In an attempt to be free, I've decided to try-out Linux and installed the Mandrake 8.1.

My drive has W2k and Linux on two separate partitions.  Right now it boots up Linux as default, but I want W2K to be default.

I've edited LILO and set default=NT, but it still boots up Linux when I dont choose another OS in menu.  Along with setting default to NT, do I need to move NT up to the top of the LILO menu? How is that done? Does it matter?

How do I increase LILO's countdown?  Right now, it autoboots default after 3-5 seconds.

Also, the install did not automatically detect my NIC (D-Link 220 ISA).  I went into Netconfig and tried the two D-Link drivers already in Linux, but they both failed.  How do I get Linux to recognize my NIC ?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thx.

Welcome to Linux!

Unfortunately, I don't play with my Linux machine as often as I'd like.  It basically sits there serving as a gateway to my DSL line.  But there are many excellent websites out there.  Start with [url=www.linux.org]Linux Online[/url] and [url=www.linuxhq.com]Linux Headquarters[/url].  Check the HOWTOs and mini-HOWTOs.  The LILO HOWTO should be able to answer your LILO questions.  Honestly, I don't believe that the list order would make a difference in your case.  Remember, when you make a change to the lilo.conf file, you must reinitialize LILO so that changes will take effect.  Sorry, can't remember how to do that.

Regarding your NIC issues, you may try the configuration tool under X.  I think it is MandrakeConfig or something like that.  As a last resort (what I had to do, which is sometimes necessary with older ISA cards) is edit the config files directly.  If you know the IRQ and I/O address of the card (sometimes easier to find in Windows, or use the setup disk that came with the card), you can edit the modules.conf file (I believe that's the name).  Check the NIC HOWTO, and the appropriate man pages.

Sorry I can't be more specific.  I'm a few hundred miles away from my Linux machine now.  Hope this gets you started, though!

After changing your lilo.conf, you have to run lilo.  Just type "lilo" at a command prompt.  If it can't find the file (because your path doesn't contain /sbin), try "/sbin/lilo".

To change the delay, you change the number after "DELAY=" in /etc/lilo.conf.  The value is in deciseconds (1/10 of a second).  After changing it, you run "lilo" again.

I've never used a D-Link 220 card, so this is just a guess.  Type "modprobe isa-pnp" then "modprobe ne".  If that works, you can put a line like the below in your /etc/modules.conf:

alias eth0 ne

If that doesn't work, then let me know, and I might can dig-up more info on it.  I think that card is an ISA PNP NE2000 compatible card.z

Welcome to the wonderful world of open-source!

Patrick