Linux - GeneralThis Linux forum is for general Linux questions and discussion.
If it is Linux Related and doesn't seem to fit in any other forum then this is the place.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Both Grub (Grub1 & Grub2) and Lilo can boot a Linux directly by going into a partition to find the kernel.
If either of these boot loaders is asked to boot an operating system that it cannot read, as both Grub1 and Lilo cannot read a ntfs partition of a MS Windows but Grub2 can, then the standard procedure is to the boot loader of that system. As an example when Grub boots a Xp it does so only by loading Xp's boot loader NTLDR into the memory and then bugger off itself. It is always the NTLDR that boots the Xp. Sameething if Grub is asked to boot a Vista or Win7 and it is bootmgr.exe, which is the common boot loader of Vista and Win7, that actually fires up the MS Windows. Grub therefore boots every MS Windows "indirectly".
The same trick can be used by Grub1 to boot a Lilo or a Grub2. Indeed if you install a Linux that has Ext4 and Grub2 you are better off using Grub1 to boot Grub2 indirectly because a standard Grub1 cannot read a Ext4 filing system and unable to understand Grub2 syntax.
Thus my suggestion is to let Slackware install Lilo in its root partition then Grub1 can be used to fire it up.
Any operating system can be chainloaded by Grub1 (or Grub2 or Lilo) if the boot loader has been replicated in its root partition.
Any Linux can by put its boot loader in more than one location
grub-install /dev/sda ----> in MBR of disk sda
grub-install /dev/sda2 ---> in root partition of sda1
grub-intsall /dev/fd0 ----> in a floppy
Lilo can do exactly the same things but is less forgiving. For example the /etc/lilo.conf cannot be amended to boot a empty partition because Lilo checks it before compiling the configuration file and will report error.
Yes, I heard Pixel saying in some other thread that saikee is an expert in this field, but I don't know why I am finding his language difficult for my small mind.
What I cannot do with Lilo ? Modifying menu.lst as in above post ? Then what is supposed to be done in case Slack in installed first ?
If slack is installed first, then it is very easy. You just have to install Opensuse and then install grub in the MBR. The installer will take care of including slack in the grub bootloader.
The order of installations is immaterial because every boot loader can be re-configured as I explained in Post #18.
Actually the matter is very simple. If a user installs say 5 operating systems, some of which can be MS Windows or Unix systems, then this user has 5 boot loaders available and everyone can be told to take control of the MBR and boot the remaining 4 systems by a mixture of direct and indirect methods.
The bottom line is every operating system can be booted indirectly. For Grub the command is "chainloader +1" and for Lilo it is "other=/dev/sdax".
The only necessary condition that an operating system can be booted indirectly by a boot loader other than its own is by installing (or replicating or restoring) its own boot loader inside the root partition.
I don't consider myself an expert. It is just most Linux users following the way the installer arranges a Linux booting configuration and are reluctant to change even for something dead simple.
I shall read your post number 18 in detail and then thank you.
One question:
If I ask questions like "what is the difference between "/boot and /" while creating partitions", (in this thread) will it be considered "trolling" or "derailing the thread" ?
Last edited by Aquarius_Girl; 07-22-2010 at 03:30 AM.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.