ok, i know you guys have seen this about a million times by now, but my problem lies within LILO. before i go on though, know this. i run two computers in my house and both are dual boot between xp and slackware. the first pc i installed slack on, everything went beautifully (lilo installed on mbr). but when it comes to my main pc, LILO gives me a bunch of 9s at the startup screen. my main pc has two hardrives with the first being only NTFS (with xp on it) and the other with fat32 and linux partitions. (hda1 = ntfs, hdb5 = FAT32, hdb2 = linux swap, and hdb3 = slack root). i tried to install LILO on the mbr and apparently thats not getting the job done, i even tried putting it on root, and same results .

have a look at my lilo.conf file and please let me know what i might want to change.

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hda
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
prompt
timeout = 50
# Normal VGA console
vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hdb3
label = slackware
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/hda1
label = winxp
table = /dev/hda
# Windows bootable partition config ends

its probably something really small and retarded that im missing, but any help here would be greatly appreciated

ok after playing around with both pkgtool and editing the lilo.conf file. the only thing i have gathered since this morning is that the problem lies within the fact that i have an OS on each disk. the thing is, im still unclear on how to correct that problem. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

ive read just about all the posts on here that i could find concerning lilo, and ive come to no fix as of yet. help

"Warning: The boot sector and map file are on different disks.
Added windows *
Added slackware
The boot sector and the map file have *NOT* been altered."

how do i go about correcting that? im sure thats not how its supposed to run, at least my other pc doesnt do that, then again my other pc is only using ond hard drive with 3 partitions. win/swap/root

any help here is greatly apreciated.

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hda
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
prompt
timeout = 50
# Normal VGA console
vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/hda1
label = windows
table = /dev/hda
# Windows bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hdb3
label = slackware
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends

If I'm reading this right, your linux partitions are on the second HDD (hdb) correct? This would mean that your /boot partition is also located on hdb, correct?
Your lilo config contains the line:
boot=/dev/hda
I use grub so I could be wrong, but they basically work the same in priciple. This line is telling lilo to look for your /boot partition on the first HDD instead of the second one.
It should read (I think):
boot=/dev/hdb

I can see why lilo would be confused.

yes, and no, youre correct... i had the line boot = dev/hdb initially, and the worst thing happens when i do that, the system completely locks up. thats never good. i changed to hda to see what erros i would get thats all.

as far as i know, boot=/dev/hda is what you want. that installs lilo to the MBR i think. but you get this error:

The boot sector and the map file have *NOT* been altered.


which leads me to believe that for some reason lilo is having trouble installing itself on the MBR. so...i don't know. maybe check your BIOS to see if your boot sector is write-protected (some BIOS's do this to avoid virus contamination).

I have Windows XP on hda and Linux on hdb my working lilo.conf is as follows:

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hda
message = /boot/boot_message.txt
prompt
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section

# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/hda1
label = Windows
table = /dev/hda
# Windows bootable partition config ends

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hdb1
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends

Running lilo as root gives me:

root@ihtilien:/home/amos# lilo
Warning: The boot sector and map file are on different disks.
Added Windows *
Added Linux
root@ihtilien:/home/amos#

Short of going through the two lilo.conf files line by line I can't see any major difference.
Hope this is of help.

Cheers
Amos