from rik's menu.lst: title Gentoo Linux 2004.1 root (hd0,5) kernel (hd0,5)/boot/kernel-2.6.5-gentoo root=/dev/hda6 systemmap (hd0,5)/boot/System.map-2.6.5-gentoo # initrd (hd0,5)/boot/initrd chainloader +1
take out the chainloader command. what that does is transfer execution to another bootloader in (hdd0,5), but there won't be a boot loader there. you are wanting to boot the kernel, not another bootloader.