Upgraded my Dell 2100 (32-bit atom CPU) following each step of the UPGRADE.TXT file as usual. Removed old packages, processed *.new (replacing old, leaving old, modifying old as appropriate), made a new initrd for the 4.4.14 kernel, modified /boot/System.map, config, and vmlinuz to point to the generic-smp kernel versions, modified /etc/lilo.conf for generic-smp-4.4.14 vmlinuz and the huge-smp-4.4.14 as an backup alternative, ran /sbin/lilo, removed cdrom from external drive and tried rebooting.

After the POST the cursor blinks in the upper left corner but the lilo boot box does not display. I've not before encountered this. Obviously I messed up something without realizing it.

Tried booting using the distribution disk and mounting /dev/sda1 on /mnt, but there were only empty directories from /.

Please advise me on how to can recover from this situation. If I can make a USB rescue disk from the distribution DVD on another host I'll do that. But, I've not before encountered a blank screen after the POST.

The first thing I'd try would be this:

Try booting to the install disk, starting the Setup routine, and then skipping right to the part about "Configure your new Linux system," then reinstalling Lilo.

Personally, I've never had any luck with the automatic Lilo installation; if that's what you tried, this time try the "expert" install, making sure it doesn't entice you into skipping any of the steps. If you don't pay attention, you can get about half-way through and think you are done.

This is the first time in my 19 years of running linux (Red Hat-4to 7, then Slackware-8.0 to 14.2) that a distribution upgrade failed.

I booted using hugemp.s /dev/sda1 rdinit= ro then ran mkinitrd again, checked /etc/lilo.conf, ran /sbin/lilo and stll no LILO screen. Re-installed lilo off the 14.2 disk, re-ran /sbin/lilo, rebooted, and still no screen.

Very strange. I guess my only option is to do a complete installation rather than an upgrade. This notebook is used for e-mail and Web access, note taking at meetings, and reading PDF files when I don't need the power and applications of my Dell E5410 laptop so I lose only time by installing.

I'll wait until later today (or tomorrow) to see if anyone has a suggestion that can fix this problem

Thanks,

Rich

frankbell:

Re-reading your message I see what's different from what I just tried. I'll follow your suggeston and report on results.

Rich

Tried using the Configure option in setup, but I'm not allowed to do this. I press 'C' (or move down until the Configure option is highlighted) and press the [Enter] key. The selection jumps back to the top.

I also tried the Install software option but was denied until I set up the target and source partitions.

Rich

OK. The hard drive died. Three kernel panics trying to boot from the distribution DVD. Time for a replacement.

Rich

Replaced the hard drive with an SSD and today did a complete 32-bit installation off the DVD. When the distribution is fully installed and I'm offered the opportunity to reboot, I do so. But, there's no lilo screen visible, only the cursor in the upper left corner.

I did a complete re-installation with the same result: no lilo screen.

This machine had no issues with 14.1 and I need ideas of how to determine the source of the problem.

Rich

I thought the problem was caused by the wrong screen resolution so I booted from the install disk, mounted /dev/sda1 on /mnt and looked at /etc/lilo.conf. It shows vga=normal so apparently screen resolution is not the issue.

The Dell Latitude 2100 spec sheet shows native screen resolution to be 1024x578 and that's not available as a selection during configuration. (BTW, I cannot run setup then skip to 'configure your system.' The installation insists on starting from the top and working down.

All ideas on diagnosing the source of this issue are needed.

Rich

Just did another complete re-installation accepting all defaults. Still no lilo screen.

I think I found the source of the problem. I had not checked the Dell specs for this unit before purchasing a 120G SSD to replace the failed 80G hard drive. The specs tell me that while this unit will support a 5400 RPM hard drive up to 250G, it supports only a 16G SSD. I've no idea why; I thought it had a higher SSD capacity.

Rich

My last post was incorrect. The chipset in the Latitude 2100 will support larger SSDs; the limit shown in the Dell specs was likely the largest that they sold back then.

I'm still looking for advice on how to determine why the lilo screen does not display after the POST completes.

Have you tried using nomodeset in your appends line?

No, I hadn't.

I just re-installed 14.2 and at the end I did not specify an option to add to the kernel, then selected to go to a shell rather than reboot. When I cd'd to /etc/ I discovered there is no lilo.conf file, only lilo-error.32054. I thought I could add nomodeset to lilo.conf, run /sbin/lilo, then reboot.

Perhaps the missing /etc/lilo.conf is causing the problem. If it's not present when the installation is complete, when is it created? Before, I'd just reboot an upgraded or new installation without any problems.

Will try once more re-installing, then adding nomodeset to the kernel when offered the opportunity to do so.

Thanks,

Rich

I'm not terribly familiar with innards of the install process, but I believe it is created when doing the lilo portion in the setup wizard after installation has completed (but before the installer actually exits... this is the same timeframe that network config, timezone config, etc are done).

But the error file might give a bit more of an indication on what is going on. Is it a text file that you can view?

Are you by chance running a newer system with UEFI? Maybe there is something going on with it that is causing your lilo issue. If you are running a UEFI-based system, you need to make sure you're running legacy (or mixed) mode to emulate BIOS support, or you'll need to switch to a UEFI-capable boot manager, since lilo doesn't support UEFI booting (elilo is used by default in Slackware, but it also includes grub2 -- both of which support UEFI).

Before a reboot when installing Slackware, try looking in /mnt/etc which is where the new system should have been installed.

When running lilo a second time you may have to use the -C option to point to the desired configuration file in /mnt/etc.