lilo questions

[ccrettz]

Hi,
I was so impressed with Salix when I installed it on my very old Toshiba laptop that I decided to put it on my T30 Thinkpad, which is almost as old . This installation works well but I do have a couple of problems.

The first problem is the boot procedure. After the boot screen 'Loading Linux' displays for 55 seconds whilst drawing the dots across the screen until the message 'BIOS data check successful' is displayed. This should only take a second or two.
(...)
I was also disappointed that lilo didn't pick up the existing Linux distribution, which was booted with Grub, on hda5. (...).
Nda

Hi, for information, I have the same good impression with Salix, but also the same problems (with a similar PC: a Thinkpad T30): 1) the boot procedure takes 55 seconds 2) lilo doesn't recognise my other distribution.

I'll will try to (re)install grub instead of lilo. Otherwise, what about GAG (http://gag.sourceforge.net/): does it work with lilo?
Bye.

[gapan]

1) the boot procedure takes 55 seconds

Did you try to force lilo to use compact mode as suggested earlier in this thread?

2) lilo doesn't recognise my other distribution.

You'll have to add any other distributions in /etc/lilo.conf yourself.

[nda]

Hi ccrettz,

If you were using the original Grub, not Grub 2, it is easy to restore with a live CD if you issue the following commands, as root, in a terminal:

grub

root (hd0,x) - my Mint 7 root partition is /dev/hda5, so the command was root (hd0,4)

setup (hd0)

exit

On my machine Salix root is on hda7, so I rebooted into Mint to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst by adding this:

title Salix 13.0.2a
root (hd0,6)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda7

then I made Salix the default OS and now my T30 boots straight into Salix every time.

Nda

[ccrettz]

Hello gapan, Hello nda,
Thanks for your fast answer!

@gapan: I try to modify the file /etc/lilosetup.conf (I didn't find /etc/lilo.conf) and adding the line
lilo -c -v

So, my lilosetup.conf is now:

# Début de configuration de la partition démarrable Linux
image = /boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.29.6-smp
root = /dev/hda1
label = Salix
read-only
lilo -c -v
# Fin de configuration de la partition démarrable Linux

But it doesn't work. I did probably something wrong.

So I try the solution from Nda, because I am used to working with Grub, and everything work well. Now I can enjoy Salix!

Thank everyone for your help,
Bye
ccrettz

[gapan]

Wait. Did you actually put "lilo -c -v" inside the lilosetup.conf file? No no no no no. You're supposed to run lilo that way, not put it in there! And I didn't realize you were talking about the live CD, you don't get a lilo.conf file with that. Another way to do it is create a line with:

Code: Select all

compact

at the top of the lilosetup.conf file. I have mine right after append=... and boot=... lines.

[Akuna]

The correct syntax would be with a capital C

Code: Select all

lilo -v -C /etc/lilosetup.conf

If you wish to use the lilosetup.conf file generated by the livecd during install, you need to either:
1- Rename /etc/lilosetup.conf to /etc/lilo.conf before issuing lilo
or
2-- issue lilo with the -C switch:

From Lilo man page:

-C config-file
Specify an alternate pathname for the configuration file.
This option overrides the use of the default configuration file,
/etc/lilo.conf.

In both case you must ensure in the configuration file that the mountpoint(s) path(s) that was(were) relevant from the livecd perspective is(are) still relevant in your installed system & correct as necessary.

[ccrettz]

I see, I was wrong!! (especially I didn't see that lilo -v -C was a command line... shame on me. But I was disapointed to not find /etc/lilo.conf. In a terminal, I did write "lilo"and the answer was "Cannot open: /etc/lilo.conf" But I understand better now why).

So I'll try your solution this evening and I'll tell you if it's ok.
Thanks for all!
ccrettz

[Shador]

The correct syntax would be with a capital C

I'm sure gapan intentionally posted -c (lower case), as it is the corresponding switch to the 'compact' config option:

-c Enable map compaction. This will merge read requests from adjacent sectors. Speeds up
the booting (especially from floppy).

[Akuna]

I'm sure gapan intentionally posted -c (lower case), as it is the corresponding switch to the 'compact' config option:

-c Enable map compaction. This will merge read requests from adjacent sectors. Speeds up
the booting (especially from floppy).

Ok, then this would be the correct command:

Code: Select all

lilo -v -c -C /etc/lilosetup.conf

[ccrettz]

Code: Select all

lilo -v -c -C /etc/lilosetup.conf

YES! It's working!

Thanks everyone for your help!

Bye,
ccrettz