LinuxQuestions.org - grub/lilo fail to install

Hi.

I have seen several threads on boot loaders and they are all confusing and not quite getting at my problem.

I have been using linux a few months but this is my first attempt at a dual boot situation. So, I am a semi-noob in linux and an absolute one where grub is concerned.

I first resized my Windows XP, formatted new partitions for Fedora 7, and configured grub, all using GParted and the other tools on the Fedora 7 Live CD, and it all worked perfectly.

I had some Fedora-specific problems and decided I wanted to install PCLinuxOS using the same partitions that had held Fedora. Using the 93a Junior Live CD, I first chose "use existing partitions." According to help file that came on the desktop, after copying the files, I was to be prompted to configure a boot loader just as I had been in Fedora. But when the copying finished, the desktop just sat there, nothing else. And then when I rebooted, I just got a black screen with the word GRUB and a flashing cursor that didn't respond to the keyboard.

I tried again, choosing to do custom partitions instead of the existing ones, but I didn't change anything about them. This time, I was prompted to install a boot loader (LILO or GRUB)and I tried several of the various options, in each case I got the error message, "boot loader failed to install... sector 0 of sda1 could not be read."

Can anyone tell me what this means and how I can fix it? Just for kicks I reinstalled Fedora 7 and it worked as it should again.

Thanks for any help. BTW, I tried to register with the PCLinuxOS forum to take it up with them first, but inexplicably I never got a reply to my registration request.