Linux installs but won't boot?

[robisc]

OK, I have built a "Shuttle like" SFF PC, here are the HW specs:

Pentium 4 motherboard Chyang Fun S96
Intel 82845GE Chipsets.
Agere FW323-05 1394a controller
Realtek RTL8100B Ethernet controller
Celeron CPU 2.2 GHz
512 mb PNY RAM
Geforce 2 video card



The problem is I am trying to insatll Lycoris Linux update 3, the install goes fine but when trying to boot after the Wizard is complete when the BIOS reads "verifying the DMI" or whatever it says, when trying ot hit the MBR and boot an OS, I get the message "NO OS INSTALLED", I have tried the install many times, this is a clean whole HDD takeover with no other OS installed. Any ideas? BTW, I have tried 2 other Linux distros on here with no probs, but I really want to get Lycoris running.

 

[drag]

Lyrocis? (blah..)

(just kidding).

Never tried it, so I can only give you pretty generic advice.

First thing is to check your bios and make sure that your BIOS is pointing at the correct IDE device. For instance if your CDROM is installed as the Primary master IDE device, then you may need to set it to boot off of "HD1", "HD2" or "HD3" or something like that. It varies from BIOS to BIOS.


IF the BIOS is trying to boot off of the correct IDE device then MAYBE:

Maybe the the boot loader didn't get installed correctly. Linux has 2 boot-loaders, Grub and Lilo. Lilo is older, simpler, but still is commonly used. Still a good thing. So I am guessing that Lilo is what Lyrocis uses.

The "easiest" for me is to boot up with a linux boot disk. Usually I use the install CD, but not all install CD's have a way to get to a bash shell(CLI in windows world). In that case I try tom's rescue disk

Usually after you boot up with the install CD, hit ctrl-alt-F# (one of the F-buttons F1-F6) to switch to a console.

Then you mount the root partition from your harddisk.
mkdir /mnt/drive
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/drive
cd /mnt/drive
mount -t proc proc /mnt/drive/proc #(optional sometimes you need it to fix a grub boot foulup, no to sure)
chroot /mnt/drive


then that should get you into the Linux OS you already have installed on your harddisk. You should now be able to run any commands just like you could if you had it fully running. It's sort-of suedo-running.

FYI:
The Linux drive naming convention for IDE drives goes like this. The /dev/ files are special ones that repesent hardware resources.
/dev/hda is the primary master IDE device.
/dev/hdb is the primary slave IDE
/dev/hdc is the secondary master
/dev/hdd is the secondary slave

IDE cdroms fall underneath this, just like the drives and any other IDE device.

The partitions files are just numbers added to the end of the /dev/hd* file.
IE partition #3 on the secondary master drive would be:
/dev/hdc3

Edit: your /etc/lilo.conf file and make sure that it is correct. If it doesn't exist then maybe your using grub instead or maybe the installer never realy installed a boot-loader.

Here's a sample "minimalistic" Lilo.conf file (from my laptop):

boot=/dev/hda (this installs the boot loader into your MBR)
map=/boot/System.map
install=/boot/boot.0300
prompt
timeout=50
default=Linux
image=/boot/vmlinuz #(location and name of kernel file)
label=Linux
read-only
root=/dev/hda2 #(root partition, yours maybe /dev/hda1)

then after you make sure it's ok, then run the lilo command to install the bootloader:

lilo

Don't worry if it doesn't work. Lyrocis realy isn't worth it to spend that much time putzing around with. They have support forums at lycos.org for much more specific/usefull advice.

 

[robisc]

Wow, drag that took some typing, thanks for the reply and info.

First thing is to check your bios and make sure that your BIOS is pointing at the correct IDE device. For instance if your CDROM is installed as the Primary master IDE device, then you may need to set it to boot off of "HD1", "HD2" or "HD3" or something like that. It varies from BIOS to BIOS.

I haven't fooled with LILO yet since I'd rather have bamboo shoots pushed under my nails, but that may be next as Lycoris does in fact use LILO as the boot loader.


As for this issue it isn't a problem because the HD-0 is set as the first boot device after I get the install done, in addition like I said other distros work fine on with this setup. This box does have one strange issue though, there are 2 ribbon cables (as are most PCs) both with only one connector (SFF 2 bays) the HDD shows up as Primary Master, the CD drive on the other cable shows up as Secondary Slave, I have the jumpers set for cable select, and obviously when set as slave it will also show up as a slave but when I try the master jumper the drives (neither one) aren't recognized on POST, as matter of fact the PC hangs at the POST when trying to detect the drives. There shouldn't be an issue with the CD being a slave on the secondary channel but it might be with this distro. And lastly I like Lycoris, that's why I am so inclined to get it insatlled on this box, and thanks for the tips.