Re: RH 6.0 & other Linux, Multi-boot

[Bob McClure Jr <robertmcclure earthlink net>]

On Mon, Dec 02, 2002 at 08:26:34AM -0500, Technoslick wrote:
> I've interjected my replies below....
> 
> <snip>
> B: Is it mounted?
> 
> T: hdb1, the second drive that RH 6 is on? No. Not through the normal
> boot-up of Turbo Linux. It recognized the existence of the partition,
> nothing more.

When I talk about running lilo, I mean the writing of the information
in lilo.conf to the MBR, not the boot process.

> <snip>
> B: That is correct.  Well, actually you need to mount it only long
> enough to run lilo, so it doesn't need to be in fstab, but it does
> need to be mounted when lilo runs.
> 
> T: So, how do a mount a partition prior to the reading of fstab, so that
> LILO picks up the reference natively?

You don't.  See above comment.

> <snip>
> B: You don't need commercial stuff to do this.  Pick the lilo.conf you
> want to work with, and post it and your partition tables, and we'll
> craft you a dual-boot lilo.conf.
> 
> T: OK. Here's the partition layout for both drives/distros. Keep in mind
> that I can only boot into RH 6.1 using the emergency boot disk:
> 
> Primary Hard Drive - 3 GB
> 
> hda1 - 200 MBs - swap (for both drives/distros)
> hda2 - ~ 2.8 GBs - Turbo Linux 3.0.1
> 
> lilo.conf
> 
> boot=/dev/hda
> map=/boot/map
> install=/boot/boot.b
> prompt
> nowarn
> image=/boot/vmlinuz
>           label=turbolinux
>           read-only
>           root=/dev/hda2
> 
> fstab

I'll compress spaces for readability.

> /dev/hda1      swap         swap     defaults    0 0
> /dev/hda2      /            ext2     defaults    0 0

The above line should be

/dev/hda2      /            ext2     defaults    1 1

> /dev/fd0       /mnt/floppy  ext2     noauto      0 0
> /dev/cdrom     /mnt/cdrom   iso9660  noauto,ro   0 0
> none           /proc        proc     defaults    0 0
> 
> Secondary Hard Drive - 3 GB
> 
> hdb1 - entire drive - Redhat 6.1
> 
> lilo.conf
> 
> boot=/dev/hdb
> map=/boot/map
> install=/boot/boot.b
> prompt
> nowarn
> image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.12-20
>           label=rhlinux6
>           initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
>           read-only
>           root=/dev/hdb1
> 
> fstab
> 
> /dev/hdb1      /            ext2     defaults      0 0

The above line should be

/dev/hdb1      /            ext2     defaults      1 1

> /dev/cdrom   /mnt/cdrom   iso9660  noauto,owner,ro 0 0
> /dev/hda1    swap         swap     defaults        0 0
> /dev/fd0     /mnt/floppy  ext2     noauto,owner    0 0
> none         /proc        proc     defaults        0 0
> none         /dev/pts     devpts   gid=5,mode=620  0 0
> 
> Point of interest: When TurboLinux boots up, I get several errors in
> recognizing, initializing and then loading the swap partition, /dev/hda1. It
> says that the signature doesn't match that of a swap paritition. I do not
> get this error in booting up Redhat 6.1.

When TL is up, run

  swapoff
  mkswap /dev/hda1
  swapon

> I tried to mount /dev/hdb1 in TurboLinux's lilo.conf, but got error messages
> in doing so.

Don't do that.  That's not the place.

> I am wondering if I screwed up the mnt point. Are you suppose
> to make a directory (as /mnt/hdb1) or a file named 'hdb1' under
> /mnt?

A directory.

> I did
> the former...maybe this is why the mount failed?

No.

> Still very new at this and
> also symlinks. Also, I noticed in my lilo.conf on the XP/MDK multi-boot
> system the instruction: 'ignore-table'. Is this something I need here, in
> this multi-boot scenario?

No.

> Thanks for your efforts. The great thing about getting through this is the
> each one thereafter will be 'a piece of cake!'
> 
> T

Ok, let's configure TL3's lilo.conf for the dual-boot.  Add this
stanza to it:

image=/mnt/hdb1/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.12-20
          label=rhlinux6
          initrd=/mnt/hdb1/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
          read-only
          root=/dev/hdb1

Now, mount /dev/hdb1:

  mount /dev/hdb1 /mnt/hdb1

Now, run lilo

  lilo -v

If it returns with no complaints, reboot.  I don't know what kind of
boot prompt you get.  If a plain text prompt, hit <Tab> and it will
show you the possible boots.  If you just hit <Return> it should boot
TL3 normally.  If you type in rhlinux6 and <Return>, it should boot
RH6.

If you get some kind of GUI prompt, you can use the arrow keys to
select what to boot.

Let us know how you fare.

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
robertmcclure earthlink net  http://www.cumbytel.com/~bobcatos/
Linux: because I want to get there today.  Without rebooting.