This is impossible...
 

I have mandrake linux 9.1. I installed it and all went well but when i boot the system i cant load any os. All that I get is a message that says L 40 40 40 etc. Eventually it comes up with a message that says press any key to reboot. Then it just happens all over again. I am a linux newbie (never even used it before) so please help me because I really want to be able to use it.

Thanx
From the King of Linux newbies

The bad news is that your boot loader LILO is misconfigured. I've forgotten most of what I ever knew about LILO so I can't offer any immediate fix except maybe to redo that part of the the installation process.

The good news is that you are not alone. If you google on "L 40 40 40" you will see this is a pretty common problem.

Good luck!

If you know what you're doing, then...
Boot from your Mandy install CD 1 and go into rescue mode (press F1 and then type rescue), and re-install your bootloader. Two methods. You can 're-install bootloader' or, the method I prefer is to 'mount partitions under /mnt' followed by 'console mode', type 'chroot /mnt' then 'emacs /etc/lilo.conf' make changes and save, then '/sbin/lilo'. Your choice :D

If you're unsure, then just use the 're-install bootloader' option. It should work OK.

Also, try 'man lilo' and find the section on 'BOOT ERRORS' - it may tell you more about it. The letters which have appeared tell you something about how far it has gotten in the boot process. The number it prints, in your case '40', apparently means a seek failure. I'm not sure what that means, but check out the manual and it might give you some glimpse of what's wrong.