um... ok?

[Counterstrike]

So I'm installing Mandrake 7.1 on my friend's compcrap computer. Anyways, SuSE 7.0 failed, as did Mandrake 7.2 and Debian 2.2r2 (all at hardware detection)... anyways, I get through all the installation and then try to install a bootloader. LILO fails. GRUB fails. mkbootdisk (to the A:\) FAILS. FSCK! What do I do? I'm going to redo his entire computer on Tuesday if I can't find out what the hell to do... someone help! Partitions are setup like this:

18GB -> /mnt/windows (Windows 98)
256MB -> /swap
280MB -> /
2.7GB -> /usr
3GB -> /home

What do I do!? The fsckin thing is pissing me off so damn bad. I tried every possible combination for the LILO and GRUB bootloaders and nothing works at all. Arg!

[Shadoglare]

If that 18GB Windows partition is your first partition, it's not going to work. That's way to far into the HD to start your Linux partition - Linux needs to start withing the first 1024 cylindars of the HD, which on most HD's seems to be around the first 2-3GB.

[ColdPack]

Originally posted by Shadoglare:
If that 18GB Windows partition is your first partition, it's not going to work. That's way to far into the HD to start your Linux partition - Linux needs to start withing the first 1024 cylindars of the HD, which on most HD's seems to be around the first 2-3GB.

I thought this, too. But shouldn't GRUB be able to do it? Or is 18G into the drive too far for any of it. Again, I agree. I think that is the problem, too. Just wondering about the limitations of GRUB, though.

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What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists?
In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.
-- Woody Allen, "Without Feathers"

[Counterstrike]

I didn't think it would be a problem, considering that LILO doesn't have the 1024 cylinder limit (the one that's included with Mandrake 7.1 anyways). So formatting the hard drive is the only way? This means I'll have to install Linux first, then Windows... which will overwrite the MBR for the Windows bootloader. How do I get into Linux and reinstall LILO/GRUB if I can't make a boot disk? Is it possible to make a bootdisk on my computer that'll work on his? Or the bootdisk included with the Mandrake CD Set?

[Counterstrike]

Bump...

[vvx]

You shoudl be able to boot off the boot floppies/cdrom to whatever you have installed. The method for this is, at the lilo prompt, type

linux root=/dev/hdXX

where /dev/hdXX is where / resides.. You can then attempt to fix whatever issues lilo/grub has with the hd.. If you plan on using the option with lilo to allow more than 1024 cylinders, you need to give it the -L flag.

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im dumm

[tminos]

Loadlin is your friend now.
Look in the NHF's for "Loadlin" -- its basically a small DOS app that will boot up Linux. I have it set on Moms so that *RIGHT* before booting windows is displays a menu consisting of:

Windows
Linux

LOADLIN. For DOS. Use It.