Revised lilo.conf, ver. 2.1. Bill A's changes to lilo.conf.2.1, as gleaned from a .pdf file.
- I tried the command to enact lilo.conf on the XP machine
i.e. he ran lilo -v -v -v on Jake's box.
Note: He is in the process of making his own 2k box dual boot also.
- Immediately it noted two commands not recognized -
the cause was a couple of your comments must have been "word warped"
and were not signified as comments, I corrected that.
- BUT then it noted:
\n and \t not allowed in quoted strings at or above line 41
I searched and could not find those
"Word warping" is the cause of both problems.
Somewhere, something is wrapping the lines at 70 colums,
One of the signs of this is in the chopping of the "# # # # # . . ." framing lines.
Rather than adding a "#" to the beginning of the warped lines,
the extraneous LF's or CR/LF's should be eliminated.
The remaining problem is in the long append line.
(Bill hasn't been doing Linux long enough to recognize '\n' as a newline.)
Choices:
- Re-download
lilo.conf.2.1 making sure that the "word warping" does not occur.
I use vi in cases like this, but I'm not sure that is a good suggestion here.
- Fix the "word warping" in the
append line, but note:
http://www.linuxgazette.com/book/view/3774
says only 1 append line is allowed.
- Try making 2
append lines, hoping that lilo now accepts multiple append lines.
- Split the
append line using '\' escape characters -- we could do that here.
- Eliminate the hd..=scsi references from the
append line.
I don't understand why they are there anyway.
Decision:
- Eliminate the hd..=scsi references from the
append line. See below
- Shorten all lines to 70 cols., if possible
- Add a warning about "word warping"
See lilo.conf.2.2
Thanks to all who took time to answer the questions,
The answers were used to write the next section.
- WTF are the hd..=scsi references doing in the
append line?
Are they necessary? Are they harmful?
The consensus (John G., Willie, Steve) is that
the hd..=scsi references in the append line are unnecessary, "nonsensical", ...
They will be removed.
Willie also raises the issue that so many arguments in the append line may choke the kernel,
never mind how to pass them to it -- see the following 2 questions.
- Can an
append line be split with '\' escapes?
Unknown. Probably yes -- it's a normal *nix thing.
- Are multiple
append lines now allowed?
No.
Willie has tried this in the last several weeks (late Jan. 2004) with Slackware 9.1, kernel 2.4.22,
and it didn't work.
Don't know if this is nec., but it doesn't look harmful.
This one is cryptic (to me), google: "kernel nomce" yields:
#2 is the more useful:
"... If you get the error Machine Check Exception, you'll need to reset and add nomce to the same line..."
- Does the XP section need any
map lines?
The Linux per-kernel sections were retained from the original lilo.conf, and they work.
However, the hd with the Linux install has been re-jumpered as a Slave, theorectically hdb.
The BIOS is set to boot from the 2nd hd before the 1st, & calling it hda here is working for %lp%
Will XP also work like this, or do we need something like:
map-drive = 0x80
to = 0x81
map-drive = 0x81
to = 0x80
to make it boot properly?
##..:....1....:....2....:....3....:....4....:....5....:....6....:....7
# lilo.conf.ra.2.1
#
# by Rick Archibald & other HLUG members
# A revised lilo.conf for Bill & Jake Archibald
#
# However instructive, the original comments from knx-hdinstall
# were obscuring the option lines & have been eliminated
#
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # #
# # # # #
#
# I n s t r u c t i o n s
#
# (Download / Copy & Paste this file -- that could be done from
#TWiki "raw"
#mode)
#
# _Back up_ the original lilo.conf [mv lilo.conf lilo.conf.0]
# Copy this file over lilo.conf [cp lilo.conf.ra.2.1 lilo.conf]
# Run lilo [lilo -v -v -v]
# Reboot [reboot]
#
# To restore the original lilo.conf [cp lilo.conf.0 lilo.conf]
# [lilo -v -v -v]
#
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # #
# # # # #
# The following block was generated by knx-hdinstall
vga=normal
lba32
boot=/dev/hda
root=/dev/hda1
install=/boot/boot-menu.b
map=/boot/map
append="hda=scsi hdb=scsi hdc=scsi hdd=scsi hde=scsi hdf=scsi
hdg=scsi
hdh=scsi apm=power-off nomce"
default=Linux
# The following global options were added
prompt
single-key
delay=100
timeout=100
# The following blocks were generated by knx-hdinstall
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.22-xfs
label=Linux
read-only
alias=1
image=/vmlinuz.old
label=LinuxOLD
read-only
optional
alias=2
# This XP block was added
other=/dev/hdb1
label=WinXP
optional
alias=x
-- RickArchibald - 09 Feb 2004