<SNAP ON> ---------- From: Bruce Perens[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 1996 9:34 PM To: bruce; salwen; Happy Linux Users; Charles A. Schuman Subject: Re: #1, make it boot! Engage.
From: "Charles A. Schuman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > # fdisk (then "p") > Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System > /dev/sda1 * 1 1 251 513891 6 DOS 16-bit >=32M > /dev/sda2 252 252 976 1484437+ 83 Linux native > /dev/sda3 977 977 1003 55282+ 82 Linux swap Note the "*" is next to the DOS partition. This will cause the DOS partition to boot, because it's marked as the "Boot" partition. I'm not sure what MBR (master boot record) you have. If you have the Debian one, holding the shift key down while the system boots will cause a "123FA: " prompt (or something similar). Press 2 and see if Linux comes up. If you have the DOS MBR, you won't get that prompt. Use FDISK (on DOS or Linux) or "activate" on Linux to set /dev/sda2 to be the "Boot" partition. That will also set the _default_ partition booted by the Debian MBR. > The drive is a SLED (Single Large Expensive Disk). Are you sure it's not an IPTMCTWTSFN? That means "I Paid Too Much Compared to What They Sell For Now". I have a whole room full of those. :-) > Here's the messed up lilo.conf on what now is /target/etc/lilo.conf: > > boot=/dev/sda2 > root=/dev/sda2 > install=/target/boot/boot.b > vga=normal > delay=20 > image=/target/boot/vmlinuz > label=Linux That looks like an OK lilo.conf but it's living on the sda2 partition (as it should), and you need to set that "Boot" designation or you'll never run it. > I can't even begin to speculate on what this is all doing. At boot time, the boot ROM loads the first block of the disk. The first 446 bytes of that block contain the MBR. The next 66 bytes are the partition table. If the MBR starts with the right byte pattern, the ROM jumps into its code. The MBR looks for first partition in the table with the "Boot" flag set. The first block (maybe more - I don't know) of that partition is loaded, and the MBR jumps to that code. In your case that should be what LILO wrote, but the flag is on the wrong partition so you boot (or try to boot) the DOS partition instead. Bruce <SNAP OFF> For myself (I have a look-alike partitions table), I prefer to boot with a floppy and rerun LILO on my MBR. You will set it by replacing your boot line by boot=/dev/sda who will write on your sda MBR, in place of /dev/sda2 who would write on your partition. After that, just run lilo when you're root. the Boot flag are only use in OS/2 or MS-OSs at my knowledge. It's better to only have one set because MS-DOS doesn't support multiple boot parts. --------------------------------------------------------------- The contradiction is not that free software are among the best, it's that commercial software aren't the best of them. =============================================================== Fabien Ninoles aka the Baggus Mage aka Baffouille [EMAIL PROTECTED] +----------------------------- finger me for my PGP Public Key | Not knowing where you go | always lead you to [space must be fill to register] | a Baggus End... --------------------------------------------------------------- Can be reach too on [EMAIL PROTECTED] until 30/08/96 ---------------------------------------------------------------