Slack Newbie: lilo Help
 

I just installed slackware 9.1 this morning, I already have Fedora Core 1 installed on a different partition on this drive. I have never used lilo, so I'm not sure how to tackle my problem. I would like to have both my Fedora and slack entries show up so that I can choose which one to boot into.

Currently, fdisk -l yields:
Disk /dev/hdc: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdc1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hdc2 14 1976 15767797+ 83 Linux
/dev/hdc3 1977 2106 1044225 82 Linux swap
/dev/hdc4 2107 2824 5767335 83 Linux

With slackware installed on /dev/hdc4 and sharing the swap with Fedora. The Fedora boot is on /dev/hdc1 I guess :scratch: so what is the best way to add this to lilo and have the option to boot into either one?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Hi!
How did you install lilo? What options did you choose?
What happens when you reboot?
How does your lilo.conf file look like?
Regards

I installed lilo on the MBR in hopes that I could add Fedora to it at some point. I chose the kernel that came on the install CD (I probably need to choose a different one to get my battery monitor working on my laptop?).
When I reboot I see one option, "Linux," which then boots into Slackware.

My lilo.conf:
# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hdc
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
prompt
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hdc4
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends

Hope you can shed some light on that :)

This should work:
(under slack, as root) do a backup of your lilo.conf ("cp /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo.conf.backup") Then run "/sbin/liloconfig", and choose "expert"; "begin" a new lilo.conf file, and try to "add a linux partition to the LILO config" twice, once for slack, once for fedora; afterwards, select "install" (once you are sure you did it right).

Now you're ready to boot.

If something goes wrong, you may boot with the slack floppy you did (didn't you?) at install time, remove "/etc/lilo.conf" and do "cp /etc/lilo.conf.backup /etc/lilo.conf"; then do "/sbin/lilo -v", and all should be restored...

If you try it, tell what happens.

Regards

Even if you've already read the other replies and solved your problem, do this anyway even if you should have done it first:

$man lilo
$man lilo.conf

mount the partition where your fedora's kernel is
add this to lilo

image = /path_to/fedora.kernel
root = /dev/hdc1
label = Fedora
read-only

also in the LILO global section you can add
either
default=Linux
(when ur cool!) or
default=Fedora
;-)

i have a simular problem; just isntalled slack on a 2,6 gig drive. I still have my 80 GB windowsdrive left, and i wonder
1; can i add the Windowsdrive in LiLo and boot windows from there?
2; i suppose that i can open files from the Wdrive, but how?

ill be back with more "noobish" questions soon

yes; this is what reads my "lilo.conf"
don't forget doing "/sbin/lilo -v" after changing anything in lilo; see "man lilo", "man lilo.conf" for more info.
You have to mount the drive where windows is; if you want that to be done at boot time, you should edit your "/etc/fstab", adding a line like
(this is what I have) then you will have the windows drive under "/mnt/w98se" (before this you must create this directory); see "man fstab" and "man mount" for details.
Regards

I opened the file via man, and i checked everything. dont remeber really what it was. so i tried to config it, just by starting lilo and i got a screen looking like the installscrenns. then i added my Wdrive, saved the changes and rebooted the system. when LiLo was started, all i could see was the Wdrive, and it would not boot.

Thanks for the help Y0jiMb0

Let's see. What windows are you using?
Another question, could you post your "/etc/lilo.conf" to see what happens?

Regards