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<H1><A NAME="answer">
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<font color="#B03060">The Answer Guy</font>
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<BR>
<H4>By James T. Dennis,
<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a><BR>
LinuxCare,
<A HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">http://www.linuxcare.com/</A>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>LILO Hangs in Switzerland</H3>
<p><strong>From Tom on Fri, 05 May 2000
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
LILO Hangs in Switzerland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG>
Hi Jim (or James? Is Jim short for James?)
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Jim is short of James. I tend to go by Jim.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
First let me thank you for the work you're doing in the LG. I've
read it for about 2 years now and have seen lots of tips. Even the
AnswerGuy section is interesting, sometimes amusing... But let me
come to the point now
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I have Suse Linux 6.3, Kernel 2.2.13, with NCR SCSI and 2
disks. With fdisk I set Boot=Y on <TT>/dev/sda1.</TT>
</STRONG></P>
<p><strong>mtab looks like:</strong></p>
<pre><strong>/dev/sda1 /boot
/dev/sda2 /
/dev/sdb1 /home
</strong></pre>
<P><STRONG>
But mtab will be processed <EM>after</EM> LILO has loaded the kernel, right?
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
<TT>/etc/mtab</TT> is the file which contains a list of currently
mounted filesystems. <TT>/etc/fstab</TT> is the list of filesystems
which are "known" to the system. <TT>/proc/mounts</TT> is a virtual
file, it is a dynamic representation of the kernel's mount
table.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<TT>/etc/mtab</TT> might be out of sync with you <TT>/proc/mounts</TT> in cases
where the system is in single user mode <TT>---</TT> and the root filesystem
is mounted read-only, or under other add circumstances. <TT>/proc</TT>
might not be mounted in some other cases. The structure of the
two files is similar, but not quite identical. I've experimented
with making <TT>/etc/mtab</TT> a symlink to <TT>/proc/mounts</TT> (and adjusting a
few startup scripts to cope with that). It seems to work.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
The main commands that use <TT>/etc/mtab</TT> are the 'mount' command (when
used with no arguments, to display the list of currently mounted
filesystems) and the 'df' command (which displays the currently
available free space on each mounted fs). Personally I think these
(and any others that need this info) should be adjusted to use
<TT>/proc/mounts</TT> in preference to <TT>/etc/mtab</TT> <TT>---</TT> since this would be one
step that might allow us to mount <TT>/</TT> in read-only mode.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Of course that should be abstracted through a library and it should
still be able to use <TT>/etc/mtab</TT> for cases where <TT>/proc</TT> isn't
available (particularly on some sorts of embedded systems).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
But I digress.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>lilo.conf looks like:</strong></p>
<strong><pre>
initrd = /boot/initrd # exists
boot = /dev/sda # put the Bootstrap code here
#-#-#-#-#
image = /boot/vmlinuz # exists
root = /dev/sda2 # the device holding /
label = lx # short but unique :-)
</pre></strong>
<p><strong>
When running lilo, it shows
<br><code>Addes lx *</code>
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
When rebooting the system, it hangs after printing LI. I've read the
lilo-README. It says that this is caused by "geometry mismatch" or having
moved "<TT>/boot/boot.b</TT> without running the map installer."
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Uuuuh?!? What's the problem? I just don't get it ... Please help me. - Thank
you!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Tom
<br>Greez from Switzerland!
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
Try adding the "linear" directive to the global section of
your <TT>/etc/lilo.conf.</TT> That would be the part before the
first "image=" directive.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Try running <TT>/sbin/lilo</TT> <TT>-v</TT> <TT>-v</TT> (should give more verbose output).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
>LILO: linear Directive</H3>
<p><strong>From Tom on Mon, 08 May 2000
</strong></p>
<!-- ::
LILO: linear Directive
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:: -->
<P><STRONG>
Hello Jim
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thank you for your quick response!
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><FONT COLOR="#000066"><EM>
Try adding the "linear" directive to the global section of
your <TT>/etc/lilo.conf.</TT> That would be the part before the
first "image=" directive.
</EM></FONT></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
I've done that and ... it works! Why does it? Is there a general problem
with SCSI-drive(r)s and the old style adressing C/H/S? AFAIK "linear" means
that the sectors on a disk are counted from 0 to n, as the SCSI does itself
on block devices. But now I'm digressing
<IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-)"
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>
Thanks again!
Tom
</STRONG></P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
>
The failure mode you described (the LILO loader stops at just LI)
is described in their documentation ("tech.dvi" or "tech.ps" depending
on your distribution/source).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Basically the boot loader prints the letters LILO one at a time,
and each at a specific point in its boot process. This is useful
for debugging and troubleshooting. LI says the the first stage
boot loader completed, and the second stage boot loader was found,
but the mapping data (used to find the kernels, etc) was not.
This is usually due to a problem where the BIOS and the LILO loader
are using incompatible blocking addressing modes. (One is using
CHS <TT>---</TT> cylinder/head/sector <TT>---</TT> while the other is using LBA/linear).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Sometimes SCSI expect linear addressing, some SCSI controllers or
controller/drive combinations emulate the old WD1003 (ST506)
interface closely enough that CHS addresses will do.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
Sometimes you need to switch your CMOS/BIOS to use UDMA/LBA modes
and/or add the "linear" to your <TT>/etc/lilo.conf</TT> <TT>---</TT> sometimes you
need to just take the "linear" directive out of <TT>/etc/lilo.conf</TT> (and
re-run <TT>/sbin/lilo</TT>, of course).
</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
>Copyright &copy;</a> 2000, James T. Dennis
<BR>Published in <I>The Linux Gazette</I> Issue 54 June 2000</H5>
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