I just installed Mandrake 10 Official with LILO as the boot manager. The boot options I get are:

linux-p3-smp-64GB
linux
linux-nonfb
linux-i686-up-4GB
linux-263-7
linux-smp
windows
failsafe

If I recall correctly (I'm at work rather than home now) the default is -nonfb.

I've been searching for an explanation of these options. Some are self-explanatory, and I'm assuming "smp" stands for "symmetrical multi-processing". Can't figure out the others. Can someone point me to the answers?

Seems no matter which option I select (except windows), linux boots very slowly, as in "Go have lunch and maybe it'll be done when you are." Also, after it does get booted it runs verrrry sloooowwwly. FWIW Knoppix boots normally from CD and runs just fine.

Some details:
Asus P4P800-SE
P4 3.4 GHz
1GB PC3200 ram.
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (no apparent problems with that)
160 GB S-ATA w/ WinXP Home and storage
120 GB S-ATA, soon to have WinXP Pro mayber
80 GB P-ATA Secondary Master w/ Mandrake 10 on half of it.
60 GB P-ATA Secondary Slave used for backup disk images.
CD/DVD drives, USB mouse, onboard LAN, etc.

The disks are listed in the order in which BIOS and Windows sees them. Interestingly, though, Mandrake reports the 80-gig as hda, 60 as hdb, and S-ATAs as hde and hdc respectively. LILO is installed on "hde", the WinXP disk.

Another detail, which probably explains the slow boot,... during boot I get the message "Disabling IRQ #18" over and over. BIOS doesn't list IRQ 18. I have found some threads on this, but I really would like to know what those boot options are all about.

Thx, Phil

[list=1][*]linux-p3-smp-64GB[*]linux[*]linux-nonfb[*]linux-i686-up-4GB[*]linux-263-7[*]linux-smp[*]windows[*]failsafe[/list=1]
Please note the list below is completely off the top of my head.[list=1][*]This kernel is optimised for a pc with multiple Pentium 3 processors with a max of 64Gb ram.[*]This is normally the default on most machines and as far as I know is added as a shorter option but starts the 263-7 kernel. Check in /boot to see what your vmlinuz symlink points to.[*]Starts up your default kernel in text mode (no fancy colourful screen during bootup)[*]Kernel optimsed for a single i686 series chip with max 4Gb ram[*]2.6.3 kernel, that has been patched by Mandrake. Revision 7. Optimised for i586 machines with max 1Gb ram.[*]Same as above (I think), multiprocessor version.[*]Boots windows. 'nuff said [*]Starts your default kernel in text mode using Mandrake's failsafe option. Never needed to use this (yet) and possibly starts your machine in Single user mode for maintenance.[/list=1]
If I'm wrong, can someone out therecorrect me please?

Are you running any un-needed services? If you're not sharing files on a network, nfs, nfslock & smb don't need started. Use the Mandrake Control Centre's Services applet to browse through them. You should always have acpi, sound, network (even though you might not be on one), alsa, crond, cups (if you need to print), devfsd, xfs, sound, udev & dm. If your pc still runs slow, it might be an idea to download the kernel source and compile it specifically for your pc.

Thanks very much, Nafan. That's exactly what I've been looking for (although I'm still dying to know what the "fb" stands for in "nonfb")

As for your suggestions, they sound right on the mark going by what I've dug up elsewhere. I'm looking into compiling the kernel and getting a driver for my ATI card. Services? Well, I wish I'd paid more attention to what the installer said it would be loading...

Phil

non-fb = non frame buffer mode............

otis

Thanks otis.