[plug] lilo error message 0x40 and BIOS data check successful

[Craig Ringer]

Clare Johnstone wrote:

> Lilo often stops with an error 0x40 and needs a retry, one or two retries get me
> to the point where it says "BIOS data check successful" which is what it
> normally says anyway.
> 
> So my question is where does the message "BIOS data check successful" come from?
> I can't (due to poor c skills ?) find it in lilo source.

Is it possible that when LILO fails the BIOS is resuming control? That'd 
make some sense and might explain the message. I'm unfortunately not 
sufficiently familiar with LILO as I've been using GRUB for so long now.

> The original error the advice from lilo is:
> 0x40   "Seek failure". This might be a media problem. Try booting again.
> Has anyone had this and found it got steadily or suddenly worse?

It's an error I could easily see getting worse. I very strongly 
recommend you install the `smartmontools' package, then run a disk self 
test with:

smartctl -t short /dev/hda

(where "/dev/hda" is your disk device). You can get the results with:

smartctl -a /dev/hda

once it's finished. It's best to run the self test when booted into 
single user mode, or even with init=/bin/bash .

Also consider running the manufacturer's disk tools.

--
Craig Ringer