> I'm thinking out loud so give me a minute... > > The "/etc/fstab" could be pointing at the CDROM for boot > > If your using Grub "boot=/dev/cdrom" when it should be pointing to > "/dev/hda/" > I'm using Grub on my laptop so I looked at that. > If your using Lilo it could be pointing to "/dev/cdrom" when it should > be pointing to "/dev/hda/" > My desktop is running Lilo but it's not plugged in... > > Be careful changing these settings, know where your partitions are > point before you change anything. > > Have you tried the "fdisk /mbr" thing? > If you do you will need to reinstall Linux > You could use a W95 or W98 boot CD to do it. > Wack the partitions with Linux "cfdisk or fdisk" first then use the > DOS boot "fdisk /mbr" > Then reinstall Linux. > Power off between restarts. > > It's a somewhat tedious process but it doesn't take all that long. > > If all else fails, down load the "dban" iso for CD's. Burn a CD for dban > and wipe the disk. > Then install Linux. I have a similar problem. I originally installed redhat 9 on my computer. I had /boot, /, and swap partitions. I tried installing slack 9.1 on it, overwriting everything. I got weird messages about it running out of room so I deleted the first two partitions and made one unified one. when I installed again, it asked if I wanted to put the boot loader on the mbr or on the first partition or something. It said the later was safer, so I did that. now when I turn my computer on, it gives me my bios splash screen, prints GRUB, then my monitor flickers off and on, I get the splash screen again, and it prints GRUB again until I turn it off. Booting off a floppy gets me slackware without a problem. Redhat 9 uses grub and slack uses lilo so I believe grub's on the mbr and my computer is booting off that. Is there any way I can fix this without reinstalling? how do I tell my computer to boot off the first sector or how do I delete/fix the mbr? _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list