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Linux Booting Options 

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PCQ Bureau
New Update

So you have decided to install Linux. Booting into Linux is a formidable task, especially if are planning to do a

Linux-Windows multi-boot. Here we shall look at various methods that can be used to simplify the troubles. Let us talk about LILO, the Linux Loader before we continue. 

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The LILO is a boot loader program that can boot the Linux kernel and other OSs. What makes LILO excellent as compared to other boot loaders is that it can accept command line arguments/options and holds a choice of 16 different images to boot from: Windows, OS/2, SCO Unix, PC-Dos, Linux, to name a few.

Linux installation will detect the problem before partition information is physically written

LILO can be installed in the Master Boot Record (MBR) or on the first sector of the root partition. After installation, the computer boots up in a GUI screen with the OS options. The options can be selected with the up and down arrow keys. By default, LILO waits for five seconds for the user to select a choice. If there is no response from the user, LILO boots the default boot image. In case the user wants to pass special arguments while booting, he can press ‘Ctrl + X’ to get a boot prompt. You can hit the ‘Tab’ key to see the boot options that can be passed here. 

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For more information on LILO arguments, type ‘man lilo’ in a terminal window after booting into Linux.

Trouble happens when you try to install LILO in the MBR and the beginning of the partition containing Linux exceeds 1024 cylinders of the hard disk. If you are having trouble while trying to boot from LILO, try the following method. However, note that this method works in only those systems, which have LBA32 (EDD) capable BIOS. You can check the BIOS compatibility from your computer dealer or from the BIOS manufacturer’s web site.

Linux already installed



Boot up the computer with your Linux boot disk and login as root user. If you are in the GUI mode, open the terminal window. Type vi /etc/lilo.conf on the console. This will show you the contents of lilo.conf file (which is the configuration file for Linux Loader). Search for the line ‘linear’ and replace it with ‘lba32’. Save the file and exit the vi editor. Type ‘lilo’ on the console to overwrite the MBR and reboot your computer to boot from LILO. 

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Fresh install 



If you already have Windows installed as your primary OS on the first partition of the hard disk, it is possible that the remaining hard disk space (that you want to use for Linux root) is above 1024 cylinder limit. In this case, if you have some space under the limit, you can make a boot partition there. 

While installing Linux make a boot partition (mount point /boot) of say 50 MB under the 1024-cylinder limit. The boot partition stores the image that LILO needs to boot into the OS. Making the boot partition within the 1024 cylinder limit will ensure that the BIOS interrupt enables LILO to read the boot image.

Using ‘loadlin’



You can use ‘loadlin’ to boot into Linux. You will find ‘loadlin’ with every PCQLinux distribution along with the manual in the ‘dosutils’ folder. Here is how to do it.

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Installation informs the user that LILO couldn’t be written on MBR

During Linux installation opt to write LILO on the first sector of the Linux partition. Now boot into Linux using the boot floppy and copy the file ‘vmlinuz’ from the /boot directory to a blank floppy using the command:

mcopy vmlinuz a:\

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Reboot the computer and boot into the DOS (Windows) partition. Copy the vmlinux file from the floppy to your Windows root partition (normally C:\). Now copy ‘loadlin.exe’ file from the Linux distribution CD to C:\ and type the command:

loadlin vmlinuz root=”/dev/hdxy” - where ‘xy’ is your Linux boot partition (e.g. hda2)

This will boot your computer into Linux.

Third-party boot loaders



Other boot loaders like XOSL (Extended Operating System Loader) GRUB, etc can be used to boot into Linux. However, make sure that you have boot floppies for all your OSs before you go on to install them on your MBR. More information on GRUB can be found at

www.gnu.org/software/grub/ 

Varun Sharma

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