LILO Not Loading on I8500

Question

I've got an I8500 with the following partition structure: Dell Diags C: (15 GB NTFS) D: (15 GB FAT32) /boot /swap / (approx 10 GB ReiserFS) I've tried to get RH 9.0 installed multiple times, and while I don't run into any errors during the installation process, I can't boot to Linux. The machine boots right to XP, even though I instructed LILO to be installed to the MBR. All of the research I've seen has people using LVMs, which I know nothing about. Is there some sort of BIOS protection over the MBR, is the diag partition messing something up, or am I missing something else here? I would rather not have to use the Windows bootloader if possible.

Agent Orange · Answer

errr....dumb question - you did run lilo after editing /etc/lilo.conf right? Maybe you should whack your lilo.conf file on the web somewhere so people can have a look. Would make it easier to see what's going on...

cheers

gellmann · Answer

I would post my lilo.conf, but I can't get to it since I can't boot to Linux. I don't have the floppy drive, so I can't make a boot floppy. My question is this, why is the installation of LILO to the MBR failing without any errors. I can't find any web pages in my research that has people installing LILO to the MBR. They are all using LVMs, so they are using GRUB on the first part of the boot partition.

I didn't run lilo again because I didn't edit the lilo.conf file. I just told RedHat to install it, it told me to reboot, and I did, and I'm straight into Windows XP.

dacap · Answer

Turn the power off and then on. Interrupt the boot cycle with the key combination that gets you into your BIOS (the F2 key on my Inspiron 5100). Check it over to makes sure writing to the Master Boot Record is enabled. Making it read only became a BIOS feature some years ago when virus designers began installing them there.

gellmann · Answer

I've checked the BIOS before, but that was before I flashed to an newer version. I checked again, and the only thing I can think of that might be related is the BXE/PIS setting (currently set to Deny). What info I could find on it through Google seems like this isn't part of the problem. Am I wrong, and should I change the setting, or is it something else? I couldn't find anything related to the MBR in the BIOS, but I have heard of systems letting you lock it up, like dacap's. Is this another option that Dell left out of their BIOS for the Inspiron 8500, just like a few other options?

dacap · Answer

Unfortunately, I don't know what the BXE/PIS parameter does. Frankly, I don't see what is keeping you from writing to the MBR. The Windows 2K loader is capable of loading Linux, so I'd bet the Windows XP version can too. I wonder if you could take a different tack and configure it instead?

Heres a wild guess - perhaps in the Inspron 8500 Dell uses a non-standard boot sequence that starts from their secret configuration partition instead of from the MBR? If you got no error when you ran LILO and you don't see LILO when the system boots, then it has to be something wild like this to explain the apparent contradiction.

Message Edited by dacap on 12-19-2003 07:50 AM

Agent Orange · Answer

PXE is the preboot execution environment and is IIRC used for booting from the network. You don't need it.

Simplest thing to do is whack your redhat CD back into the drive - it'll be bootable. boot from the CD and as soon as you can, get it to dump you into a shell. Try boot options init=/bin/sh

from here you can mount your partitions, edit /etc/lilo.conf, run lilo again and see how you go.

oh - almost forgot - don't forget to add a windows entry to /etc/lilo.conf. otherwise once it's installed correctly, you wont be able to boot to windows. there _should_ be docs for lilo in something like
/usr/share/docs/lilo or something similar (under /usr/share). With redhat of course, YMMV...

cheers

Message Edited by Agent Orange on 12-19-2003 04:26 PM

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