FedoraCore2BootIssue

Fedora Core 2 has a bug where it overwrites the partition table with values of the disk geometry that Windows is not comfortable with. The net result is that the Windows partition on a dual-boot system is inaccessible after a default Fedora Core 2 install.

The purpose of this page is to detail the steps needed to prevent such an occurence. Please note that this page does not provide instructions to recover from such an error if Fedora has already been installed. Please refer to the original article,, of which this page is a simplification.

The solution involves two steps: first you'd find out your disk geometry, and then pass it on to the anaconda installer.

Finding out the disk geometry:
Download, burn and boot from the Fedora Rescue CD. Issue the command:

$ fdisk -l /dev/hda

You should substitute /dev/hda with /dev/hdX, where hdX is the physical drive you are installing to. Make a note of the disk geometry reported by the fdisk utility as the number of Cylinders (C), Heads (H) and Sectors (S). (As an example, let's assume it reported C=4870, H=255 and S=63.)

Informing the installer to use this geometry:
Download, burn and boot from the Fedora Installation CD #1. At the first installation prompt, enter:

linux hda=4870,255,63

These are the values you found from the previous step, in the order C, H, S. Substitute the numbers above with the ones you found in Step 1.

This should ensure that you have a trouble-free dual-boot installation.