[SOLVED] Just Installed Slackware 13... Now What?

S1NN3R · 10-18-2009, 05:02 PM

OK i finally got online with Slackware. (i had no idea what a ride i was signing up for

anyways again i installed lilo to the super block, i've got two hard drives, one with linux one with windows. from lilo i can get into linux fine, but when i try to get into windows from lilo it just hangs at loading windows with a blinking cursor. i just did a fresh install of slackware and here's a copy of lilo..

Code:

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
# Append any additional kernel parameters:
append=" vt.default_utf8=0"
boot = /dev/sda1

# Boot BMP Image.
# Bitmap in BMP format: 640x480x8
  bitmap = /boot/slack.bmp
# Menu colors (foreground, background, shadow, highlighted
# foreground, highlighted background, highlighted shadow):
  bmp-colors = 255,0,255,0,255,0
# Location of the option table: location x, location y, number of
# columns, lines per column (max 15), "spill" (this is how many
# entries must be in the first column before the next begins to
# be used.  We don't specify it here, as there's just one column.
  bmp-table = 60,6,1,16
# Timer location x, timer location y, foreground color,
# background color, shadow color.
  bmp-timer = 65,27,0,255

# Standard menu.
# Or, you can comment out the bitmap menu above and 
# use a boot message with the standard menu:
#message = /boot/boot_message.txt

# Wait until the timeout to boot (if commented out, boot the
# first entry immediately):
prompt
# Timeout before the first entry boots.
# This is given in tenths of a second, so 600 for every minute:
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
  reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/sdb1
  label = Windows
  table = /dev/sdb
# Windows bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
  root = /dev/sda1
  label = Linux
  read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends

also my root partition is:

Code:

sda1

and under cfdisk, sda1 is flagged boot. i am brand new to linux and just learning the command line so if you need more info let me know. and don't omit any detail in your explanations. thanks for your patience guys.

S1NN3R · 10-18-2009, 07:17 PM

so close now, anyone out there today?

voyciz · 10-18-2009, 07:20 PM

List the output of fdisk -l.

S1NN3R · 10-18-2009, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by voyciz

List the output of fdisk -l.

here's what i get..

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.0 GB, 250000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30394 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0004aefb

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       30017   241111521   83  Linux
/dev/sda2           30018       30394     3028252+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5           30018       30394     3028221   82  Linux swap

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.0 GB, 250000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30394 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x35833583

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1       30393   244131741    7  HPFS/NTFS

lumak · 10-18-2009, 11:11 PM

I haven't dual booted with windows in a while but I don't believe you should have the windows partition bootable... I doubt this would be an issue anyway.

You can toggle the bootable option for your windows drive with:

Code:

lilo -A /dev/sdb 0

Note the space between '/dev/sdb' and '0'
The '-A' tells lilo to toggle the boot option on the device '/dev/sdb' for the referenced partition number.
'0' tells it to remove the boot flag from all partitions on the given device.

Also,

I'm not sure your lilo.conf file needs "table=/dev/sdb" for the windows specification. This may be throwing you off.

Additionally, you may need different options in your lilo.conf if you are booting Win98 vs. Win XP.

S1NN3R · 10-25-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumak

I haven't dual booted with windows in a while but I don't believe you should have the windows partition bootable... I doubt this would be an issue anyway.

You can toggle the bootable option for your windows drive with:

Code:

lilo -A /dev/sdb 0

Note the space between '/dev/sdb' and '0'
The '-A' tells lilo to toggle the boot option on the device '/dev/sdb' for the referenced partition number.
'0' tells it to remove the boot flag from all partitions on the given device.

Also,

I'm not sure your lilo.conf file needs "table=/dev/sdb" for the windows specification. This may be throwing you off.

Additionally, you may need different options in your lilo.conf if you are booting Win98 vs. Win XP.

i wish i would have renamed this post, i hope people are getting this far down to actually see the issue has changed...

anyways i removed the bootable option on my XP drive and that didn't work. all it did was make the drive not bootable at all. i got the "no bootable drives exist on this machine" error. so i changed that back. i tried removing the "table=/dev/sdb" line from lilo and that didn't work either. i'm putting it back in unless the next poster agrees it should be out. it just seems like this should be a very simple fix. however i don't know enough about linux to know what it is. if you can help, please post. all i want to be able to do is have windows and linux boot from lilo without having toggle from disabling drives in BIOS. thanks!

wadsworth · 10-25-2009, 03:01 PM

I don't know if this works for SATA drives,
suppose its worth a try

Code:

other = /dev/sdb1
  label = Windows
  boot-as=0x80

regis_n_bits · 10-25-2009, 03:16 PM

This works for my dual-boot system and LILO:

Code:

other = /dev/sdb1
  label = WinXP
  table = /dev/sdb
  boot-as = 0x80

nivieru · 10-25-2009, 03:57 PM

try adding the line:

master-boot

to your windows boot section in lilo.conf, or the line:

boot-as = 0x80

as regis_n_bits suggested
I think they do the same thing, making win think it's booting from the first hd, so either of those lines should work

S1NN3R · 10-25-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wadsworth

I don't know if this works for SATA drives,
suppose its worth a try

Code:

other = /dev/sdb1
  label = Windows
  boot-as=0x80

F U C K Y E A H ! !

FINALLY! thanks man, totally worked!

as glad as i am that it did work, that's not what learning is about. can someone explain to me why it worked?

wadsworth · 10-25-2009, 04:59 PM

The BIOS calls the first and second floppy 0x00 and 0x01,
the first hard drive will be 0x80, the second 0x81 and so on.

You're just fooling the BIOS (and consequently Windows) that the second hard drive is really the first.
Windows calls the first hard drive "C:", and (AFAIK) won't boot off any other drive.

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/LILO-4.html

I haven't used Windows since 2006,
good to know this trick still works.
(hope this explanation is somewhere in the ballpark)

JamesGT · 10-26-2009, 11:17 PM

I had the same problem, but with my BIOS I just hit ESC when I reboot and the BIOS gives me a list of HD I can boot from, I choose the correct drive and I can boot Windows or Linux...

I will apply this however, sometimes I miss hitting ESC and have to reboot just to get the correct drive.