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In alt.os.linux.slackware, Lucinda dared to utter,
> I don't understand why lilo doesn't like the hard drive. Like I've
> said, it's worked fine, I made no changes to lilo and then suddenly
> the "LIL"... message popped up. Maybe I should consider using a new
> loader (i.e. GRUB?). Or will doing something with "udev" help?

Here's your lilo.conf file taken from a previous post with my comments
added, and modifications made. Maybe this will help you.

linear
# append = "hdc=ide-scsi" # Shouldn't matter, but I'd comment this
# for testing.
boot = /dev/hda # Installs LILO to the MBR of /dev/hda.
install = /boot/boot.b # Verify this exists.
map = /boot/map # Verify this exists.
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
prompt
timeout = 1200
change-rules
reset
# vga = 773 # Shouldn't matter, but comment this
# for testing.
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz # Try a different kernel, maybe even
# a custom compiled one. Also, is
# this a symlink? If so, try the full
# path name for the kernel.
root = /dev/hda3
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends

One other thing. Have you tried backing up your lilo.conf and running
liloconfig (as root) again? The logs you posted didn't indicate to me
that anything was wrong with installing LILO, so I'd imagine there's
just some trivial mistake in either your lilo.conf or your /boot
directory. Perhaps /boot/vmlinuz is a broken symlink or something,
though I would imagine lilo would throw an error at that. Why not post
a list of your /boot directory? ' ls -l /boot' if running liloconfig
again doesn't help.

- --
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise,
Than for a man to hear the song of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:5
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Hi all,
I'm the author of nuni, so I'll try answer.

Lucinda wrote:

> kevin360@yahoo.com (Kevin) wrote in message
>
>> I had problems with LILO and a new Giga-byte P4 MB. Tried
>> different settings in the BIOS and LILO didn't fix the problem.
>> Finally I tried 'nuni' and it boots no problem. nuni bypasses the
>> BIOS code and accesses the drives directly, I wish LILO would
>> incorporate it's code as an option. You can find nuni on freshmeat:

Actually, nuni started as a proof-of-concept to try to get the lilo author
to incorporate the technique.

>> http://freshmeat.net/projects/nuni/
>
> Thanks Kevin. I'm a real newbie...I've only been playing around with
> Slack, Linux and OS's for about a month. I'm taking a look at the
> program you suggested. Are the install instructions really as easy as
> follows?

It's really very easy for drives hda thru hdd. For hde & higher you have to
find the i/o addresses (usually in /proc/pci) and insert them.

> Installation instructions:
>
> (1) put the nuni-0.08.tar.gz file in a convenient place
> (2) tar zxf nuni-0.08.tar.gz
> (3) cd nuni-0.08
> (4) ./c (this is a script with a gcc command in it)
>
> Configuration and installation instructions (for nuni):
>
> (1) cd /path/nuni-0.08
> (2) edit nuni to set the following items:
> (a) path to kernel image <----------------So this would be
> /boot/vmlinuz??

yes

> (b) target partition for installing the boot loader
> <--------/dev/hda3??

yes

> (c) command line for kernel <---------Do I need one if I haven't
> been passing any special paramters to the kernel??

You'll need the "root=/dev/...." and the "ro" Those are equivalent the
similar lines in lilo.conf. Adding more command lines is equivalent to the
"append" command in lilo.conf.

> (3) ./nuni
>
>
> And I am assuming that I don't need to install nunimbr.asm since I
> have only Linux on my system.

There are 2 utilities, nuni & nunimbr. nuni is a loader and nunimbr is a
selector (I hate to say boot manager for such a little routine).

nuni is slightly too big to be put in a sector that has a partition table
(e.g. in the MBR), so it goes in any available boot sector (hda1, hdb2,
etc) or on a floppy. Just as for lilo, if you put it in one of these boot
sectors, there must be something to execute it.

The BIOS goes straight to the MBR of hda if it exists, and there's some
mystery about where the BIOS goes if there's no hda. The best way to
remove the mystery is to put something known to you in the MBR (e.g. lilo
or nunimbr).

nunimbr allows you to interactively name a partition to boot, then it
executes whatever it finds in the boot sector of that partition (hopefully
a loader). With nunimbr on a floppy, you can take the floppy from machine
to machine and boot any desired partition (assuming there is a loader in
that partion's boot sector). It can also be non-interactive.

> Are my assumptions correct? I just want to make sure before I try
> this. If this doesn't work, can I just continue to boot with my
> Syslink disk? Should I try GRUB as an alternate to LILO? This is
> quite annoying. I can understand having problems if this were a new
> installation, but I was fine up until yesterday. Strange.

I have 2 machines that spontaneously get the "L 99 99 99..." (with lilo)
after working correctly for a while. On those I'm forced to use nuni. I
typically use lilo on the machines where it works reliably. As for Grub,
I've never made it through the complications in order to try it.

Neil

Neil Koozer wrote:



> I have 2 machines that spontaneously get the "L 99 99 99..." (with lilo)
> after working correctly for a while. On those I'm forced to use nuni. I
> typically use lilo on the machines where it works reliably. As for Grub,
> I've never made it through the complications in order to try it.
>


Grub is quite nice, especially if you have a machine where you are forever
rebuilding kernels for test purposes.

It won't build on a default Slack system as Pat insists on using an old
version of binutils that the grub build process objects to.