LILO Dual boot problem

Fri Oct 3 15:25:34 UTC 2003

Here is what is in my '/boot' (relevant part, anyway):

-=-=-=-=-
lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root           15 Sep  2 21:24 message ->
message-graphic
-rw-r--r--    1 root     root          94K Sep  2 21:23 message-graphic
-=-=-=-=-

and here is my '/etc/lilo.conf':

-=-=-=-=-
prompt
timeout=50
default=redhat
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
lba32

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-20.9
        label=redhat
        initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.20-20.9.img
        read-only
        append="hdc=ide-scsi hdd=ide-scsi root=LABEL=/"

other=/dev/hda1
        optional
        label=win2k
-=-=-=-=-

I think you have answered my problem... I believe that the current
'/boot/message' is being symlinked to the fancy-shmancy graphical
Mandrake boot message. I will try replacing it and seeing ifthat will
fix the problem...

Thank you very much for the long message!! I will post my result for
archival sake if it works!

Madison

On Fri, 2003-10-03 at 02:30, Kevin Cozens wrote:
> Greetings.
> 
> At 04:46 PM 10/02/2003 -0400, you wrote:
> >   I have setup on my system Win2k, RH9.0 and Mandrake 9.1 (installed in
> >the order). Now I am currently booting with the Mandrake-installed boot
> >loader but I want to switch back to the vanilla (or Redhat) version of
> >lilo. Can someone tell me how to do this? When I try typing '# lilo'
> >after updating '/etc/lilo.conf' (from RH9) I get this error:
> >
> >Fatal: /boot/message is too big (> 65535 bytes)
> 
> Something doesn't seem right there. Check that /boot/message is part of the
> lilo package. On my RH9 machine with lilo-21.4.4.22 the file is only 23108
> bytes in length.
> 
> Below is a copy of the lilo.conf file I use. You probably need the line lba32
> if your BIOS indicates LBA mode for your hard drives. The append line is
> optional. If you need to add extra parameters/options at boot time, you can
> instead put them in the append line.
> 
> Since you are booting different OS, you need the 'prompt' and 'timeout' lines.
> This means you will get a LILO: prompt. The timeout is specified in tenths of
> a second so my example waits 15 seconds.
> 
> The 'default' line is used to indicate what to boot by default if nothing is
> typed at the LILO: prompt. You will need multiple copies of the 5 lines which
> start 'image'. In each block you need to indicate the name of the file
> containing the OS to boot. The label line is used to name the different boot
> options you will have and one of the names will be used in the 'default' line.
> 
> The block of lines starting with 'other' is used to boot the MS operating
> system.
> 
> I have also attached my copy of the boot.message file. This is a text file
> which is shown on screen just before the LILO: prompt. You can use it to
> identify the machine, or remind you how to select which OS to boot to name a
> couple of example uses.
> 
> Boot in to either RH or Mandrake and make a boot floppy just in case. Check
> that the lilo RPM is installed. Edit the /etc/lilo.conf file to specify the
> partitions containing the different OS you want to boot and the name of the
> boot images to use.
> 
> Once you have the lilo.conf file configured the way you want/need, run the /
> sbin/lilo command. It will say 'Added' and the name of one of your boot
> choices for each of the boot options you listed in your lilo.conf file. One of
> the lines will also have an '*' at the end which indicates which of the boot
> choices is the default choice.
> 
> If everything looks ok (ie. no errors appeared during the run of the lilo
> command), you should be able to reboot the machine and get a LILO: prompt.
> Test the system by doing a reboot and selecting each of your OS choices in
> turn.
> 
> I have stayed with using lilo to boot the machines I administer. I looked at
> GRUB once. It seemed more involved to get the grub system set up compared to
> the LILO system that was working for me so I saw no reason to make a switch.
> 
> Good luck, Madison.
> 
> ----- start of lilo.conf -----
> boot=/dev/hda
> map=/boot/map
> install=/boot/boot.b
> lba32
> prompt
> message=/boot/boot.message
> append="sb=0x220,7,1,5 dmabuf=1 hdb=ide-scsi hdc=ide-scsi"
> vga=normal
> read-only
> timeout=150
> default=linux
> 
> image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-20.9
>     label=linux
>     root=/dev/hda2
>     read-only
>     initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.20-20.9.img
> 
> other=/dev/hda1
>     label=winme
>     table=/dev/hda
> ----- end of lilo.con -----
> 
> ----- start of boot.message -----
>     ___/\_________/\/\/\___/\______/\___/\______/\__/\____/\_____
>    ___/\___________/\_____/\/\____/\___/\______/\____/\_/\______
>   ___/\___________/\_____/\__/\__/\___/\______/\______/\_______
> ___/\___________/\_____/\____/\/\___/\______/\_____/\_/\_____
> ___/\/\/\/\___/\/\/\___/\______/\____/\/\/\/\_____/\____/\___
> 
> 
> Hit ENTER or wait 15 seconds to load Linux, or
> type 'winme' and hit ENTER to load Windoze ME.
> ----- end of boot.message -----
> 
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> Kevin.  (http://www.interlog.com/~kcozens/)
> 
> Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172        |"What are we going to do today, Borg?"
> E-mail:kcozens at interlog dot com|"Same thing we always do, Pinkutus:
> Packet:ve3syb at ve3yra.#con.on.ca.na|  Try to assimilate the world!"
> #include <disclaimer/favourite>   |              -Pinkutus & the Borg
> 
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-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Madison Kelly
416-208-0146
mkelly_At_alteeve_Dot_com

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