onederer Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Since my last post, I was side-tracked setting up a wireless network system for this laptop. Now that project is over, I'm back!This goes back in reference to my last post where I was trying to install Mandriva 64 on a new desktop, but the installation never completed. I think that Mandriva got confused, because I had to re-install a new motherboard, and in the process of putting the whole thing together again, I mixed the cables on the wrong SATA drives.My guess was that it confused LILO and when rebooting after completing the installation of Mandriva, and it didn't know what hard drive to look for (at least this is my guess).My attempt to resolve this problem was to use a recovery CDROM platter that came with the system. There, I found the command "fixmbr", and used it! I thought that it would remove the LILO menu from the MBR on /dev/hda, and I could start fresh again. Well, when I rebooted, there was no change! The dual boot menu was still there! Nothing changed! Looks like the MBR was not repaired.If "fixmbr" didn't wipe out the LILO dual boot menu, then will "fixboot" do it? How about fdisk /mbr? Is that command only good for Win 98, or can it be used with WINXP? What's the consequesces of doing that?I just want to do a fresh start. I want to eliminate the dual-boot loader, and leave WindowsXP intact and unmolested. I want to try to re-install Mandriva on /dev/hdb without getting these mysterious problems. When the installation is completed, I should be able to get a brand new boot-loader with the proper parameters running. If the kernel panic happens again, then I don't know what I'll do.Bruno: While you were away, teach had looked at the files that I had attached to my post, and she couldn't find anything wrong. Do you think that I'm on the right track?BTW, welcome back!Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 If you want to reinstall Mandriva anyway, i'd say do a reinstall and tell it to over write the lilo and replace it with the fresh new one. Or am i on the wrong track here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxdude32 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 If you can get to a boot prompt this command will uninstall lilo: sudo /sbin/lilo -u That should restore the previous (Win) boot record. If it doesn't an on bootup you get an error message like "No Operating System Found" then you can use fixmbr. Fdisk /mbr only works with Windows 9x/Me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Hi onedeFrom what I know, reinstalling Mandriva will be on sdb if that drive is a SATA . . and not hdb . . . . . And if the first HD is a SATA too it will most likely be named sda ( NOTE: I do not have SATA myself so I have to rely on what I heard and read on the forum )Now . . . . when at the end of reinstalling Mandriva you write Lilo to the MBR ( of sda ) it should automatically include your XP install and all should be trouble-free.I have not seen the other post but most likely by swapping drives you maybe adapted Lilo . . . but maybe not the fstab . . . and if fstab still pointed to sda and the install was on sdb it would result in errors at boot. ( Just a wild guess . . . . ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onederer Posted August 31, 2005 Author Share Posted August 31, 2005 If you can get to a boot prompt this command will uninstall lilo:sudo /sbin/lilo -u That should restore the previous (Win) boot record. If it doesn't an on bootup you get an error message like "No Operating System Found" then you can use fixmbr. Fdisk /mbr only works with Windows 9x/Me. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I cannot use Mandriva directly because it currently stops and freezes at a "KERNEL PANIC" while booting up, which forces me to shutdown and restart the machine.If that command can be done using a LIVE CD, then I guess I could do it that way to uninstall the LILO menu.I already did use "fixmbr". And shucks! Nothing happened! Mandrake still is bootable and hangs at the KERNEL PANIC section. The LILO menu is still there, and I can still use it to boot into WinXP. I didn't use yet, FDISK/MBR, because I think that it is only good with Win 95/98. And I still need to know the consequenses of using FIXBOOT.Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onederer Posted August 31, 2005 Author Share Posted August 31, 2005 Hi onedeFrom what I know, reinstalling Mandriva will be on sdb if that drive is a SATAÂ . . and not hdb . . . . . And if the first HD is a SATA too it will most likely be named sda ( NOTE: I do not have SATA myself so I have to rely on what I heard and read on the forum )Now . . . . when at the end of reinstalling Mandriva you write Lilo to the MBR ( of sda ) it should automatically include your XP install and all should be trouble-free.I have not seen the other post but most likely by swapping drives you maybe adapted Lilo . . . but maybe not the fstab . . . and if fstab still pointed to sda and the install was on sdb it would result in errors at boot. ( Just a wild guess . . . . ) Bruno<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sorry Bruno! This is my first experience with SATA drives, and I stll have the old habit of using /dev/hd?. That was a memory slip.Before I came on the forum for help, I tried to re-install Mandriva three times, and always had LILO install itself the same way, on (now I will label the drives correctly) /dev/sda (the WinXP drive). And on those three tries, I ended up with that KERNEL PANIC freeze-up, while booting up.This problem originated when I had first installed Mandriva 64 on /dev/sdb. After tweaking it and setting it up, I left it running, and hadn't used it for a few days. When I went to use it again, it wouldn't perform or recognize any commands either in the KDE section, nor in the command prompt section. I then went to reboot. Well at that point, it wouldn't go back into the grapincs mode anymore, couldn't identify any commands, and was just plain useless. And all this happened without even using it. This is when I'm now calling for re-inforcement.Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 What if you did one more install . . . . . . wipe and re-partition the full sdb and make sure to install lilo in sda ( I know you did use sda for it before ) . . . . If it stilll does not work you will have to use a Live CD ans wipe the MBR: # dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1 NOTE: It has to be 446 and not 512 . . . because that would wipe the partition-table as well !!Then do the re-install and have a new Lilo in the MBRB) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onederer Posted September 2, 2005 Author Share Posted September 2, 2005 What if you did one more install . . . . . . wipe and re-partition the full sdb and make sure to install lilo in sda ( I know you did use sda for it before ) . . . . If it stilll does not work you will have to use a Live CD ans wipe the MBR:# dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1 NOTE: It has to be 446 and not 512 . . . because that would wipe the partition-table as well !!Then do the re-install and have a new Lilo in the MBRB) Bruno <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks Bruno, I'll try that and see how it works out.Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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