Boot loader help.
 

Okay, first off I consider myself a complete Linux newbie, so any help is appreciated.
I used to use ntldr to boot my various Os'es but have been unable to get it working for my current configuration.

I currently have a Primary fat 16 partition. and 1 large extended partition. I have both Win2k and WinXP and they reside on /dev/hda5, /dev/hda6 respectively. I also have Arch linux on /dev/hda9 and Slack on /dev/hda10.

Now, if I use a boot disk created from Slack I can boot into it no problem. To boot into Arch Linux I use SBootMgr(I should point out that the only OS I can't boot this way is Slack). Windows boots no problem from the hard drive using Ntldr.

I have finally decided to try Lilo, or Grub again, but when I run Control Center Boot Manager(Lilo) in Slack it says:

configuration is NOT ok. LILO said:
LILO version 22.5.9 (test mode), ...
Development beyond...
Released 08-Apr-2004 and compiled at 00:18:50 on May 21 2004.
Reading boot sector from /dev/hda
Using MENU secondary loader
Calling Map_insert_data
Boot image: /boot/vmlinuz
Added vmlinuz*
Boot image: /boot/vmlinux-ide-2.4.31
Added 2.4.31
Skipping /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
Boot other:/dev/hda1, on /dev/hda, loader CHAIN
Added NT
Boot other:/dev/hda5, loader CHAIN
Pseudo partition start: 449883
Fatal: Duplicate label "NT"

So I really have no idea what is wrong with this config. could you Guru's help me out? Sorry, if I included to much or the wrong information!

P.S.
Also, I really wanted to try Grub but am not clear on how to install it either.

Attach your "/etc/lilo.conf" please.

I'd choose 1 and stick with it until you understand how it works, then if you later decide it doesn't give you everything you want, try the other.

Since Lilo is default on Slack (and easier for me to use ;) ) I'll try to help with that one.

You should post up what your /etc/lilo.conf looks like so we can give exact points of reference.

But generally speaking, if you open your /etc/lilo.conf file (while booted into Slackware) you will probably see 2 entries that say:
other = /dev/hda5
label = NT
table = /dev/hda

And
other = /dev/hda6
label = NT
table = /dev/hda

The other and table line are just for completeness, your install might say something slightly different, but that should be close. Basically, it's the "label' line that needs SOMETHING altered. I'd probably change both, one to say "Win2k" and the other to say "WinXP" so you know what's what. After the changes, re-run lilo to see what new error pops out, and post it up along with your lilo.conf

Cool

Some more background, I installed my boot loader to the root partition of my Arch install(At the time I was thinking of still using ntldr). So do I need to remove it?

Okay, under Slack I don't have a lilo.conf!

I just booted Arch, (once again I think this is actually installed at hda9) using nano this is what I have:
#
# /etc/lilo.conf
#

boot=/dev/hda
#This line ofter fixes L40 ERRORS...
# disk=/dev/hda bios=0x80

default=arch
timeout=50
lba32
prompt

image=/boot/vmlinuz26
label=arch
root=/dev/hda9
read-only

#other=/dev/hda1
# label=dos

Ok, that's probably a good place to start then. It's pretty basic, so let's go with it.

Let me give you some general info, and then try to use it in an example:

Whatever partition /boot is on is important. If it's on the same partition as everything else 'arch' (/dev/hda9) that's fine, just remember that when you compile and copy new kernels to your 'boot' directory. For multiple distro booting I tend to desire a seperate partition JUST for kernels (/boot). This way, when I boot any distro I can just mount /boot seperately and have every kernel there just as it would be an any other distro I boot.

Regardless, you need ALL kernels in a single directory (there are ways around this, but take this at face value for now). So, copy your slackware kernel to your arch's /boot directory. Once this is done, you'll need boot entries for these kernels. For ease of explaination I'll just call your kernels by your distro's name, you can name then WHATEVER you want, even pedro-1 and pedro-2 if that seems appropriate.

So, now we have these kernels in /boot in arch:
ls -lh /boot:
slackware-kernel
arch-kernel

And we might also have initrd's:
slackware-initrd
arch-initrd
These ARE NOT necessary, and if they aren't there, no sweat, just move on.

Now, edit /etc/lilo.conf within ARCH to have some entries that look similar to this (append to the existing LILO so you don't have to make any changes, just additions):
This is just generic info, tailor the /dev's to your situation.

HTH

Cool

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. I am sure for you Guru's this does get rather monotonous.
The next time I reformat I'll try using a seperate partition for kernels that makes good sense. I got it up and running and figured I might as well try grub, just for fun. I think I prefer grub it only took me about 10 minutes and everything is bootable!

I can't say how much I appreciate your help.

Jon B. ;)