Lilo is the typical boot loader for Linux though you don't have to use it. You can also use other loaders like:
- Edit the /etc/lilo.conf file to reflect your new kernel.
**NOTE: If you aren't using LILO, you need to configure your boot method (LOADLIN, NT boot loader, OS/2 boot loader, System Commander, etc) to use this new kernel.
**NOTE#2: If you have any DOS LILO entries, I highly recommend to password protect them as shown below.
- Add an entry like below :
--
# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
boot = /dev/hda
#My box needs this since I have two 3c509 cards
append="ether=0,0,eth1"
#compact # faster, but won't work on all systems.
delay = 50
vga = normal # force sane state
# ramdisk = 0 # paranoia setting
# End LILO global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /2035-1542-sb16
root = /dev/hda6
label = linux
read-only # Non-UMSDOS filesystems should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
other=/dev/hda1
label=dos
password=g3a0uttahere
table=/dev/hda
--
Two or more NICs: For a secure system, you should have (2) Ethernet cards installed. One to the cable modem and the other for the internal LAN. If both installed Ethernet cards from different vendors, then skip this next part.
If your two Ethernet cards are identical and you compiled support for them into the kernle, Linux will only autodetect ONE card. To make Linux look for additional Ethernet cards, add the following to the lilo.conf file:
append="ether=0,0,eth1"
If you are using Redhat's dynamic kernel modules to support your network cards, do the following instead:
/etc/conf.modules
--
alias eth1 3c509
--
This says eth1 is a 3Com 3c509. If it uses non-standard addresses, IRQs, etc, you can specify their locations:
/etc/conf.modules
--
options 3c509 io=0x300,12
--
Missing Memory: When you boot your machine and run a "dmesg" or a "free" and you don't see all your installed RAM, do the following. This example is for a system with 40MB of RAM..
/etc/lilo.conf
--
append="mem=40M"
--
- Run the LILO program by simply entering "lilo" at the command prompt to re-write your boot sector. If everything is ok, you will be given a short list of boot images that LILO will boot from.
Before you reboot your box, I *highly* recommend you create a boot disk that will use the kernel off the diskette BUT mount your Linux partition on the hard drive. A RESCUE diskette will NOT let you fix LILO problems. Sucks but its true!
Additional Security: LILO has a feature to password itself. Without the password given, the machine will boot into its configured kernel image. To enable this, edit in the following:
/etc/lilo.conf
--
restricted
password=xxxx
--
Change the "xxx" to a password of your choice. The "restricted" word enables the passwording. Since the password is saved in CLEAR-TEXT, make sure no one else can read it by doing the following:
chmod 700 /etc/lilo.conf
LILO booting problems?
"LI" - Getting this when you are rebooting? This realistically is happening because the hard drive geometry in the CMOS setup is different than reported by the kernel booting up. To fix this, add the following line after the "VGA=normal" line:
/etc/lilo.conf
--
linear
--
If this doesn't help you, check out the LILO docs. Its kinda long but you can just skip down to roughly 93% of it and see what all the LILO codes mean.
/usr/doc/lilo-*/README