HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

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runbei

HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

Post by runbei »

I'm posting this in case it helps others avoid spending two days trying to solve an issue where they install LMDE in a dual-boot setup with Windows (in my case, WinXP Pro).

First, the problem. After installing LMDE (Sept. '09 edition), Windows boot failed with a message about a missing or corrupt hal.dll file. I ultimately solved this by deleting the LMDE partitions (/, /home, swap) and re-installing.

I am not sure if the issue started after I ran Mintupdate and installed the 600+ updates available as of around December 20, 2010. If so, then it's just one more "issue" with installing the 9/10 edition and installing all 600 updates while accepting new versions of files when the updater prompts you. "One more," because after doing so, I lost the Mintmenu and had to reinstall. I am still waiting for advice on another thread to see how to handle the LMDE updates (the famous 600) as I want to avoid going through this again. (!)

At any rate - if that isn't confusing enough - here are the standard steps I tried in order to resolve the hal.dll issue. All of them failed.

1. booted to Windows Restore console and ran the "expand" command from the DOS prompt, as suggested in various Microsoft and other help guides. Failed to resolve missing/corrupt hal.dll issue.

2. From the Windows Restore console, issued a bootcfg /rebuild command. At the "install to boot list" prompt, answered Y, at Load Identifier prompt, typed "Windows XP Professional," and at OS Load Options prompt, entered /Fastdetect. This failed to resolve the issue.

3. From the Windows Restore console, ran fixboot. Failed to fix issue.

4. From the Windows Restore console, ran chkdsk /r. Failed to fix issue.

5. Booted Windows install CD and at the prompt, pressed Enter to install, then R to repair. Failed to fix the issue.

6. From the LMDE live CD, copied the hal.dll file from the Windows Service Pack 3 folder (c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386) to c:\windows\system32. (This was recommended in preference to restoring the hal.dll file using the expand command as in step 1 above, since the older hal.dll file is known not to work with Service Pack 3.)

None of these attempts worked. Re-installing LMDE fixed the issue and now I can boot normally into Windows. This tells me that somewhere along the way LMDE caused the issue - and it wasn't LMDE install that did so, but the updates - i.e., running the 600+ updates with Mintupdate, and accepting each prompt to install a newer file.

I wonder if the issue is related to the Mint desktop issue. Before I ran Mintupdate, I executed the commands that Clem recommended to fix the Mintdesktop issue. I.e.:

Code: Select all

apt update
sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/info/mintdesktop.prerm
apt install mintdesktop
BTW, I couldn't tell when those commands are supposed to be entered, in order to prevent the mintdesktop 3.2.2 bug. I entered them before running MintUpdate with the 600 updates and accepting defaults at the prompts. That's when I began to get various error messages after entering my username/password and booting into LMDE (I didn't write them down), and lost the MintMenu.

Anyway, kind of a mess, and a strong dissuader to Linux newbies against installing the 9/10 release of LMDE - or perhaps any other editions going forward? After all, Clem does warn that LMDE is more fragile than the standard releases, being subject to more breakages and requiring more than newbie skills to manage. I'd love to run LMDE to escape Ubuntu and its hand-me-down bugs. But at this stage it seems there are problems, with no clear descriptions of fixes. For example, having to search far and wide to find the simple answer to the question of when to enter the Mintdesktop 3.2.2 bug fix commands, much less any other fixes, is kind of a barrier...
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
ArcherSeven

Re: HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

Post by ArcherSeven »

First order of business; LMDE is extremely new and advertised as such, there are still bugs to work out in it and it isn't meant to be quite as much for the new users as Mint Main is, yet.

That said, can I ask what brand of computer this is and roughly what year it was made? I think I know what is causing your windows bug.
runbei

Re: HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

Post by runbei »

Thanks. First off, I'm not entirely a "new" user as I've used Mint full-time for 3 years and only recently have done more work in Windows due to requirements of work. But I don't have Linux under-the-hood skills - haven't needed them thanks to the excellent job that Clem & Co. have done with the regular edition. Would readily commit to LMDE if I can find fixes, though.

That said, I'm using a home-built PC with a Biostar 790GX A2+ motherboard, AMD AM2 9850 quad-core 2.5 GHz processor (not overclocked), onboard ATI Radeon HD 3300 graphics, and 4GB RAM.

P.S. Since using Linux, I've often felt it would be hugely useful if all issues marked "solved" were automatically transferred to a Solved forum where readers could search for their issue without wasting time poring through long discussions. It might also encourage users who do solve their problems to mark them solved.
DrHu

Re: HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

Post by DrHu »

runbei wrote:P.S. Since using Linux, I've often felt it would be hugely useful if all issues marked "solved" were automatically transferred to a Solved forum where readers could search for their issue without wasting time poring through long discussions. It might also encourage users who do solve their problems to mark them solved.
Ahh but, sometimes people say SOLVED and don't bother explaining or describing how, thereby leaving the issue up in the air and raising some curiosity
--even if I were to make a mistake and for example forget to pop in a usb device, where I had a problem (that then being the problem), I might say SOLVED, forgot to insert usb device, and provide the explanation, that it was my fault and that there was no problem
  • Nothing wrong with that, we don't all have to be or even try to be perfect, it is not a reputation thing, and if we were constantly forgetting we would soon learn, by the type of comments
    --maybe something like did you forget the device again ?
I don't mind reading through the long discussions, in that we are all here to learn
  • So we do need SOLVED to mean solved, if that is to be accomplished
Last edited by DrHu on Wed Dec 22, 2010 2:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.
runbei

Re: HAL.DLL issues with Windows-LMDE dual-boot [solved]

Post by runbei »

Aha, I see your point. Reckon I'm not the first to dream of a great Linux answers archive with 50,000 servers...
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