ok guys...
I have installed two op/s in my computaer(Win XP (hda1), and Slackware 9.1(hda2) )

But lilo didnt detect windows on the start up
i tried to edit it with

pico /etc/lilo.conf

I accessed the file but theres nothing there(literally noiithing)

looks like my lilo is in the MBR or something i dont know

How do i do to access lilo in the MBR if possible
and whats the code i have to add to it for it to detect the new partition for winxp

If thats not the way to add a new partition to lilo what is it?
( I've already tried to add it thoguh liloconfig but it is not takin me anywhere)

Thank you in advance

What you're going to want to do is have LILO installed on the superblock of the Linux partition, but for it to stay out of the MBR. WinNT and its derivatives (which include XP) don't work very well if they don't use their own bootloader, so the setup you're going to want to have is one where XP detects your linux partition, and not vice versa.

The Slack Book actually has an excellent explanation of the entire process here where the Windows NT installation is exactly what you're going to want to do for your situation.

In the meanwhile, if you're having trouble getting Windows to boot again (even on its own) you can find a MBR rescue utility at this page, where you'll need to scroll down to the "EBCD – Emergency Boot CD" section, which advertises itself as useful for botched LILO installs.

Hope that this helps!

here's what my /etc/lilo.conf looks like:

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
append="hdd=ide-scsi"
boot = /dev/hda
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
#prompt
timeout = 200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
vga = 771
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hda1
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends






if i had windows also, let's say for example on the next primary partition, then my /etc/lilo.conf might look like this (i'm not 100% sure):




# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
append="hdd=ide-scsi"
boot = /dev/hda
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
prompt
timeout = 200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
vga = 771
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hda1
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends
other = /dev/hda5
table = /dev/hda
label = Windoze





remember to run "lilo" after editing the conf file... it'll update (for example) your MBR using the new configuration...

lilo -v -v

also, you might wanna think about re-installing lilo (the package) to make sure everything's fine with it before proceeding, unless you have a good idea why the conf file was blank...

just my two cents...

I have lilo installed on my mbr with no troubles using winxp and linux. It is a single hard drive in a laptop so hda1 = winxp and hda2 = linux just like you.

After you edit your lilo.conf make sure you run lilo as root to install it.

Here is my lilo.conf

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
lba32 # Allow booting past 1024th cylinder with a recent BIOS
boot = /dev/hda
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
prompt
#timeout = 50
menu-title="OS Select"
menu-scheme=Wb
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 791
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.6
append = "video=sisfb:mode:1024x768x32,mem:12288"
root = /dev/hda2
label = Linux-2.6.6
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends

# DOS bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/hda1
label = Windows
table = /dev/hda
# DOS bootable partition config ends

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/bzImage-2.6.5
append = "video=sisfb:mode:1024x768x32,mem:12288"
root = /dev/hda2
label = Linux-2.6.5
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends

You can also the slackware liloconfig tool edit the lilo.conf. This make it a lot eazier for newbies to edit this file. Of course, whats the fun in using linux, if you don't know how to edit stuff.