 2 GB - Logical - MD

So the thing here is this MD Setup while creating the partitions while booting from the MD cd actually creates utility partition as primary, C: as primary, D: as a logical in an extended partition and MD partition as a logical in another extended partition.... This is where the problem starts because most of the partitioning tools do not support more than one extended partition on a hard drive...

Ok in answer to your second post - yes you can use which ever version of Linux you prefer either 32-bit or 64-bit.... But if you run any apps make sure they support 64-bit as most of them are developed for 32-bit

I dunno whether you require the GRUB cd separately as I believe it is part of Ubuntu itself

Try gparted for creating logical partitions but I dunno if it will really help

How will MD install itself directly from Vista when no partition for it exists on the disk ? I doubt the MD installer from vista is capable of creating partitions

If you ask me better install MD3 CD setup first, then Vista, reduce the size of D: and create as many logical partitions as you require including ones for linux and then install MD from within Windows and then finally install Linux without touching the partitions but merely format them as required for ext2/3 and swap....

Hmm drivers are not much of a matter I think because Ubuntu itself would have support for most of the hardware.... My OpenSuse detected almost all of the hardware except the Webcam and my 8600mgt

 

I spent most of yesterday working on the installation and understanding why I hate AHCI soooooooo much. With this SSD, the only way AHCI can be installed is before the installation and only by USB with the drivers extracted. They also had to be a certain outdated Dell version which I think may have been mentioned by you. The set in Trebs article dont work as well as those available trhough Dell or Intel.

So now... I sit here first thing knowing I can get Vista installed on a small 20Gb partition as I planned and understanding that I can readjust my partitions when I install Ubuntu.

What i dont understand s why I would want to install MediaDirect since I am using the MD3 button for Ubuntu rather than MD. I would continue the installation at the end only because, then, I can use mediaDirect within the Vista partition. Its a nice little program in my opinion.

I am keeping very close track of everything that is working and not working. If I get this running as I hope, I am going to refer to your article as well as Kossel and Shoyers and create a Ubuntu/Vista on a Dell for Dummys Guide".

Fear not, your name and article will be hyperlinked all over it...if I make it to the end of this challenge.

 

Mine is just a question since I deleted Media Direct's partition to make place for an extended partition. I can still use Media Direct from within vista, though.

Can't you simply install Media Direct inside Windows, without creating a separate partition? Have you tried to see if inside MD CD there is a setup procedure that will install the program inside windows?

 

How can you possibly have two extended partitions?
To my knowledge there can be only one extended partition per hard disk. See for example (but not only) here.
What tool did you use to get this information about your partition table?

 

What if you have XP instead of Vista? Any difference?

_

 

If you have XP instead of Vista I guess it wont make much of a difference.... Setting up the booting of Linux - you should do it by editing boot.ini and also you would need dd for dos utility to make an image of the linux boot sector or a linux live cd to do the same..... One more thing I have a doubt is whether it is possible to install MD from XP ?

 

Ok I've attached the Acronis Screenshot as well as that of Vista's Disk Mgmt.... Vista's Disk Mgmt reports even Linux partitions as primary which definitely arent.... So Vista's Disk Mgmt cant be trusted here..... Acronis reports the last partitions all as logical.... So they are all in some Extended Partition....

And coming back to your qn again I went through the config file which MD uses to create the partitions initially.... Here it is :

Here you can see two extended containers created.... That is why I came to that conclusion.....

EDIT: Linux also shows me only one Extended partition same as what Norton Partition Magic shows in DOS.... So I'm kinda confused too here... Does the config above mentioned indicate that only one extended must be created ? I too know the truth that according to partition table rules only one Extended is allowed but I still am having doubt here.....

So I guess other partitioning tools like gparted can also be tried but I havent tried so.... If anyone wishes to try and take a risk let me know.... I would like to try but my setup on this laptop is so perfect now that I dont wanna do it all again if I mess up

 

this should be the only right way no matter you have ssd or not.

 

The bundled disc with DELL recognizes AHCI automatically as far as I know but have no idea about the Retail Vista Discs.....

And flamenko buddy - sorry but I could not understand your goal you want to achieve....

Do you want to have Vista and Linux alone on your laptop and no MD partition as such but be able to use the MD app from within Windows is it ? And that too the MD button should map to booting the GRUB bootloader and display a boot menu giving you the choice of which OS to boot into is it ?

If these are your objectives I think Kossel's guide gives more details about it than mine actually.... If you follow my guide you are not re-mapping the MD button or anything but just try to squeeze in Linux also on your disk and have MD working fine along with it too which was not that easily possible....

But I m glad to answer any further qns or doubts you have here.....

 

I got what I want. MD boots into Ubuntu and power boots into Vista. Heads up though folks because there must be a bios change with remapping the MD button.

When I switch ssds back to my good one, MediaDirect no longer works and the MD button only boots into Vista. This is odd because I have made no adjustments to this ssd whatsoever which would lead me to believe remapping the md button is a change within the bios or somethng in the laptop itself, and not just the hard drive.

I havent installed MD yet but, yes, plan on installing MD so I can use it within Vista only. I will tackle this a day at a time...need to get on the internet and get a video driver into ubuntu though; 800x600 doesnt impress me.

 

Yes mapping the MD button must be written somewhere on the Flash or EEPROM of the BIOS because it is how it figures what partition should be booted when you press that MD button....

 

There's no BIOS change.

The MediaDirect button is remapped via the master boot record of the hard drive. That's why you have to run rmbr (replace mbr) to map the MediaDirect button.

 

There can only be one MBR of size 512 bytes and how will DELL be able to store that data there in addition to the partition table ?

 

How does GRUB do it?

According to this article, the partition table only takes up 64 bytes. (Don't have time to read the article in detail at the moment, but I'll give it a shot later).

 

Then why when I remove my ubuntu/vista drive and replace my other drive which is my drive I have taken the time to perfect.........does the MD Button no longer start MD?

 

Ok then I guess that is what the first 47 MB utility partition is for... One time it happened for me that without that utility partition my laptop would not boot at all even when there was an Active Partition set on my hard disk.... That may also be possible..... I guess only the DELL guys who came up with such an approach will be able to explain.....

 

I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you saying you have a drive where the MediaDirect was working fine, then you put in another drive and put Linux on it (which boots from the MD button), but if you put the first drive back in, the MD button no longer boots MD? If that's the case, then that would seem to bork my theory.

Before I installed Ubuntu, I ghosted my drive (which contained MD). I'll put the backup drive back in the laptop tonight and see if MD will boot from the MD button.

 

Yes Borked...Ide be interested to see what your other drive is like. My md on my good drive will only start Vista now..not md.

 

Okay, I re-installed my backup drive....pushed the MediaDirect button.....MediaDirect booted up fine. Just as I expected. My theory is de-borked!

When I re-installed my primary drive, the MD button booted up Ubuntu.

I think it's all there in the MBR (or diagnostic partition).

 

More than that: only one extended partition can be created.

Well, I wouldn't trust Vista partition manager even if they paid me.
The multiple "extended" you see are, I think, chunks of disk that are in the extended partition but outside the logical partitions. This can happen when a partitioning software won't care to align the beginning of a partition with the start of a cylinder (IIRC).
Vista's PM and the old versions of Partition Magic I have used in the past behave in this way.

I tried gparted for NTFS partitioning and it's better than Vista's.
You won't have unused space between logical partitions.
Too bad I used it only after I had already created several partitions in Vista.
But I will format again my extended partition...

 

2 extended partitions

faints

nice howto.

 

I still am not sure about whether my hard disk has multiple extended partitions because each tool reports in its own way....

 

Currently I messed up my MD dunno exactly how.... I reinstalled Vista (third time installation).... During the second installation of Vista it did not mess up the MD partition or anything... Just by installing the MD software within Windows I was able to get MD working too without any problems.... But after the third I tried the same and yes it sort of worked... When I booted into MD by pressing the MD button it booted into it and was processing something and automatically shut down.... The next time I press the MD button it tells me no MD partition found.... And now I press the power button and it does not find the Vista MBR.... And again I press the MD button and it gets fixed.... Now I map the MD partition in Vista and find that some files are corrupted - it does not read them in Vista.... Also I am not able to run checkdisk on that drive to fix the problem.... Then I format the partition in Vista and again make that as a type 'DD' partition. extract the files from the MD CD into the partition and guess what after that the MD button boots the Vista MBR and the power button does the same.... Now I guess I m gonna ditch this stupid MD and extend the partition space for my linux partition instead..... I wish DELL could have come up with a better version of MD..... I think MD 2 was pretty good in these areas.....

 

Well... THANK YOU!
(I repped you for your efforts)

 

Yeah, the MD button is mapped in the Dell Utilities partition... because MD reinstall creates this and must make use of this.

I did a reinstall of MD (repartition). Then reinstalled Vista. Then installed MD in Vista. Then unhide the Dell Utility & MD partitions using a bootable CD & ptedit. Dell Utility is DE & MD is DD coded. So I changed Dell Utility to 07 (or whatever FAT16 code is)... and MD to 07 or whatever FAT32 code is).

I booted up in BartPE with Dell storage drivers & DriveImageXML. I can then image Dell Utility & MD partitions.

Then I restored the Dell Utility & MD partitions via DriveImageXML.. then hid the partitions via bootable ptedit CD.

I power off and press the MD button. Nothing happens but see slash screen.. then vista fails to boot. So I use Vista recovery cd and it auto repairs my MBR. I reboot and it still fails to load. I boot up ptedit CD and find Vista has messed up my partition codes and the partition entries for Dell Utility. Lucky I wrote them all down carefully. So I manually edit them again. Then can boot up again.

Strange. But my MD button now just boots up normal Vista and auto starts MD within Vista. how crap.