LILO mini-HOWTO

• Index
• Introduction
• Background Information and Standard Installation
• The Simple Configuration
• Installing hdc to Boot as hda and Using bios=
• Using Lilo When the BIOS Can't See the Root Partition
• How do i know the BIOS number for my SCSI disks
• Accessing Huge Disks When the BIOS Can't
• Booting from a Rescue Floppy
• LILO after the installation of Mandrake Linux 9.1 on HP products
• Bibliography
• Further Information
• Getting help

1. Introduction

Although the documentation found in Lilo's sources (the one installed in /usr/doc/lilo-version) is very comprehensive, most Linux users experience some trouble in building their own /etc/lilo.conf file. This document is meant to support them by giving the minimal information and by showing five sample installations:

• The first example is the classical ``Linux and other'' installation.
• The next one shows how to install Lilo on a hard drive connected as /dev/hdc that will boot as /dev/hda. This is usually needed when you install a new Linux drive from your own running system. This also tells how to boot from SCSI disks when your BIOS is modern enough.
• The third example shows how to boot a Linux system whose root partition can't be accessed by the BIOS.
• The next sample file is used to access huge disks, that neither the BIOS nor DOS can access easily (this one is somehow outdated).
• The last example shows how to restore a damaged disk, if the damage resulted from installing another operating system).

The last three examples are by Cameron, cls@truffula.sj.ca.us, who wrote the original document. Alessandro rubini@linux.it doesn't run anything but Linux, so he can't check nor update them by himself. Needless to say, any feedback is welcome.