How to run lilo without booting in

lzhiren · 02-06-2016, 11:19 PM

I think I forgot to run lilo after a kernel update and now I can't boot.

I get the message
Loading SlackwareEBDA is big: kernel setup stack overlaps LILO second stage

I think I have to run LILO but I'm not sure how. Or if the problem is something else please let me know.

astrogeek · 02-06-2016, 11:51 PM

You can boot to your installation media, mount the root partition, chroot into it and run lilo.

Just to be complete, boot into your installation media and login as root (no passwd), then...

Code:

mount /dev/sdxy /mnt (where x is the Slackware drive and y is the root partition)

mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc *** See below ***
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev

chroot /mnt

vi /etc/lilo.conf
...make any necessary edits for the new kernel...

lilo

Then reboot...

That should work for most cases I think.

Try it and post back if you get stuck anywhere.

**** Update ****

It has been a while since I did this - it now occurs to me that will need to bind the /dev directory at least, and maybe the /proc directory before chrooting...

So after mount and before chroot in the steps above add these... (I have now done this - sorry if that created any confusion for you!)

Code:

mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev

...that will assure that lilo can see the /dev/sdx partitions!

lzhiren · 02-07-2016, 12:23 AM

So I did what you said and ran lilo. It now boots up but stops and says it failed to mount /dev/sda2 (my root partition) on /mnt because it does not exist. I think the problem might be that when I ran slackpkg to update I forgot to tell it to use the new .conf files. So what should I do now?

astrogeek · 02-07-2016, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lzhiren

So I did what you said and ran lilo. It now boots up but stops and says it failed to mount /dev/sda2 (my root partition) on /mnt because it does not exist. I think the problem might be that when I ran slackpkg to update I forgot to tell it to use the new .conf files. So what should I do now?

It should not be trying to mount /dev/sda2 on /mnt during boot unless you changed your /etc/fstab...?

Please post the contents of /etc/fstab from the /root partition. Also the boot= line and image lines frrom /etc/lilo.conf.

Also please be very clear about when it fails to mount the /dev/sda2 partition, normal boot or when mounting while booted to the install media.

lzhiren · 02-07-2016, 12:44 AM

So I played around a little bit, and I remembered that I forgot to make a new initrd. So I ran mkinitrd and created a new one for my new kernel and everything works fine now. Thanks for all your help, astrogeek I really appreciate it.

astrogeek · 02-07-2016, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lzhiren

So I played around a little bit, and I remembered that I forgot to make a new initrd. So I ran mkinitrd and created a new one for my new kernel and everything works fine now. Thanks for all your help, astrogeek I really appreciate it.

Ah great! That was on my list of next questions to ask, "Huge or generic?"...

You are welcome, glad you got it going!