[Posted and mailed]
Quote:> I have an 20Gb disk with Win95 installed onto the primary FAT partition,
> Win NT4 and a spare logical drive in an extended partition. NT gives me a
> menu to boot between Win NT and Win 95. I want to add an option for Linux
> to this menu,
This is a reasonable way to proceed. There's a HOWTO on the subject, I
believe. I also cover it in my book, _The Multi-Boot Configuration
Handbook_ (http://www.rodsbooks.com/multiboot/).
Quote:> so I'm trying to install Gentus Linux using the Custom option
> so I can install LILO to the linux partition, not the MBR.
Quite honestly, I believe this is the first I've heard of Gentus Linux.
Presumably it's a pretty minor distribution. It's certainly not the
only one that'll let you install LILO on the Linux partition's boot
sector, although some of them are pretty stupid about it and insist on
putting LILO on the MBR. Unfortunately, I don't have a list of which
ones provide which options. I do know that Red Hat lets you put LILO on
either the MBR or the boot partition. I'm pretty sure Debian does, too,
but only if the boot partition is primary (lame, lame, lame) -- but I
believe it lets you put LILO on the extended partition that contains
the boot partition (slightly less lame).
Quote:> When I try to install Gentus Linux 3 on the disk, I get to the stage where
> I create the linux partitions, I set the parameters, click the Next button
> then the PC ejects the cd and reboots.
> If I follow the process through again, the partitions haven't been created
> and I'm back to the beginning again.
> What do I do to continue the installation process ?
I've two suggestions:
1) Create your partitions using some other utility. PartitionMagic
(http://www.powerquest.com, and a copy of the previous version also
comes with my book) lets you create Linux partitions directly. You
could also use some Linux micro-distribution or some other
distribution's emergency recovery disk to do the job. OTOH, I don't
know if Gentus would let you use pre-created Linux partitions -- some
distributions positively insist on creating their own partitions
(again, lame, lame, lame).
2) Switch to another distribution. My hunch is you're running into a
Gentus-specific bug, although it's also possible you've got some sort
of hardware problem or Linux driver problem that wouldn't be fixed by
switching to another distribution.
If you try one or both of these and can't get around the problem, post
some more information on your disk system -- what motherboard or EIDE
controller you're using (if you've got EIDE disks) or what SCSI host
adapter you're using (if you've got SCSI disks). You might also want to
post the make, model, and size of your hard disk or disks, and the exact
partition layouts (size and type of each partition).
--
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
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