Absolute beginner needs boot options

[translator]

Impressed by Knoppix I today succeeded in installing version 3.1. on my hard disk, after making a linux and swap partition using knx-hdinstall.
However, now whenever I reboot I only have the Linux option and cannot select WIN98.

Attempts to reboot with a win98 start floppy showed that according to fdisk the active partition was the 98 one, but I still could not start win98 or access partition magic.

So how do I get to start with the other OS? Can (or must ) I set up multibooting from within Knoppix? Or set another partition as active? I have studied the FAQs in vain. There is reference to QTPARTED being included, but I cant find it. Nor for that matter can I find Kfind. The manual tells me it will be found "in several programs", but which?

Please bear with an absolute newbie who doesnt speak linux. (Is there a newbie forum anywhere?)

Any help with be gratefully recieved.

Roger

[Stephen]

Boot to the hard drive install of knoppix open a console window (the clam shell icon on the taskbar) then su then enter key now enter the root password to become root. gvim /etc/lilo.conf and enter will open the lilo configuration file for editing use the down arrow to go to the bottom of the file you will see lines something like this.



# other=/dev/hda
# label=Dos

use the delete key to remove the # on both save the file and exit. Then while still at the root console /sbin/lilo will write the changes to the MBR and when you re-boot you now can have a choice of OS. BTW you can change the label= to Windows or Win98 if you want.

[translator]

Thanks Stephen, but I didn´t get very far alas. I opened the console window and typed su, but I do not know the root password. I did indeed have to choose a password during the installation, but this is evidently not the "root" one, because it was rejected. Nor did simply hitting the enter key help. Is there a default password and what is it? The section on passwords in the online help was useless.

[translator]

A follow-up:
Q: What is the root password?
A: There is none; all passwords are locked by default. You can set it by going Knoppix Menu->Root Shell and typing "passwd", then enterting a root password, also there are several sections you can read dealing with this subject in KNOPPIX/README_Security.txt. You can also type "sudo su" or "sudo -s" in any console window, or use <ctr>-<alt>-F2 to get at the text console with already opened root shell.
Apparently, however, in some versions of Knoppix, if you type 'sudo -s', it will ask for a password. If you simply press return without entering anything, it will tell you 'Authentication Failed."

So I typed sudo-s and got "command not found".
I typed sudosu and got "Knoppix is not in the sudosfile. This incident will be reported."
I typed passwd and was asked for the old one. So I typed the one and only one I had entered. It asked for a new one, and the five letter word I entered and repeated was rejected as too simple. However, it accepted an eight letter word, but when I again tried su, I got the same "authentification failed" as before when I entered the new word.


Using <ctr>-<alt>-F2 got me to a login screen, but again the password, whether old, new, or none, produced "login incorrect".

So what next?

Roger

[Stephen]

Thanks Stephen, but I didn´t get very far alas. I opened the console window and typed su, but I do not know the root password. I did indeed have to choose a password during the installation, but this is evidently not the "root" one, because it was rejected. Nor did simply hitting the enter key help. Is there a default password and what is it? The section on passwords in the online help was useless.

You had to choose two passwords during install on for root and one for the user knoppix. So when you login as user knoppix use the one you choose for root in the console window.

[translator]

Well, it appears that the password I entered and later modified applies to Knoppix only. I dont recollect ever having to select any password for root, which declines the knoppix one and rejecte my just hitting return, despite the comment I quoted previously "What is the root password? Answer:"There is none."

And if I select Knoppix Menu, then Root Shell, a window flashes open and closes so fast that I cannot wnte "passwd" in it.

Furthermore, if I boot from a Win98 rescue floppy, although fdisk shows the windows partition as active, it is still knoppix which comes up when I reboot.

I need either to fix this password problem or delete the entire installation, it would seem. Not a very encouraging start to my attempts to get to know and love Linux!


Roger

[Stephen]

Well, it appears that the password I entered and later modified applies to Knoppix only. I dont recollect ever having to select any password for root, which declines the knoppix one and rejecte my just hitting return, despite the comment I quoted previously "What is the root password? Answer:"There is none."

And if I select Knoppix Menu, then Root Shell, a window flashes open and closes so fast that I cannot wnte "passwd" in it.

Furthermore, if I boot from a Win98 rescue floppy, although fdisk shows the windows partition as active, it is still knoppix which comes up when I reboot.

I need either to fix this password problem or delete the entire installation, it would seem. Not a very encouraging start to my attempts to get to know and love Linux!


Roger

When you get to the lilo boot screen type linux single then enter that will boot you to a terminal without any password and you will be root user then enter passwd and enter a new root password. Then shutdown -r now to re-boot.

[translator]

Hey, I am an ABOLUTE BEGINNER where Linux is concerned. So starting your reply with "when you get to the lilo boot screen... doesnt help me because I dont know how to get there, yet.

Booting from the hard disk, I get a welcoming opening screen
with the options of knoppix and root, below which are boxes in which to enter "login" and "password". There is also an option box for "session type", currently set to default.

Control N takes me to a text screen asking for a login and a password.
I cant provide suitable answers so have to reset, not knowing how to get back to the opening screen I described above.
On rebooting, I cant get into root, as it wont accept any password I enter, so I have to select knoppix, and after entering the password I get to KDE and the clamshell console shows a prompt of knoppix@Bitch:~$
(Bitch being the deserved name of my PC). So how do I get to lilo from there? Typing su at this prompt ^produces a request for a password, and typing the knoppix one leads to "idenfication failure".sdu

[translator]

Hey, I am an ABOLUTE BEGINNER where Linux is concerned. So starting your reply with "when you get to the lilo boot screen... doesnt help me because I dont know how to get there, yet.

Booting from the hard disk, I get a welcoming opening screen
with the options of knoppix and root, below which are boxes in which to enter "login" and "password". There is also an option box for "session type", currently set to default.

For login, it seems I have only a choice between "koppix" and "root".I cant get into root, as it wont accept any password I enter, so I have to select knoppix, and after entering the password I get to KDE; then the console, with a prompt "knoppix@Bitch:~$"
Bitch is the deserved name of my pc.
Thereafter
Typing "gvim/etc/lilo.conf" gives
-bash:...... no such file or directory.
Indeed there is an etc folder, but seemingly no lilo in it.
Typing su leads to a request for a password, followed by "authentification failure".

So how and where can I find lilo, and what must I type in at the prompt!

The source is not with me....

Roger

[Stephen]

Lilo.conf has to be there in the /etc directory that is how you are booting. Try this boot from the CD and open a console window (clam shell icon on the taskbar) then sudo mount /dev/hda? /mnt/hda? to mount the partition on the first hard drive that contains the linux install replace the ? with the number of the partition. Then still in the console sudo gvim /mnt/hda?/etc/lilo.conf to open the file for editing make the changes and save the file. Next sudo chroot /mnt/hda?/ /sbin/lilo -v will write the changes to lilo to the MBR. While you are at it sudo chroot /mnt/hda?/ passwd root and set a new root password

[translator]

Thank you for your patience.
On entering sudo mount dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 I got "command not found".

I´ve bought a Linux book in the meantime (for Suse Linux 8.x) and delved into it a bit. Typing just "mount" at the prompt suggested that mnt/hda1 had been automatically mounted. I got a message that /dev/hda1 was already mounted
A further message said that according to mtab, /dev/hda1 was already mounted on /mnt/hda1.

The gvim command opened lilo.conf, but after I had made changes I could not save them: I got a message that lilo.conf was read only, use ! to override.
So I typed :w! and got the message E212: Cant open file for writing.

So what next?

Mount showed inter alia
/dev/hda1 on /mnt/hda1 type ext2 (ro, nosuid, nodev).
I assume ro means read only.

Can I edit lilo.conf by moving it to the ramdisk?
( I found under mount "/dev/shm on /ramdisk type tempfs (rw)")

Alternatively, might it be simpler to run knx-hdinstall again from the CD and overwrite the old installation, or would I have to remove to old one first (how?)

Roger

[Stephen]

Alternatively, might it be simpler to run knx-hdinstall again from the CD and overwrite the old installation, or would I have to remove to old one first (how?)

Roger

I think you could be right the install will simply overwrite the partitions that you select for swap and /. Write down your root password this time so you don't forget it and put it somewhere safe I do this with all my passwords.

With the gvim command did you use it with the sudo from the CD? It should work I've done it more than a few times, actually just did it last night when I moved my drive to a new machine and forgot to change lilo.

[translator]

Hi Stephen,

I reinstalled Knoppix, but this time I got the root password ok and screwed up the user (knoppix) one. However, I discovered I could get knoppix back with the command passwd knoppix, when I could as root enter a new password for knoppix without having to know the old one.

Emboldened by this I tried adduser roger and gave him a password too, but when I tried to log him on I got
"There was an error setting up interprocess communications for KDE..
Could not read network connection list //DCOP server_bitch-0"

I ignored this, but then came "KDE is unable to start". So Roger is in limbo and my only nonroot user is knoppix, but I can live with that for a while.


Today I bought Suse Professional 8.1 for €20, which seemed to be the cheapest way of acquiring 950 pages of manuals. Even if I do not instal Suse in parallel or on another machine yet.

I´ll get back to you later about gvim.

May the Suse be with you. :P
Roger

[Stephen]

Good to hear you got it going. For the user Roger as root in a console try rm -rf /home/roger/.kde and then try to login kde should hopefully recreate the settings stored in the directroy. Good idea with the suse just keep pluging at it you will get the hang of it eventually read as much as you can even if it does not seem to apply you never know where you'll find that bit of info you need.

Bit off topic but I just noticed I can see the euro sign must have been the new KDE I'm running I've tried more than a few times to get it never succeded till now. :)