First time running Mandrake 8.1....

[Amedeo602]

Well I must have done something right...I installed mandrake 8.1 and i haven't blown anything up on my machine...

My first n00b question: How do I make windoze my default OS on LiLo?

[nihili]

hunt around for the lilo configuration file. It's something like lilo.conf. Once you find it, it should be pretty obvious how to modify it.

nihili

[Amedeo602]

thank you much (i apologize to everyone in advance...i know i'm gonna post some real no-brainers here..)

[nihili]

actually I only know that because I had the same question when I first installed Linux on my laptop a couple years ago. Although I was never able to get Linux to do anything functional, I was fearless enough to go mucking around in the files to change configuration.

good luck,

nihili

[Amedeo602]

i'm definitely fearless :)


if all else fails i can just blow the partition i have it on (not like i have anything on here anyway)

[nihili]

if you decide to blow the partition, don't forget to deal with the mbr. That piece of info cost me the price of a boxed set of mandrake.

nihili

[Amedeo602]

thanks for the info...


i found the lilo.conf file in the /etc folder (strange place for it...i figured it'd be in the boot folder) anywho, i modified it to what i thought would work (i also took the password out) but still when i boot up i get linux as default and have to put in my password...what am i doing wrong? here's my lilo.conf file...


boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
vga=normal
default=windows
keytable=/boot/us.klt
lba32
prompt
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=linux
root=/dev/hda5 append=" hdc=ide-scsi devfs=mount quiet"
vga=788
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=linux-nonfb
root=/dev/hda5
append=" hdc=ide-scsi devfs=mount"
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=failsafe
root=/dev/hda5 append=" hdc=ide-scsi devfs=mount failsafe"
read-only
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2secure
label=linux-2.2
root=/dev/hda5
append=" hdc=ide-scsi devfs=mount"
vga=788
read-only
other=/dev/hda1
label=windows
table=/dev/hda

[nihili]

Ok, please understand this is a case of the blind leading the blind. I'm no linux guru. It would be much better if a real linux person would come on board.

It sounds like Lilo isn't reading that conf file. I can think of two possibilities. One is that there's another version of the file elsewhere. Two is that you need to specifically update lilo with the changes. A file search should tell you if there's another version. You can hunt around in the lilo directories in /boot for hints about updating. I think there's also some LILO docs in /usr/shared/docs or thereabouts.

ok, wait i found it. it's in the docs i just mentioned. After changing the conf file you need to run /sbin/lilo

if that doesn't work. well, we can always sacrifice a rubber chicken to the linux gods.

nihili

[Amedeo602]

that fixed it, thanks a lot!

i like linux, but i'm gonna stick with windoze until i get a chance to learn it a bit more (i already like konqueror better than ie)

[Vryce]

nevermind this post
;)

[Amedeo602]

Originally posted by Vryce
well, either its booting from a diff lilo.conf, or youre default = isn't working

In my experiences with lilo, it chooses its list in the order you type the list, try putting windows as the first in the list

also, what version of windows are you running?

win98se, but running the sbin/lilo fixed it (must've been a file that told the OS to look for an updated file? -that's my best guess)

[Vryce]

lol, yeah...silly me

update the config, and run lilo to update

*feels stupid* :p

[Amedeo602]

the blind leading the blind then the guru comes in and trips over our canes.... :rolleyes:

i'm sure i'll have plenty of other newbie questions you can answer for me vryce :)