Re: Lilo on dell 7500

[Greg Woods <gswoods@dimensional.com>]

Christian DeKonink wrote:
> 
> Hi I just installed debian on my dell inspiron 7500
> It is coexisting with NT.
> 
> I can boot from the floppy just fine, but when i try to boot from the
> hard disk it get to start lilo but hangs at this point
> 
> LI
> 
> Any suggestions clues flames?
> 

One tiny flame: read the documentation. From the LILO "README" file in
/usr/doc:

LI   The first stage boot loader was able to load the second stage boot 
    loader, but has failed to execute it. This can either be caused by a 
    geometry mismatch or by moving /boot/boot.b without running the map 
    installer.

Sometimes you can solve this with the "linear" keyword in your lilo.conf
file. This can also be caused if your kernel is sitting on your disk
beyond cylinder 1024. If that's the case, the only solution is to
repartition your disk or find a way to store the kernel in a partition
that is closer to the beginning of the disk. There may also be some
games you can play with the BIOS to remap the disk geometry, but messing
around with this if you don't know what you are doing can render your
system unbootable.

--Greg