Hi

Can someone please help me??

I have aAMD 2400 machine with 2 harddrives. One is 80 gigs and the other 6gigs.

Recently I installed Win 98, Win 2K and Win Xp Pro on the 80 gig hardrive with the following config:
c: Win 98 2gigs (FAT32) - active primary partition
d: Win 2K 15gigs (NTFS) - primary partition
e: WinXP 9 gigs (NTFS) - primary partition
remainder is extended dos partition and has various logical partitions in it (e.g photos, data, work, games)

The second hardrive is a slave and I installed Mandrake 9.1 onto this beasty.

The problem is that when the first time the PC booted up (after Mandrake installation) it came up with a menu and when I choose to run Windows NT it said 'NTLDR missing press CTL ALT DEL). I rebooted and pressed Win XP it came up with the same error.

Btw the Mandrake menu thingy doesn't name these as proper windows names - they appear as Windows1, Windows2, Windows 3)

I got frustrated with all this mickey mousing around and just formatted the 80 gig hd and will install the 3 windows again. I also ran fdisk /mbr.

My question is how should I install Mandrake again (I haven't formatted the drive that this resides on). I defoinelty don't want anything to go to custard again. ANy ideas??

Cheers

Well here is the deal, i tried to install both RH9 and Mandrake 9.1 on a few machines trying both manual and autoconfig, and sure enough it came up with the same bad results... On one machine i got the infamous L99 99 99 99 and on the other i got nothing at all.... So i figured screw it, if the linux community wants a major breakthrough in usernumbers, then ffs make it EASIER to comprehend or focus on matters that actually matters to ANY OS. Fact: WinXPpro dont give me anything but pleasure. W2003-Server aswell. But I figured if so many worships Linux (i.e. and i always thought that focus was suppose to be on the applications...hehe). So i decided to give it a shot, but nahh, the shit wont even boot on a Compaq-Server (Manufactured 2003) or a custom-made pc alltogether.
Story continues:........
I eventually got the shit to boot, but not thanks to any of the support-options at either RH or Mandrake. So for now im sticking to good o'l windows, it works, and boots from start :P
Ti'll the developers take one (or two) steps back, and looks at the distro's from a user's perspective.... /wave

http://chrille-test.dhs.org

Well thank you for that, Profanity. It didn't, as far as I can see, actually provide any clues what-so-ever as to the problems had by Mailmarshall., but thank you anyway (note sarcastic tone-of-keyboarding )

Mailmarshall, welcome.

The problem probably stems from your bootloader's configuration file. If you can boot into Mandrake successfully, then the problems can (probably) be rectified. Could you, please, boot into Mandrake (if possible) and post the contents of the file /etc/lilo.conf here? From that we can see what is causing the problems.

Cheers.

Thanks Thymox.

I can't seem to boot into Mandrake. Is there some special 'back door' way of doign this or should I cut my losses and start again?

Thanks

when you did FDISK MBR you over wrote lilo boot loader, if you boot disk 1 of your install disks and hit F1 then type "rescue" then follow the instructions you should be able to reinstall the boot loader.

(Thanks mr Mr Tickle)

"rescue"

You can boot from your Mandrake install CD #1 and enter 'rescue' mode. From here, you can fix the system, or even boot it! In order to get into 'rescue' mode, you need to boot from the CD and press F1 when it loads, and then type 'rescue' followed by enter. Shortly you are presented with a text menu - you can try reinstalling your Linux bootloader (I think that's one of the options) from there.

Thanks guys.

I installed my windows partitions again and then did the rescue bizzo.

Seems to bring the bootloader menu thingy back up and hey presto I can get onto my windows partitions.

BUT (there is always a but) now my Linux has gone to the dogs. It starts up with a [localhost login] thing. I remebered back to my old dos days and checked on some websites. After logging in as root I entered startx but got some horrific text based error message and couldn't really do anythign! BAsically pressed the power off button....

I am reinstallign Mandrake again as I type on my other machine. I really hope it won't screw anythign up but I figure this is the only way to learn.

Would you guys know any good website that would explain all this /usr, /var, /home, / bizzo?? I get the feelign Linux is not all GUI based. You have to use the txt based prompts to get more power out of this OS.

Thankx - will keep ya posted!

Hi Mailmarshall

A gentle introduction to the main directories in the Linux filesystem.

http://www.freeos.com/articles/3102/

Hi

Thanks very much for the links etc. I have a new problem - Mandrake 9.1 doesn't seem to recognise my video card (Inno3D GeForce4 Ti4200, 128MB DDR)

I went to the nvidia site and downloaded the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4363.run file and then burnt it onto a cd (using my other PC). Having done this I had to learn the joys of mounting cdroms in Linux as all I had was a shell window (I am learning the lingo!).

Anyway I managed to get the sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-4363.run command to go and "something" got installed. I was then promted to edit my XF86Config file - which I did using some crazy editor called vi. I typed startx to see if the GUI woudl come upbut it came up with an error and basically I am back to square one..

But I still can't get the vid card to go and the other problem is that I can't really copy the log file or the XF86Config files onto a floppy and post it on the net - beacuse I don't know how to do that!!

ANy ideas of what to do next or has anyone else had video driver issues??

Oh BTW my bootloader problem was solved when I reinstalled Linux on the second partition. My Windows partitions are workign liek a charm.. just Linux not working.
Thanks

In order to copy your XF... file onto a floppy:
Format a floppy under Windows.
Boot to Linux.
Insert the floppy.
Type mount /mnt/floppy
Then type cp /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /mnt/floppy -v (make sure you get it all)
Then type umount /mnt/floppy
Eject the disk
Reboot to Windows and post the file.

A word of warning, though. Do not open the copied file under Notepad, open it under Wordpad - it'll look weird otherwise because *nix systems use a different method of putting in a linefeed.

Another note, however, is that you shouldn't have problems with your videocard. You should get a GUI fine by using the 'nv' X driver. It won't be 3D accelerated, but it should work.

Hi

Here is my XPF86Config-4 file:
Section "Files"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)
# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of
# the X server to render fonts.
FontPath "unix/:-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work
#DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
EndSection

Section "Keyboard"
Protocol "Standard"
XkbModel "pc105"
XkbLayout "us"
XkbCompat ""
XkbOptions ""
EndSection

Section "Pointer"
Protocol "IMPS/2"
Device "/dev/psaux"
ZAxisMapping 4 5
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "monitor1"
VendorName "Generic"
ModelName "1024x768 @ 70 Hz"
HorizSync 31.5-57.0
VertRefresh 50-70

# Sony Vaio C1(X,XS,VE,VN)?
# 1024x480 @ 85.6 Hz, 48 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x480" 65.00 1024 1032 1176 1344 480 488 494 563 -hsync -vsync

# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.
# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync
ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

# This is a set of standard mode timings. Modes that are out of monitor spec
# are automatically deleted by the server (provided the HorizSync and
# VertRefresh lines are correct), so there's no immediate need to
# delete mode timings (unless particular mode timings don't work on your
# monitor). With these modes, the best standard mode that your monitor
# and video card can support for a given resolution is automatically
# used.

# 640x400 @ 70 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x400" 25.175 640 664 760 800 400 409 411 450

# 640x480 @ 60 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x480" 25.175 640 664 760 800 480 491 493 525

# 800x600 @ 56 Hz, 35.15 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 36 800 824 896 1024 600 601 603 625

# 1024x768 @ 87 Hz interlaced, 35.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 44.9 1024 1048 1208 1264 768 776 784 817 Interlace

# 640x400 @ 85 Hz, 37.86 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x400" 31.5 640 672 736 832 400 401 404 445 -HSync +VSync

# 640x480 @ 75 Hz, 37.50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x480" 31.5 640 656 720 840 480 481 484 500 -HSync -VSync

# 800x600 @ 60 Hz, 37.8 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 40 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync

# 640x480 @ 85 Hz, 43.27 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x480" 36 640 696 752 832 480 481 484 509 -HSync -VSync

# 1152x864 @ 89 Hz interlaced, 44 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 65 1152 1168 1384 1480 864 865 875 985 Interlace

# 800x600 @ 72 Hz, 48.0 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 50 800 856 976 1040 600 637 643 666 +hsync +vsync

# 1024x768 @ 60 Hz, 48.4 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 65 1024 1032 1176 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync

# 640x480 @ 100 Hz, 53.01 kHz hsync
ModeLine "640x480" 45.8 640 672 768 864 480 488 494 530 -HSync -VSync

# 1152x864 @ 60 Hz, 53.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 89.9 1152 1216 1472 1680 864 868 876 892 -HSync -VSync

# 800x600 @ 85 Hz, 55.84 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 60.75 800 864 928 1088 600 616 621 657 -HSync -VSync

# 1024x768 @ 70 Hz, 56.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 75 1024 1048 1184 1328 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync

# 1280x1024 @ 87 Hz interlaced, 51 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 80 1280 1296 1512 1568 1024 1025 1037 1165 Interlace

# 800x600 @ 100 Hz, 64.02 kHz hsync
ModeLine "800x600" 69.65 800 864 928 1088 600 604 610 640 -HSync -VSync

# 1024x768 @ 76 Hz, 62.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 85 1024 1032 1152 1360 768 784 787 823

# 1152x864 @ 70 Hz, 62.4 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 92 1152 1208 1368 1474 864 865 875 895

# 1280x1024 @ 61 Hz, 64.2 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 110 1280 1328 1512 1712 1024 1025 1028 1054

# 1400x1050 @ 60 Hz, 65.5 kHz
ModeLine "1400x1050" 122.0 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1052 1064 1082 +HSync +VSync

# 1024x768 @ 85 Hz, 70.24 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 98.9 1024 1056 1216 1408 768 782 788 822 -HSync -VSync

# 1152x864 @ 78 Hz, 70.8 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 110 1152 1240 1324 1552 864 864 876 908

# 1280x1024 @ 70 Hz, 74.59 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 126.5 1280 1312 1472 1696 1024 1032 1040 1068 -HSync -VSync

# 1600x1200 @ 60Hz, 75.00 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1600x1200" 162 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync

# 1152x864 @ 84 Hz, 76.0 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 135 1152 1464 1592 1776 864 864 876 908

# 1280x1024 @ 75 Hz, 79.98 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 135 1280 1296 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +HSync +VSync

# 1024x768 @ 100Hz, 80.21 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1024x768" 115.5 1024 1056 1248 1440 768 771 781 802 -HSync -VSync

# 1400x1050 @ 75 Hz, 82.2 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1400x1050" 155.8 1400 1464 1784 1912 1050 1052 1064 1090 +HSync +VSync

# 1600x1200 @ 70 Hz, 87.50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1600x1200" 189 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 -HSync -VSync

# 1152x864 @ 100 Hz, 89.62 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1152x864" 137.65 1152 1184 1312 1536 864 866 885 902 -HSync -VSync

# 1280x1024 @ 85 Hz, 91.15 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 157.5 1280 1344 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1072 +HSync +VSync

# 1600x1200 @ 75 Hz, 93.75 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1600x1200" 202.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync

# 1600x1200 @ 85 Hz, 105.77 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1600x1200" 220 1600 1616 1808 2080 1200 1204 1207 1244 +HSync +VSync

# 1600x1200 @ 85 Hz, 106.3 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1600x1200" 229.5 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +HSync +VSync

# 1280x1024 @ 100 Hz, 107.16 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1280x1024" 181.75 1280 1312 1440 1696 1024 1031 1046 1072 -HSync -VSync

# 1800x1440 @ 64Hz, 96.15 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1800X1440" 230 1800 1896 2088 2392 1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync

# 1800x1440 @ 70Hz, 104.52 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1800X1440" 250 1800 1896 2088 2392 1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync

# 1920x1440 @ 60 Hz, 90.0 kHz hsync
ModeLine "1920x1440" 234.0 1920 2048 2256 2600 1440 1441 1444 1500 -HSync +VSync

# 1920x1440 @ 75 Hz, 112.5kHz hsync
ModeLine "1920x1440" 297.0 1920 2064 2288 2640 1440 1441 1444 1500 -HSync +VSync

# 512x384 @ 78 Hz, 31.50 kHz hsync
ModeLine "512x384" 20.160 512 528 592 640 384 385 388 404 -HSync -VSync

# 512x384 @ 85 Hz, 34.38 kHz hsync
ModeLine "512x384" 22 512 528 592 640 384 385 388 404 -HSync -VSync

# Low-res Doublescan modes
# If your chipset does not support doublescan, you get a 'squashed'
# resolution like 320x400.

# 320x200 @ 70 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync, 8:5 aspect ratio
ModeLine "320x200" 12.588 320 336 384 400 200 204 205 225 Doublescan

# 320x240 @ 60 Hz, 31.5 kHz hsync, 4:3 aspect ratio
ModeLine "320x240" 12.588 320 336 384 400 240 245 246 262 Doublescan

# 320x240 @ 72 Hz, 36.5 kHz hsync
ModeLine "320x240" 15.750 320 336 384 400 240 244 246 262 Doublescan

# 400x300 @ 56 Hz, 35.2 kHz hsync, 4:3 aspect ratio
ModeLine "400x300" 18 400 416 448 512 300 301 302 312 Doublescan

# 400x300 @ 60 Hz, 37.8 kHz hsync
ModeLine "400x300" 20 400 416 480 528 300 301 303 314 Doublescan

# 400x300 @ 72 Hz, 48.0 kHz hsync
ModeLine "400x300" 25 400 424 488 520 300 319 322 333 Doublescan

# 480x300 @ 56 Hz, 35.2 kHz hsync, 8:5 aspect ratio
ModeLine "480x300" 21.656 480 496 536 616 300 301 302 312 Doublescan

# 480x300 @ 60 Hz, 37.8 kHz hsync
ModeLine "480x300" 23.890 480 496 576 632 300 301 303 314 Doublescan

# 480x300 @ 63 Hz, 39.6 kHz hsync
ModeLine "480x300" 25 480 496 576 632 300 301 303 314 Doublescan

# 480x300 @ 72 Hz, 48.0 kHz hsync
ModeLine "480x300" 29.952 480 504 584 624 300 319 322 333 Doublescan
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"
Option "power_saver"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Driver "nvidia"
Device "device1"
Monitor "monitor1"
DefaultColorDepth 32

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection

Subsection "Display"
Depth 32
Modes "800x600" "640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Hi

I have manged to get my Mandrake Linux 9 to finally work. I had to delete XF86Config file and made sure that the XF86Config-4 existed.

Also I made sure that I replaced the file with nvidia rather than nv.

Thanks to all those who helped me. This is a great website for newbies like me.