LILO (boot loader)

Infobox_Software
name = LILO


caption = Standard LILO display. Windows as the default operating system, with 18 more seconds to make a different decision.
developer = John Coffman
latest_release_version = 22.8
latest_release_date = release date and age|2007|02|19
genre = Bootloader
license = BSD license
website = [http://lilo.go.dyndns.org/ lilo.go.dyndns.org] :"LILO redirects here, for uses other than the boot loader, see Lilo"

LILO (LInux LOader) is a generic boot loader for Linux.

Overview

LILO was originally developed by Werner Almesberger, while its current developer is John Coffman.

LILO does not depend on a specific file system, and can boot an operating system (e.g., Linux kernel images) from floppy disks and hard disks. One of up to sixteen different images can be selected at boot time. Various parameters, such as the root device, can be set independently for each kernel. LILO can be placed either in the master boot record (MBR) or the boot sector of a partition. In the latter case something else must be placed in the MBR to load LILO.

At system start, only the BIOS drivers are available for LILO to access hard disks. For this reason, with very old BIOS, the accessible area is limited to cylinders 0 to 1023 of the first two hard disks. For later BIOS, LILO can use 32-bit "logical block addressing" (LBA) to access practically the entire storage of all the harddisks that the BIOS allows access to.

LILO was the default bootloader for most Linux distributions in the years after the popularity of loadlin. Today, most distributions use GRUB as the default bootloader.

lilo.conf

The lilo.conf file is typically located at /etc/lilo.conf. Within lilo.conf there are typically two section types. The first section, which defines the global options, contains parameters which specify boot location attributes. The second section(s) contain parameters associated with the operating system images to be loaded. The section type can be repeated for up to 16 different boot selections.

Definition information can be found in the [http://www.netadmintools.com/html/5lilo.conf.man.html LILO] Manpage.

Master boot record

LILO can write a Master Boot Record on a device:

/sbin/lilo -M

Output

When LILO loads itself it displays the word “LILO”. Each letter is printed before or after some specific action. If LILO fails at some point, the letters printed so far can be used to identify the problem.

; (nothing):No part of LILO has been loaded. LILO either isn't installed or the partition on which its boot sector is located isn't active. You have probably not booted from the correct device or the media you've booted from is faulty.; L:The first stage boot loader has been loaded and started, but it can't load the second stage boot loader. The two-digit error codes indicate the type of problem. This condition usually indicates a media failure or bad disk parameters in the BIOS.; LI:The first stage boot loader was able to load the second stage boot loader, but has failed to execute it. This can be caused by bad disk parameters in the BIOS.; LIL:The second stage boot loader has been started, but it can't load the descriptor table from the map file. This is typically caused by a media failure or by bad disk parameters in the BIOS.; LIL?:The second stage boot loader has been loaded at an incorrect address. This is typically caused by bad disk parameters in the BIOS.; LIL-:The descriptor table is corrupt. This can be caused by bad disk parameters in the BIOS.; LILO:All parts of LILO have been successfully loaded.

Error Codes

eg: L 01 01 01, L 07 07 07 etc..

See also

* Linux
* Boot loader
* GNU GRUB
* elilo
* NTLDR
* SILO
* PALO

External links

* [http://lilo.go.dyndns.org/ Official Website (contains User Guide and Technical Guide)]
* [http://freshmeat.net/projects/lilo/ LILO at freshmeat]
* [http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/workshops/linux_install/lilo.html LILO installation instructions]
* [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/LILO.html LILO mini-HOWTO]
* [http://www.wlug.org.nz/LiloErrorCodes LILO error messages]
* [http://am.xs4all.nl/phpwiki/index.php/jumping%20bootfloppy Jumping bootfloppy]
* [http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2008/01/22/lilo-and-grub-boot-loaders-made-simple.html LILO and GRUB: Boot Loaders Made Simple by Judith Myerson]
* [http://grub.enbug.org/FromLiloToGrub From Lilo to Grub]
* [http://www.rt.com/man/lilo.8.html A man page for Lilo]
* [http://www.linuxdocs.org/HOWTOs/Kernel-HOWTO-2.html Lilo tips from the Linux Kernel Howto]