Problem with Lilo

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 01:13 AM

I had Windows XP installed on my SATA hdd and I've just installed Slackware 12 on a different partition of the same drive. However, when I power up the computer, Lilo doesn't appear at all, and it boots straight into Windows.

Here's the output of fdisk -l (I also have a regular IDE hdd which I use for storage):

Code:

Disk /dev/hdb: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdb1   *           1       15665   125829081    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb2           15666       24321    69529288+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1        2550    20482843+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2   *        2551        5141    20812207+  83  Linux
/dev/sda3            5142        5403     2104515   82  Linux swap
/dev/sda4            5404        9729    34748595   83  Linux

And here's my lilo.conf:

Code:

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
lba32 # Allow booting past 1024th cylinder with a recent BIOS
boot = /dev/sda
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
prompt
timeout = 300
# 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
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda2
label = Linux
read-only # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/sda1
label = Windows
# map-drive = 0x80
# to = 0x81
# map-drive = 0x81
# to = 0x80
table = /dev/sda
# Windows bootable partition config ends

When I do /sbin/lilo, I get this:

Code:

Warning: '/proc/partitions' does not exit, disk scan bypassed.
Added Linux *
Added Windows
One warning was issued.

I don't know if that warning is significant.

My question is simple: what do I have to change to make Lilo work? I would like to use it as my primary bootloader from which I can to boot either Linux or Windows.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Uncle_Theodore · 12-24-2007, 01:31 AM

Are you doing /sbin/lilo from a chroot environment or from a live CD?
/proc/partitions should exist. If you're chrooting, make sure to mount proc before issuing the chroot command.

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 01:45 AM

Thanks for the quick reply!

I boot Slack install DVD and then I mount my linux root partition and chroot to it, and do /sbin/lilo. I didn't know that I also needed to mount proc. How exactly do I do that?

Uncle_Theodore · 12-24-2007, 01:53 AM

Let's suppose, your Slackware root partition is mounted on /mnt/hd
You do
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/hd/dev
mount -t proc proc /mnt/hd/proc
chroot /mnt/hd /bin/bash

I guess, the first step is optional, but it doesn't hurt.

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 02:18 AM

It's still the same, goes straight into Windows.

/sbin/lilo now gives me a different warning, it says sda is not the first disk.
And the first line, mount -o bind /dev /mnt/hd/dev, didn't work. It said wrong fs type.

Uncle_Theodore · 12-24-2007, 02:23 AM

Well, maybe it's a stupid question, but which Windows is it booting to, the one on /dev/hdb or the one on /dev/sda?
Maybe, you should enable booting from the primary slave first in the BIOS?

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 02:29 AM

Windows and Linux both are on sda, hdb is just storage.

Uncle_Theodore · 12-24-2007, 02:38 AM

Yeah, here's an explanation of the "not the first disk" warning.
http://linuxgazette.net/issue31/tag_idescsi.html
What if you disconnect your IDE drive and try to install the bootloader and then reconnect it again?

H_TeXMeX_H · 12-24-2007, 11:23 AM

Did you install lilo to the MBR ?

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle_Theodore

Yeah, here's an explanation of the "not the first disk" warning.
http://linuxgazette.net/issue31/tag_idescsi.html
What if you disconnect your IDE drive and try to install the bootloader and then reconnect it again?

That let me install lilo and I can now boot Linux, but now I can't get into Windows. I get a message that says "NTLDR missing".

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

Did you install lilo to the MBR ?

Yes, is that the problem?

Road_map · 12-24-2007, 02:11 PM

This way bellow works allways for me:
1. Boot the computer from Slackware install DVD;
2. Type on first prompt:

Code:

hugesmp.s root=/dev/sda2 rdinit =ro

3. Login as normal user and then as root (with su command);
4. Type lilo and then reboot.

I have 3 harddisks (2 IDE + 1 SATA), 3 partitions with Slackware (11.0, 12.0 and current) and 2 partitions with Windows (XP and Server 2003). I didn't have never any problems with LILO.

infraredgirl · 12-24-2007, 11:19 PM

I figured it out. The problem was that the Windows partition was not "active" or "bootable", and that's why Windows couldn't load. I set the boot flag on that partition and now it's working.

Thank you everyone for your help!