[EDIT]
Turns out, GRUB detected everything as (hd0) instead of (hd1) like it should have....Silly Linux....Oh well, everything works now.
[/EDIT]

My menu.1st looks like this guy's.... http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...vice+for+Fboot

But when I boot, it just does the "Verifying DMI Pool Data......." hang.

HDA is Win98
hdb is Slack
hdb1 is /boot
hdb5 is /
hdb (6-10) are varying partitions with 10 swap.

when I do grub-install it tells me that on line 435 it doesn't recognize 'cmp' as a command and that it didn't read stage1 right....

Through all of this my BIOS only likes to boot the first thing on the list, which I have set to HD-1, since that corresponds to hdb, correct?

Can anyone help this ?

How did you install grub ? What is the content of /boot/grub directory ?
What is the output with /sbin/fdisk -l /dev/hdb ?

(To boot in your slackware system, insert slackware CD 1 or 2,
then type at the prompt : bare.i root=/dev/hdb5 noinitrd ro )

Yes, Ive been getting into it by chrooting.

Give me a few, and I'll get that information up.

install by pulling the grub ******.tgz off a cd I burnt, did an installpkg grub***.tgz then went to /boot/grub configured my menu.1st, then did grub-install.

Contents of /boot

• README.initrd
• System.map
• System.map-ide-2.4.29
• config
• config-ide-2.4.29
• diag1.img
• grub
• grub-0.97-i48/6.tgz
• vmlinuz
• vmlinuz-ide-2.4.29

of /boot/grub:

• default
• device.map
• e2fs_stage1_Z5
• fat_stage1_5
• ffs_stage1_5
• grub.xpm.gz
• iso9660_stage1_5
• jfs_stage1_5
• menu.1st
• menu.1st.sample
• minix_stage1_5
• reiserfs_stage1_5
• slack_nalug.xpm.gz
• stage1
• stage2
• ufs_stage1_5
• vstafs_stage1_5
• xfs_stage1_5

its formatted to reiserfs.... should I be using that stage1? then what do I use for stage2?

It looks like it should...an output of my formatting scheme as I described above.

Could you try this command sequence as root ?

When I install slack I choose no install lilo.
boot from the cdrom and bareacpi.i root= yakyak.
Download grub ( I never seem able to save it to a floppy 4 some reason )
same as you installpkg grubyakyak.tgz
Then grubconfig.
I always tell grub install it to mbr
It never fails.. I reboot to make sure it works ( It always does )
Then I mess with the menu.lst and usually only to add hdc=ide-scsi ( I like 2.4 kernels )

I second Keefaz instructions. You can not go wrong with the simplicity of the grub installation procedure mentioned above.

Maybe ...
No argument with the simplicity angle, but personally I'd be putting it in the MBR of the first disk.

You dont want to be stuffing around with Win 98 MBR. The BIOS can be set to boot from the second hard drive without affecting the Win 98 installation. Been there.............

I'm more than happy playing with MBR(s).
But swapping the BIOS boot disk is a legitimate option - too fiddly for me, but o.k.

grubconfig? is that a valid command?

Maybe that's my problem....nothing mentions that. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

Thanks!

Diademed, did you try the commands I suggested ?

I don't think I ever got into the GRUB shell.

Working 6 days a week, I havent had time to fool around with my box.

Well, excuse me sir, but your thread's title is :
Grub + Slack = no booting

Now you say :
"I don't think I ever got into the GRUB shell."

Are you aware that the grub shell method is the safiest way
to set up grub in a running system ?

And as you are not able to boot, what could be worst anyway ?

I suppose I should have made it more clear.

The GRUB manual seems to contain naught of working instructions on hor to install it.

I've been trying to figure it out from a hodgepodge of sources, and I haven't actually gotten a 'grub-install' to work without errors yet, though I've tried editing my config file from there to no success.

I have monday and tuesday off this week, I will finally have time to work on it then, and hopefully get the problem licked.