New LILO version needed for recent kernel compatibilty

[TLM]

Hi all, been using VL flawlessly for some years now. But yesterday a hiccup with LILO. Typically to add a Ubuntu based distro to my LILO, i would just copy the vmlinuz and initrd files from the distro into VL's /boot/tamu folder, and then create a new entry in my lilo.conf to point to the new distro. I have done this dozens of times successfully. But yesterday i had installed Viperr (Fedora version of CrunchBang) and my procedure to add it to LILO failed with error message as follows:

Fatal: Setup length exceeds 31 maximum; kernel setup will overwrite boot loader

After some research, it appears that this issue occurs with some of the newer 3xxx kernels, which the above mentioned Viperr has. I also read in more than one place that the newer version of LILO (version 23.2) has corrected this error. I am not sure what version of LILO VL is using, however it does not auto-detect my Viperr installation, nor will it allow me to add it manually, so i am thinking that LILO may need to be bumped up to a newer version.

BTW, the VL released i have tried are VL6 SOHO, VL7 Standard, and VL7 SOHO RC1.8. All return the same LILO error. Any help with this is greatly welcomed and appreciated, since i am not a GRUB man; LILO is what i know, use, and love. 

[pierce.jason]

Since you have VL7, try using Grub2

We really should drop lilo since its such a pain to deal with.

[sledgehammer]

I don't dual boot, use lilo and have never had a problem with it.  Perhaps because I use VL7 for all my computer needs?  Perhaps because I don't know anything about bootloaders and therefore never fool with lilo?

[TLM]

Since you have VL7, try using Grub2

We really should drop lilo since its such a pain to deal with.

I might consider this, but only if VL offers Grub Customizer in the repos.

[M0E-lnx]

Since you have VL7, try using Grub2

We really should drop lilo since its such a pain to deal with.

+1

[M0E-lnx]

Since you have VL7, try using Grub2

We really should drop lilo since its such a pain to deal with.

I might consider this, but only if VL offers Grub Customizer in the repos.

what do you mean customizer?

Once you get to know grub, setting it up is really easy.

[nightflier]

I still prefer lilo, mainly because it is faster.

[TLM]

I still prefer lilo, mainly because it is faster.

I'm with you, mostly because i learned lilo and how to modify lilo.conf to use a custom bitmap, custom title names, etc. No doubt i could learn the same for GRUB, its just that i am reluctant to give up what i am used to and most likely a little bit lazy  about learning the same ins and outs of GRUB.

[TLM]

Since you have VL7, try using Grub2

We really should drop lilo since its such a pain to deal with.

I might consider this, but only if VL offers Grub Customizer in the repos.

what do you mean customizer?

Once you get to know grub, setting it up is really easy.

GRUB customizer is a GUI for modifying GRUB (google grub customizer), however i am just being lazy about it. I learned to set my own bitmaps, OS titles, and so on in LILO by editing the text file, so i guess i can learn GRUB if i have to. LILO has worked so well for me up until now. I like to customize my PC right down to the bootloader, so that means i need the complete control and know how to mod everything, boot splashes, OS titles, etc. I am not saying GRUB is bad, rather LILO is what i am used to.

[sledgehammer]

So, having a choice, as now, is perfect.  Those, like me, who know only lilo are happy.  The GRUB folks are happy.

TLM, are you going to tell us someday why particle board is bad?

[TLM]

LILO 23.2 is out there in a .gz download. I have it somewhere. I will have to look and see where i downloaded it from. But i do not know exactly how to get it installed onto VL. Here is a change log for LILO 23.2

https://alioth.debian.org/frs/shownotes.php?release_id=1670

Apparently the part where they changed MAX_SETUPSECS from 31 to 63 is the part that fixes the error message i am getting with the newer kernels. Here is the changelog:

Change Log

Changes for version 23.2 (09-Apr-2011) - Joachim Wiedorn

  Documentations
  --------------
    - Optimize documentation generation and information.
    - Reformatting mkrescue.8 manpage. (thanks to Martin E. Schauer)
    - Update of lilo.conf.5 manpage and remove of OS/2 information.

  Sources
  -------
    - Remove obsolete BIOS workaround from 2002 (src/second.S)
    - Add information about -H option.   (src/lilo.c)
    - Save errno for second command.     (src/device.c)
    - Fix missleading error message.     (src/geometry.c)
    - Remove obsolete OS/2 code.   (src/boot.c, src/temp.c)
    - Enlarge maximum number of sectors (MAX_SETUPSECS) for
        kernel setup code to 63.   (src/bootsect.S, src/lilo.h)
    - Fix for many small flaws in source code. (Many thanks to
        Solar Designer and Vasiliy Kulikov of the openwall project).

  General
  -------
    - Remove obsolete OS/2 code.   (make.vars, src/Makefile)
    - Optimize Makefile and src/Makefile for use of $(MAKE).
    - Use mktemp utility for floppy image generation in mkrescue.
        (Many thanks to Solar Designer and Vasiliy Kulikov of the
        openwall project).
    - Add new scripts with Makefile (already used for Debian):
        * liloconfig (for creating new lilo.conf)
        * lilo-uuid-diskid (convert device names to UUID/DiskID)

[TLM]

So, having a choice, as now, is perfect.  Those, like me, who know only lilo are happy.  The GRUB folks are happy.

TLM, are you going to tell us someday why particle board is bad?

Used to work construction. Saw it used in places where it should not have been. (damp environments, shelving without proper ribbing to prevent bowing, etc. Just always found good old plywood better. Except maybe for loudspeaker cabinets, where particle board density is a good thing 

[TLM]

At any rate, a newer version of LILO exists, and if it did not create a large headache in the way of dependencies, then why shouldn't it be included in the next release of VL?

[pierce.jason]

I still prefer lilo, mainly because it is faster.

Faster?? This has to be a joke... I can imagine no possible way for you to qualify or quantify "speed" of a bootloader. Set both to 0 timeout for menu and there will be no perceivable difference in time from when the boot sector is first read and when the kernel is first read. Anything before or after these two "checkpoints" is outside the realm of the bootloader and not in question.

[nightflier]

I did a quick speed test on a reasonably fast machine (P4 3 GHz), timed from the point where the boot loader starts.
GRUB: I first get the message "GRUB Loading", then "Welcome to GRUB!", and finally the boot menu. Total time: 4 seconds.
LILO: there is a quick flash that shows the lilo version and then the boot menu appears. Total time is 1 second or less (my timer does not have fractions of seconds).