I know this question is asked tons of times over and over again, but I have an odd predicament...

Seems somewhere in my lilo.conf setup Lilo decided to load XP as my default OS and will not give my the choice to load up the linux i loaded up. Was working fine till i set it up to see the XP partition and load it up after 30 seconds of not choosing an option... but it never gives me that choice

All is see from my old linux setup is..

Lilo (version number) Loading Windows......

then it just loads up XP Pro as normal.

Setup =
C = Xp Pro Only
D = Originally just data storage drive, Was Shrunk using Disk Drake to make room on part. table for Linux, then installed Linux.

Thinking that i just need to edit the boot.ini for XP, but im not 100% sure what settings I'll need to add there.

Would it look Like for the Linux Option,

multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(2)\="Linux"

Or am i bit off?

Check 'man lilo.conf" for:
default=<name>
Uses the specified image as the default boot image. If `default' is omitted, the image appearing first in the configuration file is used.
or other possible causes.
Perhaps post your /etc/lilo.conf (without comments (#)) if you are unable to resolve.
Good Luck.

vga=785

keytable=/boot/us.klt
nowarn
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdc=ide-scsi acpi=ht splash=silent"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdc=ide-scsi acpi=ht"
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hdb5
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe devfs=nomount hdc=ide-scsi acpi=ht"
read-only
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
other=/dev/hdb1
label="windows2"
table=/dev/hdb
map-drive=0x81
to=0x80
map-drive=0x80
to=0x81
-
Above is my lilo.conf file.. Any ideas on what could be causing it? or should i just remove the windows partions from the listing and forceboot linux?

you're missing the timeout line. stick in "timeout=30" in there near the top portion for a 30 second delay, then run lilo from the command line or terminal (i think you may need to be root)

The only way i have been able to log in to linux at all is using rescue mode from the CD...

Floppy drive is dead, and every disk of knoppix i make doesn't like to run so I cannot run lilo from that either..

I'll add that line now and see how that works.

Unless you just missed posting them, I dont see
boot=<boot-device>
Sets the name of the device (e.g. a hard disk partition) that contains the boot sector....
default=<name>
Uses the specified image as the default boot image....
timeout=<tsecs>
sets a timeout (in tenths of a second) for keyboard input at the boot: prompt....
prompt
Automatic booting will not take place unless....

If the problem began when Windows was added you may want to start by commenting those out temporarily.
Your map-drive instruction looks okay. It is usually written the other way around:
map-drive=0x80
to=0x81
map-drive=0x81
to=0x80
Wouldn't think that would make a difference, but...

This could also depend on distro. If you're running Mandrake 10, there's a bug in the Lilo bootloader that corrupts the MBR. Now, it's supposed to make Mandrake the only bootable OS, but you've apparently had a different problem. If you can get Mandrake up with a boot disk, why not use Grub instead? Change it from the "Configure Your Computer" setup and go to Boot -> Boot Loader. Possibly an easier fix.