slackware wont boot :(
 

i just got my new copy of slackware 8.1 iso off the net, chucked it on a cd, installed it, and it wont load.

right after install, i reboot the machine when it told me to, and all that happens is it gets to the normal like verifying dmi pool data, that happens on any os then just has:

GRUB(space)

even tho i told it to use lilo on hda1

Did you make a bootdisk??? Please say you did!

Otherwise I think you can use the CD to boot, then mount the harddisk and setup lilo again!

Will post more detail if needed?

just in a lazy mood atm :)

I had the same problem when I first installed 8.1 and tried to install lilo to hda1. I reinstalled and just had lilo install to the MBR instead of hda1....I know that will work for you if all else fails. If thats not an option I dont know what to tell ya.

Re: slackware wont boot :(
 

Did you tell it to install to the MBR or write a superblock?

Also, you used to have RedHat on that machine, right?

You can use the CDrom to boot to the partition. It'll kind of walk you through it, then go to poke around /boot and change your lilo parameters to install to the MBR, then re-run lilo.

Actually, better than that, type:

setup

skip down to configuration and just have the installer set-up LILO again.

Cheers,

Finegan

one, where in boot is the lilo file
two, how do i edit files in console
three, what do i change in the lilo file

sry, im no good with the boot loader stuff yet

thanks

nah nah skip that paragraph on editting it by hand, I was just brainfarting, the installer is also on your / partition somewheres so you can just run "setup" again and skip all of the media install and arrow down to Configuration (redo all the steps in that though otherwise it'll remove the old settings) and I think the first or second thing it'll ask is whether to install lilo and where, make sure to tell it MBR.

Luck,

Finegan

Basically you're calling a "do-over" on that one little part of the install that didn't work right.

i fixed it all by myselfs :) i found liloconfig* under some directory, i forget which, and set it to mbr

now the only prob i got is i dont know how to get into x windows.. how do u get there?

when it boots, it just goes into the console.

thanks

startx

The base slack XF86config file should work for most machines, but you're going to want to run a probe to make your own anyway or build it with the xf86config utility you can find under /usr/X11/bin. To run the probe:

./usr/X11/bin/XFree -configure

Then follow the instructions to test it. Putting it in /etc/X11 (and re-naming it XF86Config because its called XF86Config.new from the probe) is where X will read it when you next start X. That file will take a little monkeying around, adding more font paths, a few modules, and the settings at the end for the Modes and viewport.

./usr/X11/bin/xf86config

will probably produce a better one.

Slack is very barebones, not user friendly, and there are a number of things that are this complicated, its also a lot more unix-like and really slim running, and the coolest thing since squirt cheese.

Luck,

Finegan

squirt cheese!!! i needa get me some of that!


thx for the info, i REALLY like that it doesnt load into x automatically, coz that would just piss me off, coz im running a half life server with it, and it would slow down the half life server.

i didnt quite catch what that other stuff u told me was for... is that to get me into x autmatically?



thanks again,

james

Nah, that goop is to get X at the right max-ed out resolutions for your gear, the config file for X that you start with is just an Uber-basic template that Patrick came up with that should work with any combination of the past four or so years worth of Graphics cards and the last near decade of monitors. Basically, if that pre-built works for you and you're hardly ever gonna use X, yeah man just leave it.

Offhand, going straight to X-windows is usually called runlevel 5, although because Slack is quirkie, for Slack its runlevel 4. The console you have now is runlevel 3, anothe version of the console, with only a single user mode is runlevel 1, usually used for debugging or for cleanup in the event of an intrusion. No networking, or any of the daemons like sendmail or sshd are on at runlevel 1 so that's handy. Runlevels 4 and 2 are (except in Slack's case), usually resevered as roll-your-own midways to create for whatever you need.

Luck with the server,

Finegan

FYI: To use the /dev/hda1 partition, or any partition specified, after running Lilo to set it up. Boot an old MSDOS floppy disk or DOS bootable CD with fdisk on it. And run "fdisk /MBR" command and then reboot. Because lilo was directed to write to the hda1 partition a master boot record may still need to be written and/or updated.

There may be a way to instruct lilo to update the MBR but I don't know how. using DOS fdisk has always worked, so it is just the way I have done it.

Cheers,
James