On Thursday 06 June 2002 3:00 pm, Brian Durant wrote:

On Thursday 06 June 2002 21:40, Carl wrote: - All you have to do is re-create /etc/lilo.conf and #lilo . - You will need to run lilo to get it to rewrite your mbr ASAIK.

Use the SuSE cd to start the installation prog and chose the non-X option. Cancel the installation and then choose "Start installed System" (or whatever the choice is) selecting the appropriate dev (e.g. /dev/hda1) This will then load your existing system, and then you can run lilo (either from Yast, or the command line. It should then reboot as normal. HTH Terence

On Thursday 06 June 2002 3:32 pm, Brian Durant wrote:

Are we talking about CD 1?

Yes, you use the installation system to boot your existing system, by-passing the broken mbr on your hd, as I described.

- This will then load your existing system, and then you can run lilo (either - from Yast, or the command line). - It should then reboot as normal.

It hasn't failed for me when I've used it to correct errors

And if it doesn't? I won't be able to post again for a while if it doesn't, so I should probably know something about the options, if there are any.

You need to run lilo on your existing system to repair the damage. There may be another way to do it that is as simple, but I don't know it if so. Good luck. Terence

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Thursday 06 June 2002 22:16, Brian Durant wrote:

Well, things have gone from bad to worse. I am now forced to work off my Win 2k boot as SuSE 7.3 Pro gives me tons of errors at startup. Where to begin? Well, there is kernel panic, there something with bogus sectors 5000 something (can't remember the exact number, but it was in the 5000 range), can't find RAM disk, plus a lot more. In other words SuSE is simply not functioning at startup. I have tried booting fron CD 1, but I can't find any option in the 7.3 CD at startup that will boot into my existing system.

There are also some basic commands that I am unaware of from the command line, like how can I print the startup errors to a printer, save the errors as a file on a floppy or even how to get the system to shutdown properly from the command line. Some of this info I have, but on my SuSE system that won't run.

A not so cheerfull,

Brian

OK dude, things can always get worse. What happened right before all this mess? My first guess is it can't find its libraries (/lib/kernelversion). Are they there? When you boot to the CD, proceed until it gives you the option of booting an existing system. The errors are likely in /var/log/localmessages and messages so print those files. (they'll be long) Oh, I'm sorry, how can I help people when I can't get my own problems fixed. - -- Conway's Law: In any organization there will always be one person who knows what is going on. This person must be fired. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iEYEARECAAYFAj0AKXcACgkQnQ18+PFcZJt6CACeKdcso8qmef17PQ+0MEtvCfCX /sAAn1N8LoyC8wfZsBUkpr0NOxVLF0l9 =F1fo -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

On Fri, Jun 07, 2002 at 01:26:16PM +0700, Brian Durant wrote: <snip> I haven't the time to look deeper into this ATM, but looking at your lilo.conf, two things caught my attention:

boot = /dev/hda6 is this correct?

and:

append = "enableapic vga=0x0317 disableapic ide=nodma apm=off hdd=ide-scsi"

"enableapic" *and* "disableapic" in the same line? Dunno, maybe this is a little confusing to lilo?

Personally, I got the impression that there was a problem with the "lba32" call which was apparently considered "bogus". This could be clarrified of course, if I could find the correct #%¤* log.

right now, the only thing I can come up with is: /var/log/boot.* maybe boot.omsg ? Here my lilo.conf for comparison: # Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Tue May 21 20:16:58 2002 boot = /dev/hda change-rules reset read-only menu-scheme = Wg:kw:Wg:Wg lba32 prompt timeout = 80 message = /boot/message image = /boot/vmlinuz label = linux append = "hdc=ide-scsi" initrd = /boot/initrd root = /dev/hda9 vga = 791 image = /boot/vmlinuz.suse label = failsafe append = "ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off hdc=ide-scsi" initrd = /boot/initrd.suse optional root = /dev/hda9 vga = 791 image = /boot/memtest.bin label = memtest86 image = /boot/vmlinuz-7.3 label = 7.3 append = "\"hdc=ide-scsi\"" initrd = /boot/initrd-7.3 optional root = /dev/hda7 hth Jon Clausen

First of all; I didn't really follow this thread from the beginning, I think I've pretty much read the previous posts, but could you (Brian) maybe give a summary of the *present* state of affairs? Comments inline: On Fri, Jun 07, 2002 at 03:54:17PM +0700, Brian Durant wrote:

- lilo.conf, two things caught my attention: - - > boot    = /dev/hda6 - is this correct?

That is correct.

Well, the reason I ask, is that you mention mbr as the location where you install the bootloader. I wouldn't claim to be an expert, but in all the time I've used linux, lilo was always put in mbr, and that particular entry has always been boot = /dev/hda (that is *without* a partition number) has this been changed since the last time lilo was installed?

Here are my partitions: Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 2295 18434556 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/hda2 2360 4866 20137477+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA) /dev/hda5 2360 2551 1542208+ 82 Linux swap /dev/hda6 2552 4866 18595206 83 Linux

Looks nice :)

hda6 is a ReiserFS partition.

And support for reiser is compiled in the kernel?

I deleted a /dev/hda3 partition with no data on it some months ago, so there

free space is always nice, make your self a /home... f.x.?

- "enableapic" *and* "disableapic" in the same line? Dunno, maybe this is

Could be, and I would like to change it at some point, but as far as I know, it has been like that since I enabled APIC in the kernel.

Well... you might as well do it now... I mean it's not like messing with it can break anything much IYKWIM ;P

- > Personally, I got the impression that there was a problem with the "lba32" - > call which was apparently considered "bogus". This could be clarrified of - > course, if I could find the correct #%¤* log.

Hm.. I think those logs are gone :( afaik boot.log doesn't survive between boots, so if boot.omsg is 'empty' I think there's little hope of seeing those msgs...

- Here my lilo.conf for comparison:

- image = /boot/memtest.bin -     label = memtest86 - - image = /boot/vmlinuz-7.3 -     label = 7.3

These two strike me as something that could be a problem as I am lacking these entries. BTW, while I have /boot/memtest.bin, I don't have a /boot/vmlinuz-7.3 does this normally disapear when you recompile?

Damn! Sorry 'bout that... my bad: The lilo.conf I posted is from my 8.0 which has an entry for the 7.3 system still lingering on the machine... Here's the lilo.conf from my 7.3 (just ignore the SuSE8 entry at the bottom) ------------------------------------------- # LILO configuration file # Start LILO global Section # If you want to prevent console users to boot with init=/bin/bash, # restrict usage of boot params by setting a passwd and using the # option # restricted. #password=bootpwd #restricted append="enableapic hdc=ide-scsi" boot=/dev/hda #compact # faster, but won't work on all systems. lba32 vga=normal message=/boot/message menu-scheme=Wg:kw:Wg:Wg read-only prompt timeout=80 # End LILO global Section # image = /boot/vmlinuz root = /dev/hda7 label = linux initrd = /boot/initrd # image = /boot/vmlinuz.jon root = /dev/hda7 label = linux.jon initrd = /boot/initrd # image = /boot/vmlinuz.suse root = /dev/hda7 label = failsafe initrd = /boot/initrd.suse optional # image = /boot/memtest.bin label = memtest86 # image = /boot/vmlinuz8 root = /dev/hda9 label = SuSE8 initrd = /boot/initrd8 -------------------------------------------- Missing entry for memtest is curious. Shouldn't be a problem though... It's just a test util for checking your RAM, which needs to run separated from the OS itself... It's a nice enough feature, but you don't need it before you start suspecting that your memory is going bad... hth Jon Clausen

On Thu, 6 Jun 2002, Carl wrote:

I would post my lilo.conf here, but due to a problem I have (not being able to start Konq as SU) I cannot access mine.

Are you getting an 'unable to open display: Permission denied' sort of message? if so, run 'sux -' instead of 'su'. It'll give you root permission, and give root permission to access the X server, which is running as your user. Rick Green

On Thu, 6 Jun 2002, Carl wrote:

When logged in as a user KMenu|System|FileManagerSuperuserMode, I get the login dialog, enter info, OK, but Konq never comes up. There is no apparent way to backtrace, as there don't seem to be logs for K.

hydra@hydra:~> sux root Password: hydra:/home/hydra # cd /opt/kde3/bin hydra:/opt/kde3/bin # ./konqueror DCOPServer up and running. mcop warning: user defined signal handler found for SIG_PIPE, overriding /tmp/mcop-hydra is not owned by user zone still contained 2 blocks hydra:/opt/kde3/bin #

WTF? I'm trying to run an investment business here.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough to help you understand these messages, but maybe someone else on the list will jump in. At least by starting konq from a command line, you got the messages! I, too, find it frustrating when an application fails to start from the menu, and it just quits quietly. I find that oftentimes, starting it from a terminal window will give me just enough additional information to lead me to the real problem. Unfortunately, I'm not expert in DCOPserver, so I'll have to hope that someone who is will see this and pick up the ball from here... Rick Green