Jump to content

Installing lilo to a linux boot partition


LiNuts
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have just bought a 120Gb HDD, on which i installed XP, This drive is on the primary IDE.

 

My old 40Gb drive is now on the secondary IDE, I want to install my Mandrake 10.0 official on this drive, but do not want to put lilo ( or grub ) into the MBR.

 

I Loaded Mandrake onto the drive with these partitons ( all ext3fs ):

 

hdc1 = /boot

hdc5 = / (root)

hdc6 = swap

hdc7 = /usr

hdc8 = /home

hdc9 = /var

 

I selected the expert option for the install, but Mandrake did not give me an option of where to put lilo, until the summary page, i then chose hdc1 for lilo.

 

when i rebooted, the P.C. booted into XP. Is there a tutorial on how to install lilo somewhere except the MBR, taking into account that the drive is on the secondary IDE.

 

Cheers

Linuts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't put LILO on the MBR you won't be able to access it on bootup. the BIOS will automatically send the bootup process to the MBR (after checking any other devices - floppy/cdrom).

 

Your best option, if you don't want to put it on the MBR, is to put it onto a floppy disk and just put that in the drive whenever you want to boot to Linux.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
Guest 41082rist

This noobie has tried multiple ways of allowing my system to boot a Linux OS without messing with my bread-and-butter WindowsOS mbr or boot.ini or ntldr

Ideas like booting from floppy in the 21st century just don't make sense to me...

... especially as an alternative work-around!

I don't like taking one step forward, only to take two steps back!

 

I have dinked with every Intel BIOS Boot order settings.

I have tinkered with every possible configuration of my Adaptec 39160 SCSI (dual Channel) card.

What I am witnessing is that TWO separate boot loaders (mbr?) cannot co-exist in the same system made up of multiple HDDs (not just partitions).

The only means of doing this appears to be to manually turn-off the DCpower to the boot loader that is not needed.

But even then, it is still a crap shoot as alternative.

I think this is the real difference between a "dual-Boot" system as opposed to a "multi-Boot" system.

 

I really need a "multi-Boot" system without resorting to shenanigans like floopy disks and manual DCpower switches.

Maybe Acronis DiskDirector may help me but it sucks to have to fork out money to get something for FREE? Don't it? :wall:

This is my SEVENTH attempt to allow a Linux distro to co-exist in my WinXP system and just have not been successful!

I have had Linux fully corrupt my MBRs and mess my other 5 drives.

Yes, sure, I can be faulted in some way or another.

But if a user can easily navigate around 6HDD SCSI system, or be able make any WindowsOS sing like a perfect pitch soprano ===> shouldn't it be a given that this same user should have some innate capacity to be able not allow an OS to bugger up his HDDs?

I really try to be tolerant and keep coming back to Linux flavors, just to give it the benefit of the doubt!

But at each try, I get these hurdles:

*Like "well you have to get a different trackball".

*Or like "well, you can't use the full capabilities of your XX device as the drivers are just a subset of a full blown software suite".

*Or that a manufacturer is to blame for not releasing the proper drivers!

*Or that you have to manually setup your network devices!

*******Or horrors, I have to do what with the command prompt?

 

All I want is to be able to try out Linux where all of my devices work properly and I don't have to fuss with anything.

Thus far, I have done more fussing with Linux distros without any productive results then any other piece of software in my life.

How sad is that!

They tell me my answer lies with a stupid Floppy disk!

This must be rocket science for the sake of rocket science!

Edited by 41082rist
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you can install a Windows system on a regular Linux install without it messing up the Linux bootloader, come back and complain.

Until then, it's rocket science for you. Linux as a sole system on your system wouldn't pose you any boot loader placement issues. It's your choice, and that's fine. But don't make it look like Linux has this bootloader issue and windows doesn't, because we all know it does.

Don't compare apples and oranges.

Edited by aRTee
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been using lilo/grub for years in my system. I started with 98 and currently have xppro. Windows is now and has always been a problem to deal with concerning multiple boot systems. I have always installed the boot loader to the mbr. Always.

 

A boot loader is a bootloader, whether lilo, grub, or something you have to spend money on rather than donate to. Your issue is how windows must see the system when it comes to life, period. Switching the boot device in the bios is a pain in the lower half. It is designed for windows installations that must think they are the primary boot device. Unix/linux has no such limitation. But you need some software in order to choose. So whether you use hardware (bios) or software (bootloader) windows will only behave if it thinks it is primary and solo.

 

I have had many different distros on 3 different personal boxes with windows. My system has not had less than 3 os's over the past 4 years. Perhaps it would be better to figure out what it is that you are afraid of and what it is you need to appropriately do what you need.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you can install a Windows system on a regular Linux install without it messing up the Linux bootloader, come back and complain.

Until then, it's rocket science for you. Linux as a sole system on your system wouldn't pose you any boot loader placement issues. It's your choice, and that's fine. But don't make it look like Linux has this bootloader issue and windows doesn't, because we all know it does.

Don't compare apples and oranges.

I agree by 100%.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This noobie has tried multiple ways of allowing my system to boot a Linux OS without messing with my bread-and-butter WindowsOS mbr or boot.ini or ntldr

 

yadda yadda yadda...

gotta love when people rant in threads that are months old. just a troll folks, nothing to see here. If you want windows and linux to co-exist you can either set windows to boot linux as in the thread bvc linked to or you can install lilo or grub which should not corrupt the mbr unless 1)you're a very unlucky person or 2) you did something wrong.

Edited by tyme
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
Guest pablito

Hey guys, I think there may be an issue with the 39160 card. I have one of these Adaptec 39160 cards too, and I'm trying to install linux as a dual boot with Windows XP. I don't get the problems the other guy has, because, although the linux install program recognizes the 39160 card, it says that the computer has no hard drives, and it does! I've seen threads on config problems with other Adaptec cards. I'll admit I wasn't trying to put linux on a totally separate drive, just a separate partition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really try to be tolerant and keep coming back to Linux flavors, just to give it the benefit of the doubt!

But at each try, I get these hurdles:

*Like "well you have to get a different trackball".

Yes just like OS-X... if you plug in an unsupported device you need to buy a whole new PC...

I don't know anyone who's managed to take out the apple supplied card and replace it with a PC card...

 

*Or like "well, you can't use the full capabilities of your XX device as the drivers are just a subset of a full blown software suite".

That would depend on the capabilities... if you want to run an OCR prog that came with a scanner then of course its limited by the SW suite... if its a software RAID with windows softwre then of course it won't work but the linux software RAID will!

 

*Or that a manufacturer is to blame for not releasing the proper drivers!

Don't know what to say to that... if they won't relase drivers then how else are you going to get it to work, indeed many devices do work if they publish a decent whitepaper but if they choose to be secretive and not who else could be to blame?

 

*Or that you have to manually setup your network devices!

What do you call manual? Having to say a device is to be configured by DHCP?

Its not rocket science ... most distro's provide a GUI many will autoconfigure it ...

 

 

*******Or horrors, I have to do what with the command prompt?

Ah back to winipcfg? Most things can be done in a GUI but most are far easier to explain in a forum using the command prompt. If I help people in a forum its usually using the CLI because then I can be sure they do exactly as I say and don't press a wrong button or have a different language with different options in the GUI. In the same way it returns accurate information on your devices etc. you can cut/patse as text and don't need snapshots of each stage...

 

All I want is to be able to try out Linux where all of my devices work properly and I don't have to fuss with anything.

Have you gone out and got rid of all your incompatible devices... did you check for linux compatibility before you bought them... Im guessing not ..

But if a user can easily navigate around 6HDD SCSI system, or be able make any WindowsOS sing like a perfect pitch soprano ===> shouldn't it be a given that this same user should have some innate capacity to be able not allow an OS to bugger up his HDDs?

 

Well this is why... you are used to the Windows paradigm...the more experienced users are when switching the more different things seem.

Its like the windows hardware that says on the box ... "Do not plug in until after drivers are installed"

Usually the experienced Win user will ignore it and just not install the automatically detected drivers but a noobie will get themselves in a mess they can't get out of.

 

When you switch to linux it has different ways of doing things but they are no more complex just different if the hardware IS compatible.

I haven't used windows in a long while. and all my hardware is linux compatible and I can install a distro in 12 mins (last one) and then have it working fully in a further 3...

 

Thus far, I have done more fussing with Linux distros without any productive results then any other piece of software in my life.

I bet you have spent far longer fussing over Windows... you just did it over a longer period of time...

Heck I wasted weeks on and off with Win95 trying to get it out of safemode...

How sad is that!

They tell me my answer lies with a stupid Floppy disk!

This must be rocket science for the sake of rocket science!

Your problem seems to be you want the ntloader to load a non wiondows distro and its simply designed not to...

Grub and lilo both do a good job of loading windows and commercial boot loaders like Partition magic do too

You choose not to use these from choice but decide that the alternative ... you don't like?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...