[plug] re: reinstall or rebuild

[Mike Holland]

On Mon, 19 Jun 2000, Jon L. Miller wrote:

> first LILO shows up then the next line then it just hangs there forever.

Jon,
The usual solution is to boot from floppy, check that /etc/lilo.conf is 
correct, and re-run lilo.

> Any ideal what went wrong?

Maybe the re-install put the lilo boot sector in a different place, and
removed the old kernel, so the old boot sector no longer works. Something
like that.
  With a Win9x/linux combination, I'd suggest telling lilo to use the MBR,
ie /dev/hda. Wheras with NT, it may be better to use NT boot-manager on
the MBR. But check the HOWTOs for boot, lilo, and dual-boot.

> I suggested the following:
> copy the lilo.conf file to a safe place (floppy)
> remove the win95 drive
> blow away the linux drive and rebuild from a fresh install.
> copy the lilo.conf file back and reboot.

I suspect that win95 is hda. Is linux on the slave or second IDE?
Can the BIOS boot from that drive without changing the settings?
Sounds like the hard way.

> doing an automatic install does Linux over write the win95 drive? or will it

It shouldnt, but be careful what options you choose at the start!
All this depends on the distro & version.

> ask which device to put the boot partition on?  If rebuilding the drive is
> the best way what is the best way to blow away linux?

Use Linux fdisk to delete the linux partitions. This can be done during
the re-install normally.

ciao, 

Mike Holland  <mike at golden.wattle.id.au>
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