Slackware boot issue!

[r3b00+]

I have successfully installed Slackware and Windows 2000 on their own partitions.
I have then copied the first 512 bytes from the Slackware root partition to a FAT formatted floppy, with the following code

dd if=/dev/hda5 of=/tmp/bootsect.lnx bs=512 count=1
mount /mnt/floppy
cp /tmp/bootsect.lnx /mnt/floppy

I then copied the bootsect.lnx file from the FAT formatted floppy to the C: drive on the Windows 2000 partition, then edited the boot.ini file as follows

C:\bootsect.lnx="Slackware Linux"

All seemed well when i rebooted because there was an option on the boot menu for "Slackware Linux", but when i selected this nothing happens, its just sits with a flashing cursor!

I have tried repeating the process but no difference!

Any ideas anyone?

Cheers

r3b007

[MrLinus]

Umm.. When you installed Slackware, did you make sure to install it on Sector 1 or did you install it to MBR?

[r3b00+]

I take it you're talking about LILO?
If so, i installed it to the superblock of the Slackware partition.
Im baffled to be honest, any ideas?

Cheers for the reply!

r3b007

[MrLinus]

(yes, lilo)

Hrmmm. Right partition??

May have to think or do research on this one...

[r3b00+]

Ive been searching for possible issues but i have found nothing as of yet!
I really dont want to reinstall Slackware but this is looking like my only option!

[MrLinus]

No no.. don't do that yet.. You followed this? http://12.129.206.114/~hackerth/org/.../dual_boot.php

Perhaps Slackware doesn't like the name bootsect.lnx and maybe linux.bin works better?

Can you put up the partition layout?

[r3b00+]

Nah, i followed THIS
Maybe, i can try a different file name when i get home!

Unfortunately i cant post the partition layout Ms Mittens, im at work right now!

[noODle]

Do not reinstall !
You can always boot using the CD.
Perhaps something went wrong with the coping to the floppy.

You can try to copy the bootsector straight to you fat32(?) partition (not sure about ntfs).
Verify that the file actually is a boot sector by using the 'file' command' in a terminal. (also checks if it is not empty)
I had the same problem with mandrake once, the boot sector happened to be on a different drive than I had expected.

[r3b00+]

I cant copy the bootsector straight to the FAT32 partition, cos its an NTFS partition!
The file is 512 bytes in size!

Any more ideas?

[cgkanchi]

Frankly, I'm baffled too. The only thing I can think of is that somehow the first 512 bytes of the partition are mangled. But then, Slackware shouldn't boot at all (not even from CD). The other thing that I can think of is that something's messed up with your Hard Disk Geometry. Maybe Linux and Windows see the partition boundaries differently. When you do a fdisk -l, does it say "partition does not end on cylinder boundary" or something similar, if it does, you might have to repartition. If you do repartition, I recommend setting up Windows 2000 first, and using the Management Console to partition according to your requirements. Then install Linux and go through the steps again. BTW, the instructions on the Slackware site are wrong. It should be dd if=/dev/hda5 of=/tmp/boot.lnx bs=512 count=1. You want one copy of the first 512 bytes of hda5, not 512 copies of the first byte.
Cheers,
cgkanchi