lilo boot

I boot my Linux (Debian/GNU 3.0 2.4.19) from a floppy. The lilo.conf file below works just fine (created by mkboot) except that it won't take the last two lines, which I added.

I have to do this at the lilo prompt:

linux vga=ask hdc=ide-scsi

Nor does putting it above as append = ....... work, nor does append = .... beneath 'image' work.

I tried , floppy unmounted, as root:

lilo -b /dev/fd0, but get the error message 'no /etc/lilo.conf found'.

then I put a copy of the file in /root, where I am working from and :

#lilo -C lilo.conf -b /dev/fd0 Ignoring entry 'boot' Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed Warning: COMPACT may conflict with LBA32 on some systems Fatal: open boot.b: No such file or directory

boot = /dev/fd0 install = boot.b map = map compact prompt timeout = 100 read-only image = vmlinuz-2.4.19 label = linux initrd = initrd.img-2.4.19 root = /dev/hda2 vga = ask hdc = ide-scsi

Would someone please tell me how to do this correctly?

I can see one or two key problems here - you are trying to boot a Linux installation on the hard disk (I believe), but you are saying 'boot /dev/fd0' in lilo.conf, which means try to boot an installation on the floppy, which is not what you mean (even though you are putting the kernel on a floppy). This line should say 'boot /dev/hdc' (without the quotes) if you want to boot hard disk /dev/hdc.

My lilo.conf also has a line like 'root /dev/hdc1', meaning the root of the filesystem is on the first partition of /dev/hdc (change for your setup).

I'm afraid off the top of my head, I'm not sure how to solve the 'vag=ask hdc=ide-scsi' issue.

Good luck,

Thanks, Phil.

Here's what worked:

boot=/dev/fd0 map=/boot/map install=/boot/boot.b prompt lba32 vga=ask timeout=100 read-only append='hdc=ide-scsi'

image=vmlinuz-2.4.19 label=linux initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.19 root=/dev/hda2

With the /dev/fd0 mounted on /floppy, I ran

#lilo -C /floppy/lilo.conf

[...]

A note to tidy things up: You have to run the command FROM /floppy, which I just discovered while editing the lilo.conf on my back-up boot floppy.

Not entirely true.

'boot=/dev/fd0' places the first stage loader (boot sector) on the floppy drive. This is okay for booting from a hard disk. Just be sure not to overwrite the map file for any hard disk boot.

'map=/boot/map' places the sector map file in /boot, and names it 'map'. Since this is the default name, you may wish to name it something else:

'map=/boot/map-fd0' to distinguish it from /boot/map, the default file.

The syntax for vga & stuff is:

image=/boot/vmlinux vga=ask append = 'hdd=ide-scsi' root= ... read-only ... etc

Placed below 'image=', they are local to a single image. Placed at the top of the configuration file, they apply to all images.

I gather from what you say that you are not running the newest LILO

It wouldn't work unless I did it from /floppy. Fact.

22.1

says lilo.real is its name (/sbin/lilo -V), which is kink of strange, and you don't need the 'real' on the cl.

I have only one kernel (that I use, a custom 2.4.19) and only boot from a floppy at this point. (trying to get up the courage to:

# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda1 bs=8192

hda1 is where XPernicious lurks.....)

Thanks for the info. Should I try to boot my old 2.2.20 I will know why it doesn't work.

Something else is going on on your system. But there is not enough info here to discern what that may be. I stand by what I said: it is not generally a requirement that you run LILO from the mounted directory. (It would be if your config file referenced files relative to the current directory.)

Look at my lilo.conf and you will see why. A critical file is given as a relative pathname. Hence the error messages and the need to run lilo from /floppy.

Thanks,