Question about LILO in MBR

**Freanan** · 11-01-2003, 01:21 PM

Hi!

I just got a new Laptop. It has one hdd but 3 partitions.
So this actually means, that i should be able to hdinstall knoppix without damaging the boot partition of the winXP system that's already there.
I could just delete one of the other partitions and use it for Linux.

But now i have the problem, that my Laptop, as most of these things nowadays doesn't have a floppy-drive. So i'd preffer to write LILO into the MBR.
My question is: Will i be able to boot WinXP as well as Knoppix via LILO or will WinXP be unable to boot(even with LILO) because it's MBR is 'gone'?

Another possibility would be to write LILO on a USB-memory stick and make it bootable.
Any Tutorials on that? Would you suggest it?

**rickenbacherus** · 11-01-2003, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by Freanan

Hi!

I just got a new Laptop. It has one hdd but 3 partitions.
So this actually means, that i should be able to hdinstall knoppix without damaging the boot partition of the winXP system that's already there.
I could just delete one of the other partitions and use it for Linux.

You don't necessarily need to delete any partitions assuming that they are big enough to hold Knoppix but you certainly can if necessary. Just let knoppix-installer format one of the partitions for you then install Knoppix.

But now i have the problem, that my Laptop, as most of these things nowadays doesn't have a floppy-drive. So i'd preffer to write LILO into the MBR.
My question is: Will i be able to boot WinXP as well as Knoppix via LILO or will WinXP be unable to boot(even with LILO) because it's MBR is 'gone'?

You can use LiLo to dual boot Linux and xp no problem. LiLo *should* add xp to the boot menu but if it doesn't you can always add it later. In the event that things go totally awry read this post for how to go about ungoofing your MBR.

**Freanan** · 11-02-2003, 02:50 PM

Thank you, Rickenbacherus!
So i just can overwrite the MBR with LILO without any damage? That's cool! I will do it as soon as my Knoppix-CD arrives!

**slicksps** · 11-09-2003, 01:16 PM

I would have to argue with you there guys.

Being a linux beginner, I've had lots of problems installing Grub and Lilo to the MBR. If everything goes wrong, i've lost everything, mainly my windows partition.

I would strongly make a new partition. Doesn't have to be big, just 10MB or so. Use FDISK /dev/hda - and make sure this mini partition is bootable, (and only this partition) Then make sure lilo.conf installs to /dev/hda4 or wherever.

Doing it this way will give you a little more freedom. If you want to skip lilo and go to windows, then set it to boot off hda1, Linux hda2 or hda4 for the bootloader. If the bootloader goes wrong, you can then reformat the single partition and reinstall. Grub cannot be uninstalled.

Sorry, I know it was an old post, but my soap box was just begging to be stood on lol.

Keep Smiling

**rickenbacherus** · 11-09-2003, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by slicksps

I would have to argue with you there guys.

Being a linux beginner, I've had lots of problems installing Grub and Lilo to the MBR. If everything goes wrong, i've lost everything, mainly my windows partition.

That is incorrect. A boot loader installs to the outer edge of the disk in the 'hidden' track and does not in any way affect your partitions. I have also written a
how-to for fixing your MBR.

I would strongly make a new partition. Doesn't have to be big, just 10MB or so. Use FDISK /dev/hda - and make sure this mini partition is bootable, (and only this partition) Then make sure lilo.conf installs to /dev/hda4 or wherever.

A partition does not need to be marked bootable. Only DOS needs this to compensate for one of its many deficiencies.

Grub cannot be uninstalled.

That is also incorrect. I would recommend that you read up on partitioning.

**slicksps** · 11-09-2003, 08:31 PM

As I've said before, I'm a newbie, but I did find when Grub was installed on the MBR, I couldn't boot straight to windows by setting Hda1 as default without getting the grub command line. Maybe that's just me then.

My solution works perfectly, but I will bare this new info in mind, thanks rickenbacherus. I'll think before I preach from now on

Keep Smiling

**Freanan** · 11-10-2003, 04:08 PM

Thank you!

I installed knoppix in my Laptop and it works more or less...

In the end i killed windows and installed it anew on one third of the disk(i only want to use it perhaps for games and stuff), on the remaining 2/3 i tried various linux-distros, at the moment i'm trying knoppix.
I still have some problems with hardware recognition (hardware which was recognized by SuSe), but i think i should start another thread because of this?