Hello,
I ignored the warnings about running Wine as root and somehow it appears that Lilo got trashed in the process. When my system should reach the LILO screen and let me choose my Slackware Linux or Windows, it just displays
L 80 80 80 80 80.... all the way down the screen. During this time it is "attacking" the floppy drive and making noise. Disconnecting the floppy drive does not fix the problem, although it does display a different message then.

How can I fix this and get a boot loader working normally again?

I suspect that Lilo and/or my MBR is the problem, and I did discover a workaround and at least get Linux started up by using the Slackware install CD. I thought I might go to the setup menu -> configure, and try to do the LILO install again, but when I choose "CONFIGURE," something flashes up too fast to read and then disappears again, returning me to the Setup menu.

When I get this fixed I am going to create a non-root login for myself, and probably remove Wine from my system.


Thank you,
Chris

Boot up with your install CD. mount the partition where your Linux is installed. chroot to that partition and run (as root) the command lilo and see if it installs or gives errors.

If you use setup, first you need to activate your swap partition, it's about the third option from the top. Setup will lead you to mounting your partitions. It will ask you first for your root partition, be sure you know which /dev/hda is correct.
Once this is complete you can cancel the install which will take you to the setup screen again. Then select configure. As you know it is possible to reinstall lilo to mbr from there.

Alternatively, when you get to the boot prompt on your install cd, you can boot your machine from there following the suggested syntax, nominating your root partition. Unless lilo needs to be completely reinstalled you maybe able to recover it using the KDE control centre for example. If you want a graphical fix.
Just saw masonm's post, yes run lilo first.

Problem resolved.

Booted up using the install disk, and took a look at the tabs for Lilo under the KDE control center. I didn't change anything there. Opened a konsole and ran "lilo." I received the messages
Added Windows *
Added Linux


Rebooted the computer and everything seems to be working normal again, including Win2k.


Many thanks!