Thank you /*gbonvehi*/ for your idea;), it was very useful.

Best wishes!

master_boy

could you use the slackware cd instead of Knoopix to mount the drive?

Yes, I just tried it;) to mount with Slack 10.1 cd1 and it goes fine, but with Knoppix it is more comfortable:)

You can use Slackware CD1 to boot your Linux partition, just follow the directions at the boot screen.

Once you're in, run lilo or liloconf.

If you need more help, let me know.

Ok, heres where I'm at:

I installed Slackware 10.2 on my laptop already, but I didn't need to dual boot it with Windows XP because I didn't want it on the laptop anymore.

Now I want to install it on my family pc. It has 2 hard drives, one which I want to keep Windows XP on, and the other I formatted to dedicate that hard drive completely to Linux.

I know how to install it but, all of the deep configuration of lilo and all of that I need help with, if I just choose the formatted hard drive to install Slackware on and just follow the installation, what would I have to do to get Windows XP bootable with lilo and definately running. Because I won't have internet on my computer through Slackware so I wouldn't be able to come online to seek help and my family would need to use the computer. This is why I need to be sure of what I am doing and print out your advice so that if I need to troubleshoot then I have it on paper.

Can anyone help?

I'm very new to Linux but I followed this method to dual-boot Linux and XP and it works perfectly:

http://www.highlandsun.com/hyc/linuxboot.html

This uses the Windows boot manager to select the OS to boot and has the advantage that changes to the Linux installation, such as a new kernel etc, do not require any changes to the bootloader to be made. The only thing to be careful about is that anytime you need to run Lilo to make a Linux configuration change, you need to be sure that Lilo is saved to the linux boot drive and NOT the MBR.

I use this method for selecting the O/S for booting, but there is one caveat. Whenever you update the Linux kernel, or LILO configuration you may need to update "boot.lnx" as well. To help solve that problem, I created a shell script to update the LILO configuration and create a new copy of "boot.lnx". Then I just have to copy the file the next time I boot Windows XP.

It is possible to put Linux in the Windows XP boot menu, and also put Windows XP in the LILO boot menu. Then it doesn't matter which you set as the default (active) primary partition that boots first.

Toods you have right. Buth here is another (I think simplest) way to make dual boot with lilo. During your installation (in a boot loader section), you will find option where to install lilo, and you can choose which OS will be load by default;)
If the install process does not recognize the other OS [Windows], and you installed the lilo into the (MBR) master boot record. You should edit the /boot/lilo.conf and put this string:

other = /dev/hdaXX //XX the number the partition where the windows is
label = Windows
table = /dev/hda //HDD where the MBR is

after editing the lilo, require to re-run /sbin/lilo to apply new changes.

I hope, this short reply help you.

Best wishes!

master_boy

> hey I may sound stupid, but I'm new to useinginstalling linux and I want to install
> a dual boot of XP, and Slackware, how to do I do this without killing XP?

Some of the liveCD distros like Kanotix have qtparted available. You can resize NTFS partitions with this. I just did it today. When you reboot winbloze it will go through a (possibly VERY) long check of the disk and after that mine ran faster than ever! Then you can fdisk from Linux to do whatever you want with the remaining partitions.

Also, if liloconfig (from Slackware 10.2 installation) doesn't install in the MBR for you (I keep getting an error) then just use the commands shown by Gary in http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=404456

If you are installing in MBR of your primary (only) disk which is hda, instead of hda# (as was mentioned in the post I linked-to) use this to do a test-drive without installing anything:

lilo -v -t -b /dev/hda

Gary points out: If you get no errors then do:

lilo -v -b /dev/hda

Later,
Rand

Check your BIOS for any anti-virus or MBR protect setting. (I know, It's basic, but I forget all the time....lol)

Also, lets say you are installing Slackware after you installed XP. When it gets to the lilo part, do a 'expert setup', start with a blank lilo.conf, fill in those blanks, then on the main screen, choose whichever OS you want to boot as the default first, then choose the second. i.e. If you want XP to be default, choose Windows first, then Linux. It writes the lilo.conf file in the order in which you choose them.

I'm pretty sure there's a bug in the liloconfig part of the slackware installation script. Everybody is reporting that lilo doesn't get installed. You can see the problem more easily when you boot the installation kernel and select liloconfig from setup. Then you can see the error screen, which says that there isn't any lilo.conf

It does create lilo.conf, but the script can't find it for some reason.

I have had no problem at all. But, then again, I ALWAYS use the 'expert install' option for lilo. Might be in the regular install part

I also used the expert option. And it doesn't install anything. It says that lilo.conf can't be found. But there it is in /etc just like it's supposed to be.

And many, many people are reporting the same problem. So it's pretty obvious that this is broken and someone should look into it.

Very similiar issue
 

Hello! I am both new here as well as new to linux. I have heard a lot of really great things about slackware so I really wanted to install it and get my hands wet.

I have two hard drives, 40 gig with windows xp installed and a 200 gig with a 40gig linux partition at the beginning of the disk.

I pretty much get all the way through the installation just fine, but i think i am running into issues with the lilo configuration. Its kinda strange because it really doesnt seem like it should be this hard.

Basically, I have tried to setup lilo on the MBR and there are no errors during the process. The issue is when i reboot.

When i reboot, it basically goes to a black screen with the following.

L 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01

It basically does this for a few different lines and just sits there...I guess im kinda under the asumption that doing this hosed the MBR. i checked my bios and it is not EZ Bios and there is no antivirus with it as well...

has anyone ever seen anything like this??? pretty crazy! anyways, any help or advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!