mhg:
You'll get through this.
But the truth is that after you get used to "The Mighty Slack", you may not bother with the others very much.

re: "Now that sounds easy!"
The "Super Grub Disk" can also make things easy.

Also:
It hasn't been mentioned here yet that you can boot slack from the dvd.
Refer to the "ina pinch" section.
After the system boots, reinstall the dvd & go to DVD > extra > grub > get the grub package (.tgz) and install it and run: grubconfig

Here is what happened:

Started to boot up, then got message:
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)

and a little above that:
VFS: Cannot open root device "sda3" or unknown-block (0,0)

Here is my entire grub list:
# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 10

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
#color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=7f02a75d-06f3-4084-9448-c5ce11c416a9 ro

## Setup crashdump menu entries
## e.g. crashdump=1
# crashdump=0

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,4)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=7f02a75d-06f3-4084-9448-c5ce11c416a9 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.24-19-generic root=UUID=7f02a75d-06f3-4084-9448-c5ce11c416a9 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.24-19-generic

title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/sda1
title Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Slackware 12.1 (/dev/sda3)
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda3 ro vga=normal

I have to admit, I am getting quite curious, but it may be easier to re-install Slackware, then Ubuntu, and hope that Ubuntu will automatically update grub as you mentioned.

Thank You

Have you tried to boot slack from the dvd?

If you can then just reinstall grub from slack.

IF you do a hose & reload put Slack on ext3 this time.

Oh, and by the way, no matter what partition I choose, when I go through the instructions in the Ubuntu thread, I can not get any directories to list other than the "2.6.24-19-generic".

Sorry, do not have the DVD ISO. I have the three CDs.

I'm not familiar with grub, but it sounds like you're missing slackware's initrg.gz after

I've never used the cds so I don't know whats on them.
Slack should have booted with the entry you made if it's on sda3.
If it was me, I would just reinstall slack on a ext3 partition with lilo.
Lilo will automatically pick up XP but not Ubuntu.
If you have a floppy drive you can install lilo to the floppy and leave grub untouched for now.

After the reinstall to "sda3" the new installation should boot from the old grub if you don't over wright it with lilo.

I'm definitely not an expert on boot errors, so this may not be relevant. However, the default inode size in Slackware 12.1 is 256 bytes, and GRUB has to be patched in order to boot an ext2/ext3 partition with an inode size of 256 bytes instead of 128 bytes (by the way -- why are you using ext2 instead of ext3 in this day and age?). I'm not sure whether Ubuntu's GRUB is patched or not. Slackware has a patched version of GRUB (precompiled) for you in extra/ on the DVD or on CD number 4. You could boot your system using CD 1 (using the instructions to boot your system 'in a pinch'), then eject CD 1 and put in CD 4, mount it, and install Slackware's GRUB. Alternatively, you could install LILO to the superblock of your Slackware partition (NOT to the MBR) and chainload it from Ubuntu's GRUB -- this would allow you to keep Ubuntu's GRUB while still being able to boot Slackware. LILO is in the a/ series (CD 1). To configure LILO graphically, you can run `liloconfig` after installing LILO -- just be sure to install it to the superblock and NOT the MBR (otherwise you would have to reinstall Ubuntu's GRUB to the MBR and reinstall LILO to the superblock).

Now this is really screwed up!

I used a live CD, reformated all the Linux partitions, and installed Slackware, using all the "easy" recommendations during the installation. When finished, I reboot to Slackware, it goes through its motions, then comes to a point where it is asking me for a "darkstar login". I never created any login when intalling. I did create a root password.

I can boot to XP. What the heck did I screw up this time?

Thanks for any help.

OK, did a Linux-Google search and figured out what I needed to do. So I log in as root, use my password, now I am at a command prompt. Still don't know how to boot.

I have re-read the installation instructions, and still can not see any instructions on what more I am supposed to do to get Slackware to boot.

Any help?

Thanks

Type:
startx @ the command prompt.
That will get you into kde as a root user.

adduser will create a user account

Got this:

fatal srever error:
no screens found

waiting for x server to begin accepting connections
giving up

Thanks

Try xorgconfig/xorgsetup. They are two programs to set all your properties for your xorg.conf.

Add a user BEFORE starting X and then log out of root and log in as that newly created user. I have never started X as root, and never will. It's a needless security threat (if not external, then internal -- ie I could screw something up). Use `adduser` as root to add a new user. You should add it to the plugdev, audio, video and cdrom groups (it will ask you what groups to add -- press the up arrow and it will fill these in automatically). PLEASE read CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT and UPGRADE.TXT! Also, read Slackware-HOWTO. You should also read the SlackBook, which is available on the CD/DVD if you want as well. We get a lot of repetitive questions here at LQ that are answered in one of these documents, so I would highly recommend reading these (especially CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT).