unable to boot after using Knoppix...

jman11587 · 06-19-2003, 08:18 PM

i am curently dual booting winxp and win server 2003. i tryed out knoppix today a few times, but then after restarting my computer after using win 2003 the comp hasent been able to boot. the screen runs L 99 99 99 99 for about 5 lines and then says please enter system disk or something like that.

i am still able to use knoppix and am using it right now to post this message.

how can i get my comp to boot again?
thanks for your help.

fancypiper · 06-19-2003, 08:43 PM

Apparently, you managed to install lilo to the mbr. You didn't change the partition table, I hope.

# How do I uninstall Linux completely and keep/use Windows only?
How to Remove Linux and Install Windows 2000
How to Remove Linux and Install Windows XP
You can remove lilo from the mbr with
/sbin/lilo -u
You can remove grub or lilo from the mbr by booting with a Windows 98 boot floppy (at the prompt, type fdisk /mbr), or by using the Windows XP Recovery Console or the Windows 2000 Recovery Console

jman11587 · 06-19-2003, 08:49 PM

i have tried fixing the mbr with winxp recovery console but it said that i have a non-standard partition table signiture. should i do it anyway?

fancypiper · 06-19-2003, 08:59 PM

I don't know windows that well and I mis-trust their tools. Check some things in Linux first to make sure you didn't fsck up your Windows partitioning scheme

Try booting into knoppix and hit control-alt-F2 and command

/sbin/lilo -u

That should un-install lilo from the mbr and restore it to it's origional condition.

You might want to make sure you didn't manage to partition and format your disk as well. Check and make sure you have your origional Windows partitioning and that you don't have any Linux partitions.

fdisk /dev/hd<X> -l

Return to X with alt -F5 (I think, if not try F2-F6 until you find it)

See anything strange besides fat32 and NTFS filesystems? If not, re-boot and Windows should start up.

jman11587 · 06-19-2003, 09:25 PM

ok, i tried getting rid of lilo by doing what u said (/sbin/lilo -u) but it said no such file or directory.

so then i tried the second thing u said to do (file system check) and from what i understand, it said the system was unknown for both of my harddrives.

what exactly happened? how can it be fixed?
thanks for your help so far.

jman11587 · 06-19-2003, 09:53 PM

ok, i tried uninstalling lilo again and this time it said,

Unrecognized token "! Please edit /etc/lilo.conf before running lilo!" at or above line 20 in file '/etc/lilo.conf'

fancypiper · 06-19-2003, 11:41 PM

Quote:

so then i tried the second thing u said to do (file system check) and from what i understand, it said the system was unknown for both of my harddrives

I don't know, but it sounds as if you have managed to wipe out both of your drives.

Here is what I get:

Code:

root@uilleann ~ # fdisk -l                 

Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 4865 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *         1      1217   9772056    c  Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2          1217      1229     99855   83  Linux
/dev/hda3          1230      1676   3590527+  83  Linux
/dev/hda4          1677      4865  25615642+   5  Extended
/dev/hda5          1677      1742    530113+  82  Linux swap
/dev/hda6          1743      2189   3590496   83  Linux
/dev/hda7          2190      2636   3590496   83  Linux
/dev/hda8          2637      3751   8956206   83  Linux
/dev/hda9          3752      4865   8948173+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/hdb: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 4867 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdb1   *         1      1217   9772686    c  Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hdb2          1217      4867  29321460   83  Linux
root@uilleann ~ #

jman11587 · 06-19-2003, 11:57 PM

ok, i did the filesystem check again and both my drives say ntfs.

so thats def. a good thing. and i couldnt have wipped out all my files because i can still access them all from linux.

now to get it to boot. i am still getting that error when i try to delete lilo. cant i just configure it in some way? if so, can u explain how...

fancypiper · 06-20-2003, 12:24 AM

Good, you just need to remove lilo from the mbr.

You can remove grub or lilo from the mbr by booting with a Windows 98 boot floppy (at the prompt, type fdisk /mbr), or by using the Windows XP Recovery Console is what I have heard. Do you have a win98 boot floppy or know anyone running windows98? If the XP recovery console or the boot floppy won't remove it, I don't know what else to suggest.

jman11587 · 06-20-2003, 12:43 AM

im gonna try that tomorrow.

thanks a lot for your help.

i couldnt have done it without you.