[Tfug] Help, LILO hijacked my computer

[Ammon Lauritzen]

Chad Woolley wrote:
> I know this is a LILO error message, but I have grub installed (Ubuntu
> server install).  Where did LILO come from?

LILO is the devil. Lots of distros and packages will install it as a
pre-req for other packages (like kernels and stuff) even if you are
explicitly using grub.

If LILO is on the machine and you upgrade a package that lists lilo as a
potential dependency, it will run the lilo command... and thus blow away
any existing mbr you have.

Uninstall lilo and forcibly remove any /etc/lilo.config type file that
might be lying around.

> I can boot an Ubuntu CD and get a shell with my boot partition
> (kernels and grub) mounted, but I don't know what to do now.  I'm
> guessing my MBR got screwed somehow, but I don't know how to fix it.
> Reinstall grub on the MBR?  How?

Yes, reinstalling grub should do the trick. The easy command is
typically something like this:

# grub-install --no-floppy --recheck /dev/hda

The recheck switch is optional and just makes the grub installer
regenerate the device map (usually /boot/grub/device.map or something
similar). It's perfectly human readable and you should be able to tell
pretty quickly if it's accurate with your new drive configuration.

Ammon