I've installed Slackware 12.2 on a 12 year old desktop. It is the only OS on the machine. When I press the Power button it stops at Slackware's splash screen asking me to choose an OS, even tho' there is only one to choose from. I installed LILO to the MBR and that is also listed there as a possibility.

Is there a way to set Linux so it will simply load automatically? Thanks for your help.

There sure is! You'll need to edit the file located at /etc/lilo.conf and change one or two parameters.

Before doing do, open a terminal window, and type:
And you can there read the manual page (documentation) for the lilo.conf file.

There are several parameters affecting what you speak of: prompt and timeout= and delay=.

Read the man page carefully, as these parameters affect each other to some degree. If I remember right, you want the delay= option; set it to a number of tenths of a second (a very small timeout). If this doesn't work as expected (like, it doesn't auto-boot), boot up and try setting the timeout= option. I can't remember which option is which -- delay or timeout -- but someone here surely does remember and will verify this sooner or later.

It's relatively safe to experiment with these items; but remember:

1) You need to be root to edit the config file.
1b) Refer to the example(s) in the man page while you're editing.
2) Save the file after editing.
3) In your console (terminal window) AFTER having edited & saved the file & exited the editor, type:
and press return. If all's well, LILO will show a brief message about which image(s) are set up for booting. If you see an error message, something's wrong with the file.

What editor to use? Up to you.. Kwrite if you like.. Or nano, or some other one.... All can be started from the console:

Thank you very much. Worked like a charm.

Hey, that's great

Please, tell us which option(s) you used? I still cannot remember which ones!

And, if you're happy with this thread's outcome, you can mark it [solved] if you like, using "Thread Tools" near the top.

In lilo.conf I commented out the "prompt" statement and set the "timeout" statement value to 1. There is no "delay" statement in my lilo.conf. Thanks again.

I couldn't see any reference to "Thread Tools" anywhere on the page, so included Solved as part of the title.

Right in the top-center header of your 1st post.

Thanks for the update!

Aah, but there, after I made the post, it appeared.