System loading grub instead of LILO after slackware 13.37 installation

LowNEpic · 08-10-2011, 05:43 AM

Hi all,

Slackware was one of the first distros i tried when i was new to linux. I dont really remember, but i think it was version 11 back then. Anyhow, i didn't get it to work. I understand now Slackware is perhaps not the best distro to start with as a new linux user :P

But a few days ago i ran out of disk space on my primary ubuntu 9.10 hdd so i got a new one from and old computer which i don't use anymore. That's when i thought about trying to install slackware again. I downloaded the full ISO from the website and installled it without any errors. But when i was finished with the installation and restarted, i got an error while loading the bootloader. It said grub error: file not found, and then i got into grub resque.
There's my problem. For some reason LILO doesn't replace grub as the standard boot loader, but it somehow makes grub get an error. I tried reinstalling it and nothing. During the setup i chose to install LILO at the Mbr.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

janhe · 08-10-2011, 06:00 AM

Do the letters L or "LI" or "LIL" or "LILO" appear on the screen?

What way did you configure lilo? Did you use the automatic configuration, or did you choose the more "manual" configuration menus?

Just for fun, try installing it to superblock, and run

Code:

lilo -A /dev/sda 1

before rebooting.
This assumes your root partition is sda1. Note the space between /dev/sda and 1.

LowNEpic · 08-10-2011, 06:32 AM

All that appears is the grub error

I used the automatic configuration. I'll try superblock and get back here.

markush · 08-10-2011, 07:08 AM

Hello LowNEpic, welcome to LQ,

I had once a similar problem, the solution is here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...he-mbr-850261/

hope that helps

Markus

LowNEpic · 08-11-2011, 01:59 AM

Sry for the slow response, i've been kinda busy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jahne

Just for fun, try installing it to superblock...

I tried installing it to the superblock but during the installation i got an error:

Code:

Syntax error at or above line 12 in file '/etc/lilo.conf'

Quote:

Originally Posted by markush

I had once a similar problem, the solution is here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...he-mbr-850261/

Thanks for the welcome

I really thought you had found me the solution when i saw your post, sooo i went ahead and tried it (changing the /dev/sda to sdb since that is my root partition). Now, instead of getting a grub error message i get nothing. My bios seems to be loading the bootloader forever (or simply loading nothing). I guess I'll look around on the forum to look at similar problems.

janhe · 08-11-2011, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LowNEpic

Sry for the slow response, i've been kinda busy.

I tried installing it to the superblock but during the installation i got an error:

Code:

Syntax error at or above line 12 in file '/etc/lilo.conf'

Any idea what is at line 12 in /etc/lilo.conf ?

Do you rerun liloconfig or do you edit the file by hand and run lilo then? (I sure hope you aren't reinstalling Slackware every time)

Quote:

Originally Posted by LowNEpic

Thanks for the welcome

I really thought you had found me the solution when i saw your post, sooo i went ahead and tried it (changing the /dev/sda to sdb since that is my root partition). Now, instead of getting a grub error message i get nothing. My bios seems to be loading the bootloader forever (or simply loading nothing). I guess I'll look around on the forum to look at similar problems.

Did you remember to reinstall lilo (to MBR) after the wiping the Master Boot Record?

markush · 08-11-2011, 02:40 AM

Hi,

what I thought to use was only the dd command to clean the MBR of /dev/sda1. The command

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=446 count=1

will delet the MBR so that you can install lilo properly and it will work afterwards.

Markus