Very Computer

I just installed SLS .99p9 on my system and I went ahead and installed
LILO.  

1.      How do you uninstall it if you no longer want it?

2.      ...or how do I boot my DOS partition once it is installed?

-pete

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I just installed SLS .99p9 on my system and I went ahead and installed
LILO.  

1.      How do you uninstall it if you no longer want it?

2.      ...or how do I boot my DOS partition once it is installed?

-pete

Quote:>I just installed SLS .99p9 on my system and I went ahead and installed
>LILO.  
>1.  How do you uninstall it if you no longer want it?
>2.  ...or how do I boot my DOS partition once it is installed?

To unnstall lilo ie. boot dos only form your harddisk a dos "fdisk /mbr"
will overwrite the mbr safely without destroying files on the c drive.

In your lilo config there will be a name associated with each partition
to boot ie. linux is "linux" from the default setup. You have to enter
a name for dos. I can't remmber the exact syntax but it's like-
"dos name" = /dev/"whatever dev for dos" under the linux name partition
along with a table option. This should be documented online.
hope this helps,
Rob.
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#  Rob Mascaro, System Administrator             | Phone: +61 9 4251804       #

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Does this mean that LILO can act as a boot manager, rather than forcing you
to boot to Linux?  If so, then how can this be set up?

[It is so hard to find correct up-to-date info on Linux.  Is there a
 PostScript manual on running this kind of system?]

I use the method:
  Boot the MSDOS, run fdisk /mbr, and then the hard disk may boot from
MSDOS after reset. If you want to boot linux, you have to boot from
floopy disk now.

Actually it depends.
If lilo was installed as the MBR, then the above works.
If, as I use it, it was installed on the Linux partition (eg hda2), then
all you need to do is use FDISK to change the active partition back to
DOS (or whatever).

To see what LILO can boot, press the TAB key at the LILO boot: prompt
(hold SHIFT at bootup if you don't get the prompt).
This will list what you configured.

                            Stephen Harris

*  Meow! Call Spuddy the Cat for Usenet access in the UK.  Call 0203 364436 *

Quote:>I use the method:
>  Boot the MSDOS, run fdisk /mbr, and then the hard disk may boot from
>MSDOS after reset. If you want to boot linux, you have to boot from
>floopy disk now.

I installed SLS 1.02 this past weekend, and told it "Sure, go ahead!"
when it asked if I wanted it to install Lilo.  It was only later that I
discovered to my chagrin that I now had no way to boot my DOS
partition.  I knew about holding down a key during boot and hitting tab
for a list, but it only let me choose Linux!  I read through the Lilo
text documentation without finding an obvious solution, and have still
not worked up my courage to try decrypting the*documentation.  I
ended up grubbing around on my disk until I found what looked like a
copy of my original MBR in (I think) /etc/lilo.  I crossed my fingers,
offered a little prayer to the local diety, and dd'd it on top of the
first block of /dev/hda.  Now DOS boots from the hard disk, and I can
boot Linux from floppy.  (Local deity comes through again!  :-))  I'll
try reinstalling Lilo after I've had some time to figure TeX out well
enough to read the real Lilo documentation.

I'm sure Lilo is wonderful stuff, but any software I ever produce for
Linux will come with documentation that you can read without
infrastructure any more massive than the more(1) command.  (I suppose
some sort of smiley is appropriate here, but I'm not sure which one.
Feel free to use your imagination.)

May you always have spare cycles!

Paul Allen

---

Boeing Computer Services, Research & Technology, Computing Environment  (whew!)
"It ain't no fun sleepin' in unless you're awake to enjoy it!" (Bill Whistlecod)

Yet another reason to ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BOOTABLE DISK no matter
what OS you're using. |^}

I have a DOS boot disk or two on the shelf above my computer. If you could
boot DOS, you could have run fdisk /mbr and fixed everything up real quick.

Please take no offense if I sound like I'm lecturing, I work in a computer
lab, and it's my job to pound stuff like this into computer illiterates, and
it gets rather repetetative.

happy hacking
-Mag

It does (or did anyway!).

However, the sort of entry you want in as a config file is:
boot=/dev/hda2
install=/etc/lilo/boot.b
compact
delay=50
other=/dev/hda1
   table=/dev/hda
   label=DOS
image=/vmlinux
  label=linux
  root=/dev/hda2
  vga=normal

Call this /etc/lilo/config, then install with "lilo -C config"
This will install lilo on /dev/hda2, instead of the MBR, so making partition
2 active will use lilo.  I prefer this to installing on /dev/hda because
removing lilo is then as simple as changing the active partition back to
the DOS partition.

This setup will boot DOS by default, with a linux option and a 5 second
delay to give you time to press SHIFT and get the LILO menu).

Hope this helps.

                            Stephen Harris

*  Meow! Call Spuddy the Cat for Usenet access in the UK.  Call 0203 364436 *