Folks,
I have a brand new HP Pavilion ze5570us, and it has some odd problems at boot time.
Lilo (LILO version 22.5.8) brings up the boot screen, which is configured for several versions of the kernel (from bf24 to my current custom 2.4.22), and Windows XP Home. XP Home always seems to boot fine, but it seems that Linux often hangs. The hangs are of two kinds: while loading the kernel, it sometimes just stops, mid-dots (occasionally pre-dots), and also it sometimes fails with CRC errors.
The kicker is that after I boot and shut down Windows, Linux boots just fine. I'm guessing this means that LILO isn't initializing something properly (this is a pretty recent model laptop), and I'm wondering if there's anything I ought to try to see if I can figure out what's going on.
The problem does _not_ occur on reboots, just on initial powerups after the machine has been shutdown for a time, like overnight. This makes diagnosing the problem a tedious task!
Note: The computer will fail all attempts to boot Linux (I've tried up to four times in a row), until Widows is booted. I've never experienced this problem with the Linux CDs, however, which is why I suspect it's something to do with LILO.

-- Mario

what does the line from your /etc/lilo.conf look like? does the kernel line have 'nolapic' (for no local apic)? just something that sometimes causes problems. but other than that i would say post your lilo.conf file.

Thanks for alerting me about lapic, but I've disabled it and the problem persists.

Here's my lilo.conf.... Any more clues? There are a lot of boot images here, but I primarily use the default, 2.4.22-b-386, which is a kernel I've customized. Even the straight bf24 kernel has the same hanging behavior, though.

Also, experimentation has shown that I don't just have to un-hibernate Windows to get things to work; I actually have to get in and play a game of solitaire or hearts or something first. One of the common symptoms of failure is that my screen will get random characters thrown on large chunks of it.

BTW, dmesg reports:

Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=Linux-2.4.22b ro root=302 nolapic

Also, it seems that a couple of hours off is enough to require a boot to windows rather than Linux.

--- LILO.CONF ---

# Support LBA for large hard disks.
#
lba32

# Specifies the boot device. This is where Lilo installs its boot
# block. It can be either a partition, or the raw device, in which
# case it installs in the MBR, and will overwrite the current MBR.
#
boot=/dev/hda

# Specifies the device that should be mounted as root. (`/')
#
root=/dev/hda2

# Installs the specified file as the new boot sector
# You have the choice between: bmp, compat, menu and text
# Look in /boot/ and in lilo.conf(5) manpage for details
#
install=/boot/boot-menu.b

# Specifies the location of the map file
#
map=/boot/map

# Specifies the number of deciseconds (0.1 seconds) LILO should
# wait before booting the first image.
#
delay=20

# You can put a customized boot message up if you like. If you use
# `prompt', and this computer may need to reboot unattended, you
# must specify a `timeout', or it will sit there forever waiting
# for a keypress. `single-key' goes with the `alias' lines in the
# `image' configurations below. eg: You can press `1' to boot
# `Linux', `2' to boot `LinuxOLD', if you uncomment the `alias'.
#
# message=/boot/bootmess.txt
prompt
#timeout=150
timeout=3000
# prompt
# single-key
# delay=100
# timeout=100

# Specifies the VGA text mode at boot time. (normal, extended, ask, <mode>)
#
# vga=ask
# vga=9
#
vga=normal

# Kernel command line options that apply to all installed images go
# here. See: The `boot-prompt-HOWO' and `kernel-parameters.txt' in
# the Linux kernel `Documentation' directory.
#
# append=""

# Boot up Linux by default.
#
default=Linux-2.4.22b

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18-bf2.4
label=Linux-bf2.4
read-only
optional
# restricted
# alias=2

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22-1-386
label=Linux-2.4.22
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.22-1-386
# restricted
# alias=1

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22-a-386
label=Linux-2.4.22a
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.22-a-386

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22-b-386
append="nolapic"
label=Linux-2.4.22b
read-only
# initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.22-b-386

# If you have another OS on this machine to boot, you can uncomment the
# following lines, changing the device name on the `other' line to
# where your other OS' partition is.
#
# other=/dev/hda4
# label=HURD
# restricted
# alias=3

other=/dev/hda1
label="WinNT(hda1)"

Folks, this problem was resolved by installing grub as my bootloader. LOTS faster than LILO to boot, too.
- Mario