Can't Dual boot, Help

[lnxNewb]

I have winXP loaded on hda1, my linux swap on hdb1, and Slackware 8.1 Linux on hdb2. I wanted to use the NTLDR that comes with windows to manage booting instead of LILO by using the dd command to create a sort of boot sector image file for linux. I copied it to my C drive were windows XP is and modified the boot.ini file by pointing to this boot sector file. When I restart, the NTLDR menu displays the linux and windows option and when I select linux I see LILO 22.4 for a few seconds then it just takes me back to the NTLDR menu were I can select the OS again. Here is what my lilo.conf looks like:

boot = /dev/hdb2
map = /boot/map
install = /boot/boot.b
image = /boot/vmlinuz-ide-2.4.18
label = linux
root = /dev/hdb2

This problem is killing me, any help will be greatly appreciated.

[CrashTestDummy9]

Im taking a stab at this . I dont use LiLo but if its anything like Grub change your boot=/dev/hdb2 to boot=/dev/hdb1 . Leave everything else alone . You may have to restart LiLo after editing the config file . I dont remember . I know you dont have to restart Grub .

[rustskull]

After you make changes to lilo.conf just type lilo at the prompt to update the mbr. I'm not sure if it accesses the lilo.conf ever unless you do this, maybe it's just a tool for updating the mbr in a more editable way than right from the command line.

When you see the lilo prompt, hit shift and that will stop the loading. Then hit tab and you should get a list of what it thinks the bootable selections are. Make sure you put labels on it...

You also might want to move your swap partition out from in front of your linux one, but I think that's more of a philosophical question as opposed to a functional one.

You don't have to update grub after a reconfig? Yet another reason I need to look at it someday. I know that it does more than lilo does (maybe it checks everything out every time it comes up), I'm just a big fan of keeping it simple and the lilo conf file is very simple and undemanding.

Random link describing explicitly how to set stuff up in short form.
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/linux_install/lilo.html
colleges have so much of this crap online now that you can learn almost anything if you poke around long enough to find some coursework that a savvy teacher put up somewhere.

actual linux documentation project mini-howto. I think that a lot of people here are very biased toward pointing people at the LFN how-tos when there are a crapload at the linux doc project, and more coming all the time. ALWAYS check TLDP before here, and make sure you check all the howtos here and there before posting. It will make things easier...and quicker.
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/LILO.html

I even bet there's a grub one...but this is the one that I used and it made things really easy after I scanned through it real quick-like.

HTH

-rust