Problems Dual-Booting Xubuntu and Win2k

[lostinthespiral]

I just got a laptop in that someone wanted me to fix... it's an HP Omnibook 900 with a Pentium II and 160MB of RAM.  It's pretty sweet for how old it is... in great condition.

This guy just put in a 40GB hard drive, but wasn't able to use all of it because he was running Win98SE.  He had used Knoppix before and really liked it, so he wanted me to make a dual-boot system with Win2K and any Linux distro I liked.  So, I picked the alternate i386 version of Xubuntu (to make it run a little better since the machine's so old). 

First, I formatted the drive and installed Win2K Pro on a 20GB partition.  Then, I partitioned for Xubuntu and swap and installed Xubuntu on the free space that was left (a little less than 20GB). 

After I installed Xubuntu, I booted into it and kept getting a beep from the motherboard about every 15 seconds while Xubuntu was running, so I restarted and tried to get into Windows to install a BIOS driver that came with the Omnibook.  I also found the Win2K version of the driver on the HP website... I was surprised they still supported it.

So... GRUB loads, I select Windows, the startup screen comes up... then the monitor gets so dark you can barely see anything... after about 10-15 seconds the monitor goes completely black.

I thought that maybe it was the battery or that the monitor was going out... so I tried it about 4 times.    I let the battery fully charge for the last time.   I still get the same thing.  So, I booted into Xubuntu and everything works great.  I opened some programs and screwed around for a little bit... nothing wrong with the monitor and I wasn't getting the motherboard beep like before.

Windows was working fine whenever I installed it and put on an anti-virus and some anti-spyware programs.  I hadn't had time to update it yet though... was planning on doing that after I installed the BIOS driver.  It's Win2K Pro SP2... I was just about to install SP4 so I can get USB to work. 

I've googled to my heart's content but still can't find out what the conflict is between Xubuntu and the monitor problem in Windows.

If anyone has any ideas, links, or suggestions that would be great.

[WetWired]

I've googled to my heart's content but still can't find out what the conflict is between Xubuntu and the monitor problem in Windows.

There shouldn't be any. Without Xubuntu being booted, it won't affect the monitor while running windows at all, and vice versa. The monitor dimming sounds like a driver issue to me, or a monitor problem, but short of seeing it in front of me, that's about all the help I can offer.

[lostinthespiral]

Just figured it out.  It was a BIOS setting.  Had to make it output to both the VGA port on the back and the laptop display at the same time... even though nothing's plugged in to the VGA port.

Pretty cool that it didn't have the same problem in Linux though.  Yay Linux. 

[Marty]

Hey Allison,
Have you tried updating the bios?

[Marty]

Oops you replied while I was typing... heh
Glad you figured it out. But for real, is there any bios updates for it?

[lostinthespiral]

The HP website has an "HP OmniBook Windows 2000 ACPI BIOS/HPCI Driver" download.  That's what I was trying to install whenever all the monitor problems started.  Don't you just LOVE Windows.

[Marty]

Thats funky. Is it actually a bios revision/update? Or is it REALLY a windows DRIVER for your bios, which doesn't make much sense... I'm confused.

[lostinthespiral]

I'm confused too.... The guy brought me the computer with a burnt CD that's supposed to have all the drivers on it, but I've tried it on 3 computers and none of them can read the CD even though it looks fine.  I doesn't give a "Please insert disc" message... so it knows there's something there, but even Nero won't pick anything up.  Whenever I put it in the Omnibook it gives a weird error about formatting the CD... whatever the hell that means. 

He also had a floppy with the words "Omnibook 900 Driver BIOS" written in Sharpie on it.  I put it in to see what the hell it was and it says it's not formatted and it's not bootable... so... umm... yeah.

The HP website has an "HP OmniBook Windows 2000 ACPI BIOS/HPCI Driver" download.

That's what the download actually says on the HP website... no clue... guess I'll find out what the hell it is after I finish updating Windows.  Don't think I'll worry about the driver CD he gave me anymore though because Win2k and Xubuntu seem to be detecting everything just fine except for a message saying the COM1 port's broken.  No surprise there.

[lostinthespiral]

Heh... here we go:

"This file contains the Windows 2000 ACPI BIOS 7.13, the HP Configuration Interface software, and the "MS Windows 2000 Installation Guide" for your HP OmniBook. This package is solely for use with Windows 2000 and is not intended for, or supported with, any other operating system. Download this file to an empty directory and execute it. Read the resulting README.TXT file for instructions on how to update your OmniBook with this software. In order for your OmniBook to operate properly with Windows 2000 you must install an ACPI BIOS before installing Windows 2000, and install the HPCI software and enable hibernate after installing Windows 2000. Hibernate is enabled from the "Hibernate" tab on the "Power Options" control panel applet. This is especially important for shutting down the notebook with a critically low battery."

[Marty]

Aah ok so it has nothing to do with a "driver" for windows. Its an actual bios update, and the "HP Configuration Interface software" sounds like maybe thats how you'd install the update? aah well. I give up.

[exit2600x]

funny how you can install linux on just about anything ..... "i installed linux on my coffee maker, EVERYTHING WORKED!!!!!!"

:-D