Linux - SoftwareThis forum is for Software issues.
Having a problem installing a new program? Want to know which application is best for the job? Post your question in this forum.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I downloaded and compiled LILO 22.5.2, which seemed to work fine.
The problem is that when I run 'lilo' to install it to the drive, it returns with this error:
Error: /dev/hde1 and /dev/hda1 have duplicate volume IDs (serial numbers)
Fatal: Duplicate volume IDs must be resolved before installation can proceed.
Use the '-z' and '-M <dev>' switches to erase the conflicts.
So, following the advice given by the error, I then entered:
lilo -z -M /dev/hde8
... which gave me this error:
Fatal: /dev/hde8 is not a master device with a primary partition table.
I've also tried installing to a floppy disk by changing boot=/dev/fd0 in lilo.conf, but it comes up with the exact same error.
Does anyone know what might be causing this error, and what can be done to fix it?
I don't know much about lilo because I prefer GRUB but I do know that "/dev/hde8" is not a device it is a partition. "/dev/hde" is the device - I assume you need to leave off the 8.
I'm using ntloader because from what I understand, it's an easier solution than lilo is. All I'm using lilo for is so I can use 'dd' and extract the first 512 bytes of the 'boot partition' into a file so ntloader can load it. If there's an easier way to do it in either lilo or grub, great.
As for the hde8, you're right, it's a partition on a drive attached to a PCI ATA controller (Promise Ultra133 TX2).
Here's the output from sfdisk:
Disk /dev/hde: 14589 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
The NT bootloader is on /dev/hda, where Win2000 also resides. WinXP resides on the /dev/hde1 partition.
This help at all?
I'm REALLY stuck here and I've been trying to solve it for a few days now... with no success. I can't even install lilo onto a floppy disk because it gives me a similar error.
If you overwrite the MBR of hde and ntldr is on hda then you have nothing to worry about. Just put lilo on the MBR of hde then dd the mbr to a file and load that from ntldr. Personnaly I would still use grub but if you are more comfortable then use ntldr and lilo.
I took that bold step last night and wrote LILO to the MBR of /dev/hde. It wrote it. I then used 'dd' to extract it so I could boot it from the NT loader.
Unfortunately, it killed booting for WinXP since WinXP apparently has it's own bootloader on the MBR of /dev/hde... furthermore, Linux STILL did not boot. VERY frustrating.
I agree with skubik: its very frustrating. Unfortunately there are people around who would die for the 'lie' that LILO is a stable product and better than the ntloader.Yet the fatc of the matter is that LILO/GRUB or whatever bootloader is there for Linux has a tendecy to goof up M$ bootloaders. The exact same thing happened with me because I listened to some so-called Linux users and installed LILO on mty MBR. I ended up reformatting my C: and lost precious data.
I can only sympathize with you skubik.
Originally posted by chem1 I agree with skubik: its very frustrating. Unfortunately there are people around who would die for the 'lie' that LILO is a stable product and better than the ntloader.Yet the fatc of the matter is that LILO/GRUB or whatever bootloader is there for Linux has a tendecy to goof up M$ bootloaders. The exact same thing happened with me because I listened to some so-called Linux users and installed LILO on mty MBR. I ended up reformatting my C: and lost precious data.
I can only sympathize with you skubik.
reformatting is not necessary. The Win2k CD has the option to boot into the Repair console from where you can repair the bootloader and make at least NT/2k/XP boot again. Been there done that. Was a PITA but it still works.
I have yet to find a way to make Lilo my main bootmanager so that it can dual boot Linux and Win2k.
After all the trouble I've been through much like you, too, I chose the way of the floppy disk. LILO resides on that and when the disk is in I boot Linux and when not it's windows time. (The floppy stays in most of the time )
ok, ok, one thing at a time. Let's keep the religious discussion to another group.
I boot NT with lilo all the time, and yes, I used to go the other way for a while, but in the end it's easier to use lilo to boot Windows than the other way around.
Except for a lttle complication, maybe, it's quite straightforward, let lilo write to hda's MBR, and add
other=/dev/hda1
optional
label=Win2000
other=/dev/hde1
optional
label=WinXP
to the bottom of your lilo.conf. Then rerun lilo.
The complication may be that your linux boot partition is on the Promise controller. You don't have the option of making the PDC driver a module, but can only compile it into the kernel. I don't actually boot from a Promise controller, but I faintly recall that there were particular settings required with DMA etc. Just google around a bit.
Don't get discouraged, it's actually not very complicated. The Windowses install their "real" loader in the boot record of the partition rather than the MBR, and the MBR just holds a little piece of code that directs the bios to that loader in the partition. That's how the above entries work -- "please transfer control to the boot record of hda1 (or hde1, respectively)".
I did some posts recently directing people to a rescue disk that comes in handy to resolve all these issues if you can't boot your system any more, http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/~purschke/RescueCD/
which is something you should have in your toolbox.
Just as a reference, here's my lilo.conf
Quote:
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
linear
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.