Linux Community Magazine

LILO (LInux LOader) is the standard boot loader used for Linux systems. When you start a LILO installed system, it undergoes two major stages to boot successfully: first stage (in boot sector) and second stage (in /boot/boot.b file). LILO finds all the required sector addresses in a map file called /boot/map, which is created when you install LILO. With the success of each stage while booting a LILO installed system, it displays a letter. It implies if it is displaying complete word-LILO, the boot process is successful. If the process encounters any discrepancies, it will halt displaying an error on screen. In critical situations, you might need to reformat the drive and use your recent data backup or Linux Recovery tools to restore lost data. As an instance, when you start a Linux-based system, it might the letter 'L", followed by a 2-digit error code. The error code could be 01, 07, 0C etc. CauseA Linux system displays the letter 'L' when the first-stage boot loader load s successully but it cannot continue to load second stage boot loader. The general causes for such errors to occur are bad parameters in BIOS, geometry mismatch, LILO corruption and media failure issues. However, to determine the exact cause, you should refer to the 2-digit error code following the letter 'L'. SolutionTo troubleshoot such problems, you can try performing steps like:* If LILO is corrupted, remove and reinstall it. To remove LILO, use this command:lilo -u /dev/hdaFor reinstalling LILO, run LILO command as root. * You can try specifying linear option at the top of /etc/lilo.conf file.* You should check your BIOS setting to make sure that the specified hard disk geometry matches with that of your hard drive. You can use the following command to get the hard drive geometry details:hdparm -g /dev/hda* Try putting LILO on a different partition and making it bootable by using fdsik. * Run fsck, hard drive might be corrupted. Reforat the hard drive if fsck doesn't re solve the issue. You will need to use your backup to restore lost information the hard drive or use Data Recovery Linux tools after reformatting. Designed with powerful Linux Recovery algorithms, these utilities serve as safe products to recover lost data. Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery is a comprehensive tool to recover lost data. It supports Ext2, Ext3 and Reiser FS file systems. With advanced options like RAW File Recovery, Disk Imaging, File Filter etc., it is a user-friendly application. This Data Recovery Linux tool is compatible with almost all Linux distributions like SUSE, Red Hat, SlackWare, Turbo Linux, Gentoo etc.