Can't get Gentoo to boot

So this is my third attempt at installing Genoo, and I seem to be getting a little bit closer each time. This final time through, I haven't had any errors. I've ajusted all of my things properly, and followed the manual almost to the letter (only exception is that I made my boot partition +256M instead of +32M because I kept getting "no more space left on disk" error, so I figured it would fix that problem; and it did)

Now I got to the end of the guide, and this time I tried lilo instead of grub and I get the same boot problem. This is what my screen looks like when I'm trying to boot.

Verifying DMI pool data..............................
Boot from CD :

Click to expand...

then it'll sit there for a few seconds...then it does this

Verifying DMI pool data..............................
Boot from CD :
;

Click to expand...

and that's it. I'm pretty sure gentoo is a little more than just a semicolon, so I don't know what the deal is. I don't want to go throuh the two hour install process again because it's quite intensive. I've already lost my NTFS partitions and lost a lot of data. I'm either doing all one or all the other; I am not going to mess with dual boot for a little while longer.

Anyway, is there anyway I can edit the bootloader to work? I'd really like to get running on my Gentoo Stage3 system! I don't mind using grub or anything, just get me working!

Oh, and if it helps, I already have these disks burnt and at my disposal:
Knoppix 3.7
Overclockix 3.8
Gentoo 2005.0

Just a little bit more information that you might find useful. I think I just screwed up on the lilo installation somehow, but now I'm back trying to fix the /etc/lilo.conf file and I *think* I have it right, but I obviously dont. Here is the deal; this is what my lilo.conf says

boot=/dev/hda
prompt
timeout=50
default=gentoo

image=/boot/kernel-2.6.11-gentoo-r9
label=gentoo
read-only
root=/dev/hda3

Click to expand...

I think that I'm right, but I also think I'm not right because when I run /sbin/lilo I get this message

Warning: '/proc/partitions' does not exist, disk scan bypassed
Fatal: Filesystem would be destroyed by LILO boot sector : /dev/hda

So what should I do? The way I have my partitions set up is

/dev/hda1 is /mnt/gentoo/boot +256M
/dev/hda2 is just swap +1024M
/dev/hda3 is /mnt/gentoo/ +60000M

I don't really know lilo any more, but it doesn't look like it's even getting to the boot loader. You may want to try clearing your cmos. You also might want to boot from the livecd and re-install lilo if that doesn't work.

Is there a reason you chose lilo over grub?

The only reason I chose lilo over grub is because I tried grub last time and would up getting the semicolon error...so nothing different, I suppose. If you can help me setup grub, I would be more than happy to use it instead. Only thing is that I'm really going to need help mounting and chrooting back to where I'm supposed to be (if I need to do that?) from the livecd part since I have since restarted my computer; I assume that umounts my drives (since I specifically told it to).

Warning: '/proc/partitions'

Click to expand...

Did you follow the Gentoo Handbook to the letter... I do think i remember somewhere in there it talks about setting up /proc "Or the system will not boot." Go through the handbook and see what ya missed.

Oh, and your lilo.conf is fine.... I hate grub.

WingsofGOD said:

Did you follow the Gentoo Handbook to the letter... I do think i remember somewhere in there it talks about setting up /proc "Or the system will not boot." Go through the handbook and see what ya missed.

Oh, and your lilo.conf is fine.... I hate grub.

Click to expand...

I could have sworn that I followed it correctly. Of course, I have restarted, so I don't know if that changes anything. I will go check again, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to find anything


edit:
# mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc
http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=6

Yes, I specifically remember doing this step without it giving me any errors... Is this the step you were speaking of?

edit2:
and the /mnt/gentoo/etc/fstab has the correct /proc values as well... I'm at a loss

OKAY! Little update! I got rid of the

Warning: '/proc/partitions' does not exist, disk scan bypassed

error when trying running /sbin/lilo, but I still have the:

Fatal: Filesystem would be destroyed by LILO boot sector : /dev/hda

Please don't tell me I messed up at the very begining ! Is there anyway to fix this?

did you setup lilo on the bootsector already?

if not try athat

fiji said:

did you setup lilo on the bootsector already?

if not try athat

Click to expand...

and how would I go about doing that? I think I might have, but I really am lost as to what is going on. How do I set it up on the bootsector?

what is the bootsector...

what is linux...



who am i....

hmm soz i think it applies it to mbr when you do /sbin/lilo

do you have hda1 set as bootable?

also when it gives you that "fatal:..." does it let you type [y/n] or is it just a error msg

it's only an error message. After that, it just goes back to the # thing. Right now I'm trying grub. So far, it seems to be going smoother, so I'm hoping this'll work.

edit:
score-six stars!