Linux wont load because partition below 1024

[harto39]

I have bought a new box, have decided to load mandrake on but after partitioning and trying to put boot magic on I recieved a error message saying one of the partitions was below cylinder 1024, can some one tell me how to fix this problem, windows is really killing me :confused:

[bdl]

Can you please post some details as to how the drive was partitioned? It would be very helpful in troubleshooting the case.

[harto39]

Originally posted by bdl:
<STRONG>Can you please post some details as to how the drive was partitioned? It would be very helpful in troubleshooting the case.</STRONG>
After a clean install on receipt of the new box with windows I loaded partition magic and split and formatted for the loading of Mandrake, when I went to load boot magic, I recieved the error message about the possition of the partition.
The general specs are pentium MMX, 128 Ram, 10 gig H/D, cd rom,

[Choozo]

I guess Boot Magic is some sort of bootloader? If so, why do you need that one?
LILO or GRUB (which will be installed by Mandrake) will do just fine. If you are using an older version of Mandrake (7.0), the /boot partition must be below the 1024 cylinder mark. This is no longer a problem with newer versions of LILO thoug, like in Mandrake 7.2/8.0 (Maybe even in 7.1).

Hope that helps? :)

[bdl]

Originally posted by harto39:
<STRONG>
After a clean install on receipt of the new box with windows I loaded partition magic and split and formatted for the loading of Mandrake, when I went to load boot magic, I recieved the error message about the possition of the partition.
The general specs are pentium MMX, 128 Ram, 10 gig H/D, cd rom,</STRONG>

Perhaps I was not very clear in the first post; could you please post the way your drive was partitioned, e.g.

/dev/hda1 windows
/dev/hda5 /
/dev/hda6 swap
/dev/hda7 /home

...along those lines. I agree with Choozo, Boot Magic is not what you want to use to boot the system, most everyone relies on LILO to do the job just fine. I'm guessing that the partition scheme you have is similar to the one listed above; if so, it could be that Boot Magic wont boot a logical Linux partition past the 1024 cylinder boundary.

[harto39]

Hi guys, YAHOO, drakx and bootloader did the trick, have mandrake 7.2 up and running and have started to configure, thanks for your help, boy things have changed from my first linux box with mandrake 6.5, once again thanks for your help
Dave

[dwolf]

I am having a similar problem with MD 8 (using LILO, I don't know what Boot Magic is...?). I belive I read that this is a potential limitation of the BIOS not MD per se). Anyway, Mandrake will allow you during the installation to make a boot disk. Use that disk to start the system (set the BIOS to boot from your disk drive, if it's not already set to do so). It takes quite a while to boot from disk on my machine and it may not be a permanent solution for you, but if you're dying to see your KDE GUI, it may help.