Emergency *Help* Needed (L 99 99 99 99...) can not boot

[Beowulf]

(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and
did "chroot /mnt" then "/sbin/lilo" but on reboot still get the "L 99
99 99...". (2)Tried booting the Mandriva install DVD and doing an
Update install, rebooted, still the L 99 99 99 99 99 99 etc...
(3)Having googled and determined I have a corrupt MBR as the likely
culprit (mbr is on hda where WinXP resides, linux is on hdb), I boot
the WinXP CD and go into its repair mode and use the repair mode
command "fixmbr" several times in hopes of wiping out and resetting any
corrupt mbr on hda, then I go back and try to reinstall LILO using the
Mandriva install DVD using method already discussed; reboot, still the
dreaded "L 99 99 99 99 99".

Ideas? Ok I googled and someone said they had luck installing GRUB when
this happened (possibly just a coincidence, I do not know if this is
the solution)-but I have never used GRUB, and I certainly do not know
how to get a GRUB bootloader going at this stage since the Mandrica DVD
rescue mode only does LILO to my knowledge.

I am open to suggestions. I guess I could try a full reinstall of
Mandriva, but what good would that do if the hda mbr is corrupt? BTW I
do not have a floppy on this system, though I could add one it-- I say
that because I am wondering if booting a DOS rescue floppy and using
"fdisk /mbr" might have any advantage over the WindowsXP CD rescue mode
"fixmbr".

[Leo]

Post by Beowulf
(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and
did "chroot /mnt" then "/sbin/lilo" but on reboot still get the "L 99
99 99...". (2)Tried booting the Mandriva install DVD and doing an
Update install, rebooted, still the L 99 99 99 99 99 99 etc...
(3)Having googled and determined I have a corrupt MBR as the likely
culprit (mbr is on hda where WinXP resides, linux is on hdb), I boot
the WinXP CD and go into its repair mode and use the repair mode
command "fixmbr" several times in hopes of wiping out and resetting any
corrupt mbr on hda, then I go back and try to reinstall LILO using the
Mandriva install DVD using method already discussed; reboot, still the
dreaded "L 99 99 99 99 99".
Ideas? Ok I googled and someone said they had luck installing GRUB when
this happened (possibly just a coincidence, I do not know if this is
the solution)-but I have never used GRUB, and I certainly do not know
how to get a GRUB bootloader going at this stage since the Mandrica DVD
rescue mode only does LILO to my knowledge.
I am open to suggestions. I guess I could try a full reinstall of
Mandriva, but what good would that do if the hda mbr is corrupt? BTW I
do not have a floppy on this system, though I could add one it-- I say
that because I am wondering if booting a DOS rescue floppy and using
"fdisk /mbr" might have any advantage over the WindowsXP CD rescue mode
"fixmbr".

It sounds like your file: /etc/lilo.conf is the problem. If it has something
wrong with some line, it will not be written. You need to have a look at it and
try to fix it so it can be written. I don't use Mandriva so I can't help but in
Slackware I run liloconfig to make this file. I do it in root command line.
A terminal.

[Beowulf.1000]

Leo wrote:
...

Post by Leo
It sounds like your file: /etc/lilo.conf is the problem. If it has something
wrong with some line, it will not be written. You need to have a look at it and
try to fix it so it can be written. I don't use Mandriva so I can't help but in
Slackware I run liloconfig to make this file. I do it in root command line.
A terminal.

..

But I have not funked (changed) anything in lilo.conf However, to add
another clue to this mystery, this L 99 99 99 99 ... problem all seems
to have happened after shutting down my system last night after having
some serious problems with frozen Amarok and frozen k3b applications
when I was trying to make an audio CD. Even xkill was having a problem
closing down those applications. It is *possible* that perhaps my
lilo.conf file got funked (damaged), not sure.

[J.O. Aho]

Post by Beowulf.1000
...

Post by Leo
It sounds like your file: /etc/lilo.conf is the problem. If it has something
wrong with some line, it will not be written. You need to have a look at it and
try to fix it so it can be written. I don't use Mandriva so I can't help but in
Slackware I run liloconfig to make this file. I do it in root command line.
A terminal.

..
But I have not funked (changed) anything in lilo.conf However, to add
another clue to this mystery, this L 99 99 99 99 ... problem all seems
to have happened after shutting down my system last night after having
some serious problems with frozen Amarok and frozen k3b applications
when I was trying to make an audio CD. Even xkill was having a problem
closing down those applications. It is *possible* that perhaps my
lilo.conf file got funked (damaged), not sure.

There can be risks that files get corrupted, thats why you should check the
file out.


//Aho

[Alan Connor]

On alt.os.linux, in <***@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>, "Beowulf.1000" wrote:

<article not downloaded:
http://slrn.sourceforge.net/docs/README.offline>

Original post on this thread:

#From: "Beowulf" <***@gmail.com>
#Newsgroups: alt.os.linux.mandrake,alt.os.linux
#Subject: Emergency *Help* Needed (L 99 99 99 99...) can not boot

"Emergency"? I doubt it. Just who will suffer if your Linux
install doesn't boot?

If you have to post through google groups and are playing
childish games with your headers, you are not a sysadmin, that's
for sure.

Subject: Emergency *Help* Needed <snip>

I agree. Anyone who alters their From header within the same
thread while posting through the same server does indeed need
help.

But not of the sort that can be provided on a Linux group.

If you want to be taken seriously on the Usenet, learn to use a
real newsreader:

news.software.readers

And post using the same, unique alias, every time.

Note: I won't be downloading any articles on this thread.

Alan

[Beowulf.1000]

Alan Connor wrote:
...

Post by Alan Connor
If you want to be taken seriously on the Usenet, learn to use a
news.software.readers
And post using the same, unique alias, every time.
Note: I won't be downloading any articles on this thread.

..

Lighten up. Your animosity assumes my ISP provides a news server-- it
does not. Clearwire.com. I have complained to them about this but they
just do not provide a news server, so I am stuck using google groups.
And even if I *had* a news server to use in Linux, I guess I would not
be using it here since my linux system does not boot. I am writing this
using google groups through a knoppix live CD at this moment,

[Chris F.A. Johnson]

Post by Beowulf.1000
...

Post by Alan Connor
If you want to be taken seriously on the Usenet, learn to use a
news.software.readers
And post using the same, unique alias, every time.
Note: I won't be downloading any articles on this thread.

..
Lighten up.

First, ignore AC; one of the disadvantages of using Google Groups
is that you do not have a killfile -- which is where most readers
of this group have Alan.

Post by Beowulf.1000
Your animosity assumes my ISP provides a news server-- it
does not. Clearwire.com. I have complained to them about this but they
just do not provide a news server, so I am stuck using google
groups.

There are many alternatives, both free and fee. One of the best is
news.individual.net; it's not free, but very inexpensive.

There is a newsgroup dedicated to public news servers; you will
find many suggestions there.

Post by Beowulf.1000
And even if I *had* a news server to use in Linux, I guess I would not
be using it here since my linux system does not boot. I am writing this
using google groups through a knoppix live CD at this moment,

That makes no difference. Set your NNTPSERVER environment variable
to whatever server you choose.

[Alan Connor]

On alt.os.linux, in <95a7q3-***@xword.teksavvy.com>, "Chris F.A. Johnson" wrote:

<article not downloaded:
http://slrn.sourceforge.net/docs/README.offline>

Don't like what I do, Fatso?

Eat schitt.

It'll work as well as posting bitchy comments that I don't even
read. (having read a few in the past)

There was a time when CFAJ (who taught me a lot about the
shell and for which I am grateful) gave me, and others, hell
for violating the least of the Netiquette guidelines or being
frivolous or sloppy in any way.

But now he doesn't care. He's given in to the trolls.

[And he pays the price by being used to death by those trolls:
they don't like doing any homework, so they just post questions
under dozens of aliases. If someone did the same thing while
using one alias, he'd tell them to get off their butts and do
their homework.]

And the arrogant guru thinks that everyone has to follow his
example.

Fine. He can think what he wants while he watches me do what I
think is right.

Note: I won't be downloading any articles on this thread.

Alan

[J.O. Aho]

Post by Beowulf
(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and
did "chroot /mnt" then "/sbin/lilo" but on reboot still get the "L 99
99 99...". (2)Tried booting the Mandriva install DVD and doing an
Update install, rebooted, still the L 99 99 99 99 99 99 etc...
(3)Having googled and determined I have a corrupt MBR as the likely
culprit (mbr is on hda where WinXP resides, linux is on hdb), I boot
the WinXP CD and go into its repair mode and use the repair mode
command "fixmbr" several times in hopes of wiping out and resetting any
corrupt mbr on hda, then I go back and try to reinstall LILO using the
Mandriva install DVD using method already discussed; reboot, still the
dreaded "L 99 99 99 99 99".
Ideas? Ok I googled and someone said they had luck installing GRUB when
this happened (possibly just a coincidence, I do not know if this is
the solution)-but I have never used GRUB, and I certainly do not know
how to get a GRUB bootloader going at this stage since the Mandrica DVD
rescue mode only does LILO to my knowledge.
I am open to suggestions. I guess I could try a full reinstall of
Mandriva, but what good would that do if the hda mbr is corrupt? BTW I
do not have a floppy on this system, though I could add one it-- I say
that because I am wondering if booting a DOS rescue floppy and using
"fdisk /mbr" might have any advantage over the WindowsXP CD rescue mode
"fixmbr".

1 Boot the Mandriva Rescue DVD
2 Mount your Linux installation
3 chroot into your Linux installation
4 lilo -M /dev/hda -C /path/to/your/lilo.conf
5 exit chroot
6 unmount your Linux installation
7 reboot

This should fix your trouble, see that your BIOS is to boot from the harddrive
with the lilo installed.


//Aho

[Beowulf.1000]

J.O. Aho wrote:
...

Post by J.O. Aho
1 Boot the Mandriva Rescue DVD
2 Mount your Linux installation
3 chroot into your Linux installation
4 lilo -M /dev/hda -C /path/to/your/lilo.conf
5 exit chroot
6 unmount your Linux installation
7 reboot
This should fix your trouble, see that your BIOS is to boot from the harddrive
with the lilo installed.

..
For the "/path/to/your/lilo.conf" would that path be the path for a
normal boot, eg. typically that would be "/etc/lilo.conf" or would the
path be for the path seen in rescue mode which might be something more
typically like "/mnt/etc/lilo.conf"?

Heading to Subway for a meal deal, get by system ready to tackle this,
be home soon to try it out.

[J.O. Aho]

Post by Beowulf.1000
...

Post by J.O. Aho
1 Boot the Mandriva Rescue DVD
2 Mount your Linux installation
3 chroot into your Linux installation
4 lilo -M /dev/hda -C /path/to/your/lilo.conf
5 exit chroot
6 unmount your Linux installation
7 reboot
This should fix your trouble, see that your BIOS is to boot from the harddrive
with the lilo installed.

..
For the "/path/to/your/lilo.conf" would that path be the path for a
normal boot, eg. typically that would be "/etc/lilo.conf" or would the
path be for the path seen in rescue mode which might be something more
typically like "/mnt/etc/lilo.conf"?

As you should be chrooted, the path is /etc/lilo.conf
Do check that the file in question is a file and not a symlink to a file in
/boot and do also check that the file looks okey.


//Aho

[Beowulf.1000]

Post by J.O. Aho
1 Boot the Mandriva Rescue DVD
2 Mount your Linux installation
3 chroot into your Linux installation
4 lilo -M /dev/hda -C /path/to/your/lilo.conf
5 exit chroot
6 unmount your Linux installation
7 reboot
This should fix your trouble, see that your BIOS is to boot from the harddrive
with the lilo installed.

.....

Tried as you said, no joy. Sigh. Below is my lilo file. It appeared
that lilo wrote LILO to /dev/hda but once again a reboot showed the
infamous "L 99 99 99 99 ...". I am at a loss. I am about read to yank
the hda drive with WinXP on it, perhaps try writing LILO to the drive
containing root? Any ideas anybody? I would hate to have to do a full
reinstall of Mandriva linux and lose my nvidia config, urpmi files,
mplayer plugins, etc. What if I yanked hda (maybe it just has bad
hardware corrupting the mbr?) and "updated" a Mandriva install and have
linux put LILO on the drive with root?

default="2612-18smp"
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=menu
keytable=/boot/us.klt
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
prompt
nowarn
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
image=/boot/vmlinuz-smp
label="linux-smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-smp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-18mdksmp
label="2612-18smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.12-18mdksmp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-12mdk
label="2.6.12-12"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.12-12mdk.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz-smp
label="alt_linux-smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-smp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"

[Michael C.]

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.os.linux.]
On 2 Aug 2006 12:03:38 -0700,

Post by Beowulf.1000

Post by J.O. Aho
1 Boot the Mandriva Rescue DVD
2 Mount your Linux installation
3 chroot into your Linux installation
4 lilo -M /dev/hda -C /path/to/your/lilo.conf
5 exit chroot
6 unmount your Linux installation
7 reboot
This should fix your trouble, see that your BIOS is to boot from the harddrive
with the lilo installed.

.....

Tried as you said, no joy. Sigh. Below is my lilo file. It appeared
that lilo wrote LILO to /dev/hda but once again a reboot showed the
infamous "L 99 99 99 99 ...". I am at a loss. I am about read to yank
the hda drive with WinXP on it, perhaps try writing LILO to the drive
containing root? Any ideas anybody? I would hate to have to do a full
reinstall of Mandriva linux and lose my nvidia config, urpmi files,
mplayer plugins, etc. What if I yanked hda (maybe it just has bad
hardware corrupting the mbr?) and "updated" a Mandriva install and have
linux put LILO on the drive with root?
default="2612-18smp"
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=menu
keytable=/boot/us.klt
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
prompt
nowarn
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux-nonfb"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
other=/dev/hda1
label="windows"
table=/dev/hda
image=/boot/vmlinuz-smp
label="linux-smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-smp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-18mdksmp
label="2612-18smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.12-18mdksmp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-12mdk
label="2.6.12-12"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.6.12-12mdk.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz-smp
label="alt_linux-smp"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd-smp.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"
vga=788
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="failsafe"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="failsafe splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5"

Try adding a line

lba32

to the beginning of /etc/lilo.conf (after you chrooted to your
installation)

rerun lilo -v

If it doesn't boot after that, try posting the results of
# lilo -v 5

HTH,

Michael C.

[Aragorn]

On Wednesday 02 August 2006 21:03, Beowulf.1000 stood up and spoke the
following words to the masses in /alt.os.linux.mandrake...:/

Post by Beowulf.1000
[...]
default="2612-18smp"
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=menu
keytable=/boot/us.klt
menu-scheme=wb:bw:wb:bw
prompt
nowarn
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
image=/boot/vmlinuz
label="linux"
root=/dev/hdc1
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="splash=verbose resume=/dev/hdc5 splash=silent"
vga=788
[...]

Maybe I should not shout "Eureka!" for you yet, but it looks like the
error is obvious. All your GNU/Linux stanza refer to */dev/hdc1* as
the GNU/Linux root filesystem, while you wrote - in your original post
- that GNU/Linux is on */dev/hdb.* If that's the error you're making,
then it's no wonder */sbin/lilo* throws an error at you.

On the other hand, that would also make it virtually impossible to have
such a faulty LILO installed in your master boot record - since
*/sbin/lilo* will refuse to write the faulty configuration to the MBR
in the first place - so the only logical explanation I can think of is
that you had a your IDE devices connected differently when you
installed Mandriva, and that in the meantime, you've moved the disk
that was originally */dev/hdc* - i.e. the secondary master - to
*/dev/hdb* - i.e. the primary slave.

Your mileage may vary, and I only have your reports to go on... ;-)

[Ron Gibson]

Post by Beowulf.1000
For the "/path/to/your/lilo.conf" would that path be the path for a
normal boot, eg. typically that would be "/etc/lilo.conf" or would the
path be for the path seen in rescue mode which might be something more
typically like "/mnt/etc/lilo.conf"?

No when you chroot it takes on the path environment for that partition.

As I said just in case...

source /etc/profile

After the chroot that makes sure of that.

Think of it this way. It's like having /boot on one partition and the
rest of root on another. It simply is using the kernel on the boot CD but
using the chroot'd partition as the root now rather than the CD root.

Look at this example where I mount /MDK while running Slackware...

***@CRAY:/usr/share/cups/model# mount /MDK
***@CRAY:/usr/share/cups/model# chroot /MDK
***@CRAY:/# source /etc/profile
bash: TMOUT: readonly variable
***@CRAY:/# uname -r
2.6.16.18a

See the results of uname? That's a slackware kernel not the MDK kernel.

[AZ Nomad]

Post by Beowulf
(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and

boot the mandriva CD in rescue mode
make sure root is mounted to /mnt, and boot to /mnt/boot
chroot to /mnt
mount proc
lilo

[AZ Nomad]

Post by AZ Nomad

Post by Beowulf
(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and

boot the mandriva CD in rescue mode

select mount your partitions
select open a console window

Post by AZ Nomad
make sure root is mounted to /mnt, and boot to /mnt/boot
chroot to /mnt
mount proc
lilo

[Beowulf.1000]

AZ Nomad wrote:
...

Post by AZ Nomad
boot the mandriva CD in rescue mode
make sure root is mounted to /mnt, and boot to /mnt/boot
chroot to /mnt
mount proc
lilo

I will try this. When I chrooted before and mounted partitions, they
all mounted except for proc which is of course a virtual drive I
believe. Not sure how important mounting /proc is for lilo install but
I will give it a shot.

[Beowulf.1000]

...

Post by AZ Nomad
boot the mandriva CD in rescue mode
make sure root is mounted to /mnt, and boot to /mnt/boot
chroot to /mnt
mount proc
lilo

I think that helped, among some other things I wrote about in reply to
Aragorn (and all that have helped). Whenever I tried the mounting of
partitions from the rescue mode, hard drive partitions mounted but I
got an error about mounting proc. Doing 'mount /proc' resulting in no
errors when then running "/sbin/lilo" And as I said the BIOS oddly
seemed to be set to try booting first the hdb drive and not the hda
drive, so I changed that; either lightning weather related or else I
spaced and erred when setting up the drives on my new system I built
just a couple of months ago. But still, LILO on mbr going bad this
morning must have been from wear and tear, regardless of the the
reasons why I had problems fixing it all. Whew, so glad to be back in
business with linux.

[Ron Gibson]

I will try this. When I chrooted before and mounted partitions, they all
mounted except for proc which is of course a virtual drive I believe. Not
sure how important mounting /proc is for lilo install but I will give it a
shot.

No it's not needed but I'd do it like this...

mount <the problem partition>
chroot /<problem partition>
source /etc/profile

Now just in case take a long hard look at fstab and lilo.conf with a text
editor (mc's editor is perfect for viewing and editing).

Also check fdisk to make sure the root partition designation is right in
fstab and lilo.conf.

Run...

lilo -v -t

If that produces no errors...

lilo -v

Now

exit

Then umount -a

Now reboot and see what happens.

[James D. Beard]

Post by Beowulf
(Mandriva Linux 2006 32bit smp kernel on an x86 PC.) Ok I have the
dreaded error trying to boot LILO where the BIOS boots then as lilo
attempts to start up I see on my screen "L 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99
...". I can not see the LILO boot menu, no linux, no WinXP, nothing. I
RTFM and tried some rescue methods but to no avail: (1)Booted the
Mandriva 2006 DVD and went into rescue mode, mounted partitions, tried
the reinstall LILO option but got errors; also went to root prompt and
did "chroot /mnt" then "/sbin/lilo" but on reboot still get the "L 99
99 99...". (2)Tried booting the Mandriva install DVD and doing an
Update install, rebooted, still the L 99 99 99 99 99 99 etc...
(3)Having googled and determined I have a corrupt MBR as the likely
culprit (mbr is on hda where WinXP resides, linux is on hdb), I boot
the WinXP CD and go into its repair mode and use the repair mode
command "fixmbr" several times in hopes of wiping out and resetting any
corrupt mbr on hda, then I go back and try to reinstall LILO using the
Mandriva install DVD using method already discussed; reboot, still the
dreaded "L 99 99 99 99 99".
Ideas? Ok I googled and someone said they had luck installing GRUB when
this happened (possibly just a coincidence, I do not know if this is
the solution)-but I have never used GRUB, and I certainly do not know
how to get a GRUB bootloader going at this stage since the Mandrica DVD
rescue mode only does LILO to my knowledge.

Your knowledge is too limited. Go to rescue mode, and there is
a place where you can choose your boot loader, lilo or grub.
Select grub. Give it an ok. Get back to the menu allowing you
to reboot and do so. MCC will take care of the rest.

I once did the reverse. Got grub so bollixed I could not
straighten it out. Went to rescue mode, changed to lilo,
rebooted. Then went into MCC and changed to grub, and rebooted.
All worked again.

Cheers!

jim b.