[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> I just istalled LM7.2 on my new drive (20GB). It's got a 13GB Win98
> partition and the rest for LM7.2. The install goes fine, but LILO doesn't
> install. I tried with every distro I own and the same thing happens, LILO
> refuses to install. In order to get the thing to boot, I installed FreeBSD
> 4.0, and it's bootloader installed. I re-installed LM7.2 over BSD, but
> again, LILO won't install. The BSD loader is still there.
>
> Any clues why?
As Al Baker mentioned, Windows systems install on the first available
partition on the first hard drive. This is cast in stone. In addition,
MS FDISK will only create one Primary partition and an Extended
partition (with multiple logical drives) whereas the Linux system can
create up to 4 primary partitions (the limit for a hard drive).
Lilo must be installed within the first 1024 cylinders of the drive
being booted, or it will not boot/install properly.
A workaround is to create a small primary partition (10 MB) at the start
of the drive which will be mounted as /boot. This will ensure that LILO
is within the first 1024 cylinders. This works even if it is being
installed on a second or third drive. If it is on the first drive, it
will be labeled as C. I am using Norton's GDISK to do this.
Next, a primary partition of a suitable size is defined for Windows.
This partition will be labeled as D. The first primary must then be
marked as hidden. This will force the second partition to be labeled as
C so Windows can be installed on it. It should be also set to active.
You can then define a partition for swap (128 MB?) and one for the
balance of the Linux system which will be mounted as root.
Install Windows first. It will automatically go to the default C
partition. Once Windows is configured, you can proceed to install
Mandrake Linux. When the install gets to the disk partitioning question,
choose diskdrake. It will display the various partitions including the
hidden one. Click on EXT2 and then on the first small partition, and set
its mount point as /boot. On a second or third drive, there should be
only 3 partitions. The first at the drive start will be the small one
which will be mounted as /boot. In either case, the remaining partitions
can be set to swap or / as required. Note that GDISK leaves the default
format of these partitions a FAT, so you will have to click either SWAP
or EXT2 before clicking on a partition to set a mount point. Diskdrake
also will detect the Windows partition, and will set its mount point as
/mnt/windows.
When the install gets to the question of installing LILO, (or GRUB),
have it installed on the master boot record (MBR) of the first drive -
hda. Mandrake automatically detects Windows and includes it in its menu.
I am currently configuring a system to use Win98, LM7.2 and BeOS. I used
Nortons GDISK running on a Win98 system floppy to configure a 10 GB hard
drive as follows:
P1 - 13 MB mount as /boot
P2 - 2 GB Windows 98
EXT2
L1 - 2 GB for BeOS
L2 - 133 MB Swap
L3 - 5.1 GB mount as root
I can start either Windows or LM7.2 at boot time, and am going to
install BeOS next. BeOS has a nice boot loader and I may use it to
control the system startup.
Hope this helps... Tom.
Tom Cada
Great Lakes Systems
