Same problem, same computer

Sun, 22 Aug 2004 11:53:52 +0000

ive been having the same problem, i also own a compaq (presario) Ive updated the bios, no help there, reset the bios several times, no help. The only thing i have to add is that im getting a similar error when trying to boot to windows, it gives me a non system disk error some of the timess. Also i cannot boot from a cd at all

dave

Mark Hensler — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 18:03:50 +0000

Compaq has been really ticking me off lately...

I ran the BIOS.. err.. 'ROMPaq'. It said current version was 11/05/99 and the version to be installed was 10/13/99.

I honestly have no idea what their engineers do all day. Probably play Neo Geo emulators on their Alpha systems...

mairving — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 17:27:52 +0000

It is not supported but may help you out. I had forgotten that you had a Compaq. Compaq has a weird BIOS with some of the BIOS installed on the HD.

Mark Hensler — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 16:59:33 +0000

I found what I think is what I need..

I'm running a Compaq 5700T, and they have a 'ROMPaq'. They say it will work with these OS Systems:
Windows 95, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME

Will this same 'ROMPaq' work with linux?

Driver
Installation Instructions

Mark Hensler — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 16:47:00 +0000

Ya.. I was begining to think that I'd just leave it.
I'll into flashing my BIOS. If that doesn't work, it's not that big a deal. This box will only have linux on it anyway.

Thanks for the help!

mairving — Thu, 02 Aug 2001 13:56:37 +0000

Well you have a few options the way I see it.

Option 1 - try flashing the BIOS to a newer one.
Option 2 - reinstall Linux, using the instructions above.
Option 3 - do nothing and just let it go. It probably won't be much of a problem unless you have Windows on that same menu.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 23:45:15 +0000

I got an error the first few times I ran lilo -t -v.
Eventually, I got the errors to stop. I found out that I can't have linear and lba32 both in the config so I ended up with this config..

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=80      #default 50
message=/boot/message
lba32   #linear
default=linux

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.2-2
	label=linux
	read-only
	root=/dev/hda5

'This still gives me the error.

mairving — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 11:24:30 +0000

Pretty easy actually.
In /etc/lilo.conf add the line:
lba32
Then if you want to test things run
lilo –t –v
If no error messages, then run
lilo

Mark Hensler — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 03:35:37 +0000

What's the syntax for that?
My lilo.conf file looks like this:

boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
linear
default=linux

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.2-2
	label=linux
	read-only
	root=/dev/hda5

mairving — Tue, 31 Jul 2001 19:56:43 +0000

Well here a couple of responses that I got back on your problem.

----------------1st response--------------------------------
This sounds like a BIOS/Mandake error.
When IDE drives exceed about 27GB, BIOS`s need to be very recent.
Retry the install but this time be sure to set a "boot" partition of 16MB or less. In most cases, this should do the trick provided your controller is a supported device.
Try updating the BIOS. Failing this, manually partition the drive like thus:
1. Boot partition (less then 16MB) Often, a 10-12MB partition is more then enough.
2. /usr Make this partition any size you see fit but to prevent goofy errors, set the size to 7.5GB or less.
3. / (root partition) Set this partition to a size not exceeding 8GB (7.5GB is safest) The usable (useful) size need only be about 4GB.
4. /home This is the one partition that can be a big monster. All your files and all user files will be stored here. Again, dependant on the support for your hardware, set to 7.5GB or less.
5. /temp Set this partition to about 4GB but any size is ok using 7.5 as an upper limit to avoid any compatability issues.
6. /swap No matter the amount of memory installed, you should have a swap partition. Sizes in excess of 256MB are wasteful.
7. /download This is a great partition to make and Linux takes great advantage of it. Set this to any size that fits your file size "guestimates" 2-5 GB is great.
------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------Response 2-------------------------------
How abt appending lba32 to /etc/lilo.conf
It might help.
------------------------------------------------------------

So try the easy one first. Add lba32, to lilo.conf and then run lilo. Reboot and see what happens. If that doesn't work, reinstall and make sure that you don't have a partition over 7.5GB.
Hope these help.