[nmglug] Argghhh!!! I hosed my MBR

Andres Paglayan andres at paglayan.com
Tue Dec 7 14:43:19 PST 2004


Hey Jason,
Can you call me at 690-2871? it's sort of work related,


js at jasonschaefer.com wrote:

> If you don't want to change to grub, boot up with knoppix or similar.
> mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 (give the full /dev path since you need it 
> to be writable, knoppix defaults to ro)
> chroot /mnt/hda1
> edit (emacs/vi) /etc/lilo.conf (make appropriate changes)
> lilo -v (installs lilo verbosely, check for errors)
> exit (from chroot)
> reboot
>
>
>
> Tim Emerick wrote:
>
>> I updated my Win98 partition on my dual boot debian/Windows machine to
>> Windows XP.  I expected XP to take over the MBR but didn't realize how
>> difficult it was to have LILO take it all back.  I'm now stuck with a 
>> dead
>> machine.
>>
>> Partititions are all intact, checked them with knoppix.
>>
>> I tried booting knoppix and following some directions on restoring 
>> the MBR so
>> that LILO could handle the bootup.  Got lost since most of the 
>> directions I
>> could find were redhat related and I'm running debian.  I also got 
>> lost since
>> everytime I tried to run lilo it was looking at the knoppix generated
>> /etc/lilo.conf that resided on the ram disk.
>>
>> Found some generic linux instructions on running lilo from a virtual 
>> terminal
>> using the install CD (I used my Debian/Testing netinst CD).  Couldn't 
>> get
>> lilo to run.
>>
>> I also tried popping in the Debian install disk and typing linux
>> root=/dev/hda1 and root=/dev/hda3.  Bounced back an error about not 
>> being
>> able to mount the root.
>>
>> So, I'm pretty much at a loss.  My lack of technical expertise is surely
>> hindering my efforts at getting this box back up and running.
>>
>> I've looked at some doc's that showed how to edit Windows XP's 
>> boot.ini file
>> to boot the linux partition but I prefer the lilo setup I had.
>>
>> With all that said.....HELP!!!!!!  I really need either dummy's 
>> approach or a
>> link to a dummy's approach.
>>
>> Here's my Partition info.
>> /dev/hda1 - 10MB  - ext3 - /boot
>> /dev/hda2 - 256MB - swap
>> /dev/hda3 - 8GB   - ext3 - /
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Tim Emerick
>> /dev/hda4 - 70GB  - vfat - /c (windows XP fat32 partition)
>>
>>
>>        
>> __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail 
>> with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo
>> _______________________________________________
>> nmglug mailing list
>> nmglug at nmglug.org
>> http://www.nmglug.org/mailman/listinfo/nmglug
>>
>>  
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nmglug mailing list
> nmglug at nmglug.org
> http://www.nmglug.org/mailman/listinfo/nmglug
>
>


-- 
Andres Paglayan
andres at paglayan.com
Ph: (505) 986-1561
Santa Fe, NM USA

Open Source is like Love. The more you share it the better it gets.





More information about the nmglug mailing list