Failed fedora installation on /dev/sdb1 affecting slakcware on /dev/sda1

[Gallienus]

After a failed fedora core 4 installation Slackware-current no longer boots.

Here is a decription of my hard drives and what they contain.
Windows is on hda1
Slackware is on sda
fedora core failed to install on sdb.

The Fedora core installation proceeded until it was time to install the boot loader and the programs. At that point I recieved a bad media error and the installation was aborted.

When the installation failed I tried to boot slackware. During the boot up process I recieved this error.

VFS: Cannot open root device "801" or unknwn block (8,1)
Please append correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknonw block (8,1)

I've looked at various lilo examples and everything seems to be in order.
These are the lines from my /etc/lilo.config file
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/sda

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda1
label = Slackware
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends

When I was partitioning sdb and setting the install options I made absolutely sure neither hda or sda were touched. I didn't even install grub because it was trying to install to hda. I can't see why atempting to install fedora would even affect the slackware installation I have on a different disk.

I also have the computer set to boot to sda. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[dkeav]

make yourself a grub floppy, boot up your partition and fix your bootloader

[Gallienus]

Right now I'm using the first Slackware cd as a rescue disk. I've run llloconfig and then lilo when I was done. The lilo command returns;
Warning: /dev/sda is not on the first disk.
Added Slackware *
Added WindowsXP

[saikee]

No error in the Lilo message means it will work but the warning would suggest disk ordering convention may not be the one you expect.

Pretty you hate Grub because its /boot/grub/device.map would tell you the disk ordering system as handed down by the BIOS.

I am pretty sure the installation of one distro will not affect another, even in the same disk, otherwise all hell will break loose in my box with 4 disks and 80+ systems. I have FC2, FC3, FC4, FC5, Slackware 10 and 10.2 there.

If your disk has been rearranged, either by yourself or the introduction of the sdb then it may upset the boot loader but I couldn't see how. The error message you have would appear to me that Slackware can't find its root partition.

It is possible that when issuing a Lilo command as you did you could have cured the problem. Lilo writes out a new boot loader each time it is configured and could be compplaining the recorded 2-disk mapping failed to match the 3-disk environment last time.

[Davno]

Its a possibility that when installing fedora in an empty partition, that partition numbering moved (specialy if installed in middle of a disk). I would throw in a lin disk and go through the manual partitioning tool, just to clearly indentify which partition is which now. Then modify lilo accordinly,