L 01 01 01 01....

[Calipso]

alrite, heres a problem that really scared me.
i installed mandrake 9.1 about an hour ago.
installation process went smoothly up until the point where i rebooted the system for the very first time.....no OS loaded and i got this message showing up.

L 01 01 01 01 01 01......this would continue for a while.

i have xp installed and was hoping to have a dual-boot with mandrake.
im an extreme noob when it comes to linux but if i were to take a shot at it, id say i mightve installed a wrong bootloader, or soemthing like that.

would anyone be able/be willing, to help me out??
thanx in advance

(fear went away once i used the rescue feature on the mandrake cd to restore windows bootloader)

[Hayl]

there are a ton of posts on here with solutions to that LILO problem already... try searching.

[mdwatts]

I assume that is a Lilo error message.

Could you please tell us about your installed operating systems and what partitions you have and where everything is installed.

BTW Hayl... It's kinda hard to search the forum for that error message due to the 3 character minimum.

[mdwatts]

This JL Help File is a little aged, but it may still help.

http://justlinux.com/nhf/Booting_Your_OS/Overcoming_LILO_Dual_Boot_Problems.html

[Calipso]

i went to that help file that someone posted above.
thanx by the way.
it says that LILO wont work if its installed past the 1024th cylinder.
im gonna go out on a limb and say thats the problem cause heres how my hdd is partitioned.


160GB hdd partitioned:
first partition is my windows xp partition, 10GB
2nd partition is a blank partition formatted in ntfs used to store data and some software 130GB
then during installation of mandrake, i let mandrake install itself on unallocated space, so it created two partitions, i believe it called them hda6, and hda 8.
possibly hda5, and hda 7, i cant remember now, sorry.
as far as the bootloader is concerned, i simply went with the default, which was LILO, and unfortunatelly i have no idea where it installed it.

any ideas that might help me out??
oh and i searched in the forum, and didnt find this specific problem, maybe im not looking hard enough or maybe i overlooked it, or maybe simply its been deleted, i dunno, ill keep looking though cause i would really like to get this thing running properly.

once again, thanx in advance to those who respond

[mdwatts]

I would say the Lilo bootloader was installed in hda5 or hda7 which would be a logical partition.

If you want to setup dualboot, reinstall and this time specify the mbr (hda) to install the Linux bootloader. The installation should automatically setup multi boot if it detects other operating systems.

BTW... The 1024 cylinder limitation has not been a issue since Lilo 21.5 and before. At least a couple of years ago.

BTW2... Have you been reading the online installation documentation at Mandrake's site to help you?

[Calipso]

thanx a lot,
ill give that a shot right now and see how it goes.

yes, i read the mandrake guide, its just that during the installation process, i didnt have it handy and didnt remember everything i read, so kinda just went with defaults and looks like that was a mistake.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by Calipso
just went with defaults and looks like that was a mistake.

I always do a custom install... especially when setting up the partitions and bootloader location.

[Calipso]

i just dont get it.
i reinstalled everything.
said that the bootloader should be installed in the mbr...and yet i still get the same error.
i tried GRUB aswell and get this error
GRUB Geom Error

im gonna keep trying, probably just over looking something..hopefully ill get it to work soon.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by Calipso
i just dont get it.
i reinstalled everything.
said that the bootloader should be installed in the mbr...and yet i still get the same error.
i tried GRUB aswell and get this error
GRUB Geom Error

im gonna keep trying, probably just over looking something..hopefully ill get it to work soon.

Strange !!!

Could you then post the contents of your bootloader config (boot using install cd in rescue mode) and tell us a little about your HD setup (partitions etc.).

Is this the primary/master (hda) drive?

[JohnT]

http://justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=75693&highlight=dual+boot

[Calipso]

alrite, first, this is my only hdd in the computer, and here is how it is partitioned

hda1 10260Mb NTFS
hda5 135830Mb NTFS
hda6 1027Mb FAT32 (i figured id be using this to swap files between linux and winxp)
hda7 5365Mb EXT2
hda8 494Mb Linux Swap
hda9 3349Mb EXT2

i was asked to let you know what my boot file says or something like that, im afraid that i have no idea how i would check that while booting into rescue mode, im afraid im extremelly new to linux especially the console since the only time i used linux was in KDE while booting off Knoppix cd.

John, i appreciate the link, but i already read that and the problem is that i dont have a working floppy drive (ya i know, this is pretty stupid of me since floppies sometimes come in handy)

once again, thanx to anyone that responds, i appreciate your help/input

[JohnT]

Could you post your /etc/lilo.conf file, if your using Lilo.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by Calipso

hda1 10260Mb NTFS
hda5 135830Mb NTFS
hda6 1027Mb FAT32 (i figured id be using this to swap files between linux and winxp)
hda7 5365Mb EXT2
hda8 494Mb Linux Swap
hda9 3349Mb EXT2


So hda7 is the Linux root partition? Should be. What is hda9?

As JohnT and I requested, we will need to see your bootloader config.

Lilo - /etc/lilo.conf

Grub - /boot/grub/menu.lst

[Calipso]

hda7 is root "/"
and hda 9, if i remember correctly is /home
this is how mandrake divided the free space on my computer.
since im extremelly new to linux, i didnt know how to open up lilo.conf using the console in rescue mode so i simply booted using my knoppix cd and opened it up in kwrite....i hope thats ok??
i imagine knoppix wouldnt change the file since it has no "write" rights, atleast i dont think it does.
anyway, heres what the lilo.conf file contained:

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
installe=menu
vga=normal
default="windows"
key table=/bppt/us.klt
prompt
nowarn
timeout=100
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme =wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
read-only
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-0.13mdk
label="old_linux"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21-0.13mdk.img
append="quiet devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe devfs=nomount hdd-scsi acpi=off"
read-only

i hope this helps, and thanx for any help and/or input

[mdwatts]

I really cannot see anything wrong with your Lilo config. Lilo is installed in the mbr (boot=/dev/hda) which then you shouldn't have thse 'L 01 01 01' errors.

Did the Mandrake install give you the option of installing Grub instead of Lilo (custom install)? If so, you might have better luck with Grub unless another can spot any problems with your config.

It will take time to reinstall, but if it works, it will certainly save a lot of troubleshooting of this Lilo problem.

[Calipso]

thanx for the input mdwatts(i hope i spelled that right)

i tried using grub one time, and i got an error aswell.
heres what it said

"GRUB Geom Error", ive got no idea what this means.

hopefully someone knows how to help me out.

[JohnT]

Try adding this line to your /etc/lilo.conf file any where before the line "message=/boot/message".

LBA32

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by Calipso

i tried using grub one time, and i got an error aswell.
heres what it said

"GRUB Geom Error", ive got no idea what this means.


Sorry as I forgot you had already posted about that.

Try what JohnT suggested (forgot about that too... :( ).

[Calipso]

since im extremelly new to linux, i dont really know how i would go about editing the actual file.
i thought i could use kwrite while booting off of knoppix but i forgot that under knoppix i dont have "write" rights.

i also read a while back somewhere that the console has a basic text editor "Pico", i dunno if thats red hat exclusive or not, (the place i read it was talking mainly about red hat)...so i tried that while in the console under rescue mode after booting off mandrake cd, but turns out Pico doesnt work or doesnt exist...so now im out of ideas.

so is there a way i can get "write" rights in knoppix so i can edit the file or is there a way i can edit the file using the console??.

oh i used the command "vi lilo.conf", but that only shows me the contents and doesnt seem like i can actually edit it.

any help would be appreciated, still very excited to try linux!

[JohnT]

The command should be.......

vim /etc/lilo.conf

or if you have pico


pico /etc/lilo.conf


this file must exist on your HD to be able to edit and you must login as root.

[Calipso]

i booted off the mandrake cd into rescue mode.
used the command "vi lilo.conf" to open up the file.
figured out that if i press INSERT i can actually edit the file, i wrote in the line of code that i was told to, LBA32, but now i have the problem of how do i save the file ....after i type the line in, im kinda just sitting in front of my computer not knowing what to press to actually save the file so the change saves.
i ended up pressing a bunch of F keys and combinations of keys but that only froze my system!! lol

so, if anyone would like to tell me what to press to actually save the modified file, i would really appreciate it...as you can see, im a huuuuuge newb
:D

[Calipso]

well i learned that pressing ":" and then "w"
will write the file to the disk.
i did that, after adding lba32 to the lilo.conf file
but unforutunatelly i still get the same exact error when trying to boot, L 01 01 01...

:( i really hope someone can help me out, i really had my hopes set on that lba32 thing :(

[JohnT]

I have seen this error before. In my experience, the quickest way to fix this is to use the linear option when installing LILO. The first thing you'll have to do is reboot your system using a rescue disk. Then, run the LILO command as follows:

/sbin/lilo -l -v

That might solve your problem. This causes LILO to run in linear mode -l, with verbose output -v, which allows you to see what the LILO command is actually doing. That way, if you are still encountering any odd problems while running LILO, this will allow you to see it on screen and might just lead you to the root of the problem.

BTW..You did make a boot floppy when it asked if you wanted to?

[Calipso]

i must be doing something wrong, cause i got an error message while trying the tip that was posted above....heres my error message

bahs: lilo: command not found

i went to the directory, i took a look at all the files in the directory, and its there, so i dont understand why its not working.

any ideas??:confused:

[JohnT]

Did you write it out exactly as shown? Check permisssions on the file and make sure you have executable permission. Try as root. Also try the command......$PATH.....to make sure /sbin is included in your path environment.


BTW..You did make a boot floppy when it asked if you wanted to during install?

[Calipso]

i went to /mnt
thats where my partitions are.
then i went to /sbin
and thats where lilo is.
then i typed in, lilo -l -v
and got the error message. ill give it another shot and see what happens.
oh and im booting using mandrake and using the console from the rescue mode....i didnt make a boot floppy because i dont have a working floppy drive, a while back when my friend was installing my hdd he accidentally ruined one of the pins on the floppy drive and i never got it replaced.

[JohnT]

You just have to enter the path correctly. Once you have mounted your partition where /sbin is located, then its a matter of entering and executing the command.

[voidinit]

I must say, it may be the lack of tabbed formating, but that is one very long lilo.conf file.

Anyway, I hope you know to use vi because IMHO this file should look more like.


boot=/dev/hda
vga=normal
default="windows"
prompt
timeout=100
install=menu

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="devfs=mount hdd=ide-scsi acpi=off"
vga=788
read-only
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hda7
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe devfs=nomount hdd-scsi acpi=off"
read-only


I don't know much about devfs, so I'm no help in that department. Basically, whenever I have problems with lilo, I keep the config as simple as possible, then make it bigger and better until I find what is breaking it.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by Calipso
i went to /mnt
thats where my partitions are.
then i went to /sbin
and thats where lilo is.
then i typed in, lilo -l -v
and got the error message. ill give it another shot and see what happens.
oh and im booting using mandrake and using the console from the rescue mode....i didnt make a boot floppy because i dont have a working floppy drive, a while back when my friend was installing my hdd he accidentally ruined one of the pins on the floppy drive and i never got it replaced.

If as root,

/sbin/lilo

does not work, try

cd /sbin

or

cd /mnt/sbin

depending if in rescue mode and then run

./lilo -l -v

[Calipso]

well im still at this...
heres what i did, i booted into rescue mode, and at the console i typed
cd mnt/sbin
then after hitting enter i typed
lilo -l -v
and i once again got a bad command error.
i dunno if im reading your messsages wrong or if this simply isnt working for me for some reason.
oh and when i list the files in /sbin, lilo appears in green and has an asterix beside it...i dunno if this means anything but i thought id throw it out there...maybe it means i cant use it or somethin, i dunno im just grasping for anything that might help.

thanx for help/input

:confused:

[Calipso]

bump

[JohnT]

Try writing the command out as such.......

cd mnt/sbin

lilo -L -v (thats a capital "L" instead)

[gehidore]

the problem is not the boot loader it's self but your partitons.

reinstall but leave 5-10 mbs freespace between all linux and windoze partitions. this will give a cousion for the geom error. what happens it seems with mandrake and rhat fedora is the partiton manager tends to not like what ever partition manager was there first. this causes small but unharming overlaps of partition geometry. part utils like ranish partition magic ms fdisk have all caused this for me. so try this for a partition sceme


hda1 10260Mb NTFS like it is
hda5 135830Mb NTFS like it is

5-10 mb gap nothing here

hda6 1027Mb FAT32 (i figured id be using this to swap files between linux and
winxp)

5-10mb gap also nothing here

hda7 5365Mb EXT2
hda8 494Mb Linux Swap
hda9 3349Mb EXT2


or try this

hda1 10260Mb NTFS like it is
hda5 135830Mb NTFS like it is

5-10mb gap

hda2 300mb /boot this may help with any lilo errors i dont know for sure

hda6 1027Mb FAT32 (i figured id be using this to swap files between linux and
winxp)
hda7 5365Mb EXT2
hda8 494Mb Linux Swap
hda9 3349Mb EXT2

[terribleRobbo]

cd mnt/sbin

lilo -L -v (thats a capital "L" instead)


A correction, type THIS instead:

cd mnt/sbin
./lilo -L -v

(You need the ./ in there to run a command from the current directory. JohnT: Ignore PATH for the moment, we're trying to keep this as simple as possible.)

[Calipso]

oh, so you actually need the ./ :confused:
ill give that a shot later today when i get home
thanx

[keyshawn]

i had the same problem a few months ago !!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107951

another suggestion is to use tomsrbt disk or http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

[Calipso]

well i tried doing it again and i got an error again, but this time its a dif error.

while in mnt/sbin, i typed
./lilo -L -v
it displayed the version of lilo, and then gave me this error
/etc/lilo.conf: no such file
which makes sense since my lilo.conf is not located in /etc....its located in mnt/etc/
anyone got any ideas what to do now?? im more than happy to hear them :)

oh and keyshawn, i read that whole post before and if i remember correctly your solution was to use GRUB, well GRUB didnt work for me either so i figured id go back to lilo and see if anyone can help me with figuring out a solution...appreciate the input though, thanx

[JohnT]

OK...well I'm not used to working in the cd rescue mode, but the command "liloconfig" will let you configure a lilo.conf file.

[Calipso]

hey John,
you say the command will let me configure the lilo.config file, but im not sure what you mean by configuring the file...are you refering to adding the LBA32 line??...if so i managed to do that with "vi".
if you think im supposed to do something else when you say "configure", i would need you help me out with that cause i dont know what you mean by that.

heres what i ended up doing though.
i ended up moving my lilo.conf file to /etc, from /mnt/etc.
then i went to /mnt/sbin and typed ./lilo -L and got the following error.

Fatal: Sorry, don't know how to handle device 0x0103

i dunno if this will help in figuring out my problem or not, but i thought id post it.

all and any input welcome

[JohnT]

When I say configure I mean "construct", "make", "build" a "lilo.conf file which I am assuming by your post that you do not have in /etc. If you have no lilo.conf file in your harddrive /etc directory its impossible to set your drive up to boot, because there are no instructions for it to do so or how. Look in your /usr/doc/ for your Lilo documentation. There are examples of lilo.conf.

[quark]

<imature leetspeak joke>
It seems to me that your bootloader finds something absolutely hilarious. :D
</imature leetspeak joke>
:rolleyes:

[phlipant]

from a rescue disk you need to

chroot /mnt /sbin/lilo

[phlipant]

you might find this document (http://docs.linux.cz/howto/LILO-crash-rescue-HOWTO.html#ss1.1) of interest.

in addition, check to see if /mnt/boot has any files in it. many linux distros have an annoying habit of placing /boot in a separate partition, requiring two mount commands.

[psi42]

From http://www.wlug.org.nz/LiloErrorCodes
0x01 Illegal Command: This shouldn't happen, but if it does, it may indicate an attempt to access a disk which is not supported by the BIOS.

Ach.....


First try philipant's post. Even if you move lilo.conf from /mnt/etc to /etc, lilo might still have problems. You need to chroot to /mnt and run lilo from there.




btw, you have a HUGE drive (over 150gb if I counted right.)

Are you sure that the entire size of the drive is supported by the BIOS? If it's not............. well that's another horror story.



~psi42

[Calipso]

woo hoo!!

psi42, you hit it right on the money!!
i ended up following up on the bios thing and it turns out my bios only reads the first 130gigs.
so i ended up moving my partitions around, and now i can finally boot in to linux!!:D

so it wasnt lilo or linux that was giving me the problems, it was my stupid bios:rolleyes:

but finally works, yey.

so thank you very much to anyone and everyone that tried helping me out, i really appreciate all of your help. Now its time to go and learn some linux. :)

once again, thanx!!

[psi42]

glad it all works now

and your box is now Pengiun Powered

Have fun with linux! :)

~psi42

[Calipso]

HAHA!
well so much for my system being set up the way i wanted it to be.
i couldnt see my fat32 partition while in linux, so i started looking around at the partitioning tool that comes with mandrake...i ended up corrupting my hard drive..haha:rolleyes:

so after having to reinstall xp, and about to reinstall linux again...i have learned my first valuable lesson....dont mess around with something you dont know how to use!! haha

oh well, atleast now i know how to get it all up and running again.

[howlie]

Just FYI, not about lilo or grub but usage of knoppix.

Knoppix is a wonderful recovery tool but when it boots you are on as a non privileged user and your hard disk partitions are mounted read only. You need to use "sudo" to execute any commands as root. To do what you wanted to do:

sudo mount -o remount -rw <mount point>
sudo vi <file>

[Calipso]

hey thanx a lot, im sure thats gonna come in handy for me and others.

[av8or]

I just wanted to say that this is truly what the linux community is all about!! It is great to see users like JohnT and mdwatts stick around and help a newbie get their system up and running. Thanks guys!! You're an inspiration.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by av8or
It is great to see users like JohnT and mdwatts stick around and help a newbie get their system up and running. Thanks guys!! You're an inspiration.

Thanks... we all try and everyone here deserves a pat on the back.

I certainly do not know the answer to every question, but I do try to help with those I do.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by av8or
I just wanted to say that this is truly what the linux community is all about!! It is great to see users like JohnT and mdwatts stick around and help a newbie get their system up and running. Thanks guys!! You're an inspiration.

It goes a long way to know your efforts are appreciated. We can only point you in the general direction sometimes. Thanks for the post.:D