Strange.
Try backing up your current working /etc/lilo.conf file somewhere, remember where so you can use it if you have probs again.
Be sure you have the latest upgrades and patches for Mandrake9.1. I suggest you use an ftp mirror from their site so you can keep the packages backed up elsewhere, so they aren't lost after OS re-install or if you un-install the package.

...this is exactly why I was told not to use Lilo. Use Grub, and you'll have a lot less problems. It's uglier, but better.

Cheers!

Jack.

Well Proud... what good is a backup file gonna bring? I mean Lilo is in linux.. the backup file I can put outside it that's true.. but in case something goes wrong.. my access to linux will be denied so how on earth will I ever replace the config file. Indeed a backup will help if I could re-reach to linux and that I can do (probably) only through console.... and I have absolutely no idea how to do that.....

Oh and Jack.. can I just put Grub after I already let Lilo handle everything? Or will I have to reinstall?

Poke around in the Mandrake Control Panel, I'm sure you'll find something (I'd tell you what, but I'm not running Linux right now). However, if you don't have much to lose, I would reccommmend reinstalling. Always better to start fresh.

EDIT:

Ok, here you go. Load up your control panel, and go to boot. Then click on DrakBoot, and then configure. Where it says Lilo text or Lilo Graphic, Slecet GRUB. Theoretically, you should be booting off /dev/hda/ which is your Linux partition, but correct me if I'm wrong. If I find the options that let you make nice names for everything, I'll post. I know it's possible during the install.

Good luck.

Cheers!

Jack.

This is why i posted that you should NOT install the linux bootloader to the MBR, you are better off just leaving it alone and letting window's boot.ini do the work. I have a feeling that this is now possibly your problem, to avoid it in the future.... don't install the linux bootloader to the MBR when dual-booting with windows2K/XP

I am still kind of new at linux, so experts please correct me if i may be wrong.

Put in you ML 9.1 CD1 and hit F1 at the prompt. Type "rescue" and it'll give you a screen with the option to rebuild lilo. Rebuild it,reboot and you're right back where you started.

I tried it a hundred times and it doesn't do it. When I press rescue it just asks me if I want to reinstall Lilo and when I do that it just gets the four stupid options back from the case and I'm lost again...

O.k... I could help everyone get the lilo problem with some images.. Is there any way to printscreen and paste in Kde?

the only thing i could think of would be to restore the master boot record back to winxp so you will not be using lilo.
then do as i said before.

yeah guess ur solution would be the best one if I decide to keep Lilo on... Thx

Well KDE is well after Lilo has started and finished. Posting your /etc/lilo.conf might help. We'd find out what these options are exactly.

Backing up that file in linux will help, all you'd need to do is learn the command to copy from the backup location to /etc/lilo.conf and then run lilo again. You'd issue the command via the rescue disk.

Hmm, if one option's 'map' I think you may have a formatting error in lilo.conf.

My config file is this (now when it's working)

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
vga=normal
default="linux"
keytable=/boot/uk.klt
prompt
nowarn
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw

other=/dev/hda2
label="NT"

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="quiet devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
vga=788
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe devfs=nomount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
read-only

other=/dev/hdb2
label="windows"
table=/dev/hdb
map-drive=0x80
to=0x81
map-drive=0x81
to=0x80

other=/dev/fd0
label="floppy"
unsafe

I'll search for the map text thing and edit the message later k?

Well that looks quite sane. Yeah the broken version might shed more light on things. Post it in a new post please, dont edit that working config above.

Here we go with the erroneous config file...

boot=insert your boot device here
promt
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
root=/dev/hdb5

image=/boot/map
label="map"
root=/dev/hdb5
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-0.13mdk
label="2.4.21-0.13"
root=/dev/hdb5
read-only

image=/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzimage
label="Linux_Compiled"
root=/dev/hdb5
read-only
optional

other=/dev/hda2
label="NT"

other=/dev/hda2
label="hda2"

O.k. now this is what Lilo said was good after he changed something similar with the one above. I say simillar since my original one had a bonus
other=/dev/hdb2
label="Windows2" , where hdb2 was the second windows partition

in addition to the config in the previous post

Now when I booted with the one in this post.. I didn't get the Linux_Compiled in the options and the others didn't work (except the NT)

I think there's a warning when you edit the lilo entries by hand that you should know what you're doing.
Obviously not right.
Spelling mistake in copying&posting here?

There should be a map entry at the top as before, and all entries are missing the initrd line.

2.4.21-0.13mdk would work if it had the initrd line, it's the precise name of the kernel you're using fyi.

The Linux_Compiled line looks very strange. Mandrake requires a 586 or greater, so you've very unlikely to have compiled for a 386, and then not completed the kernel compilation and move the boot image to /boot.

Keep the working version handy, copy that broken one to /etc/lilo.conf, and as root run the command lilo -v. Report what it says. Then restore the file and run the lilo command again to restore your boot loader.