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by **Linux Frank** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 11:40 am

So I just removed RH8.0 from my webserver to be and installed mandrake 9.0.

When it boots up I get a load of beeps and a big red screen appears that says Operating System unrecognised and to go to antivirus.com. I think I can remove it by turning off the virus check in the bios. I am just curious if anyone else has had this issue, and ideas on why it happens in MD and not RH.

I can still boot by continuing through the screen.

by **Calum** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 11:49 am

i have never had that problem.

i never actually got much farther than sticking it in the CD drive though because it didn't detect my video card properly.

i really would recommend getting a new copy of mandrake 9.0 and then updating the software, mandrake 8.0 will have a lot of software in it that has had security and other patches on it since.

Maybe it's just not microsoft authorised and so it must be a virus?

by **Linux Frank** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:22 pm

I am contemplating whether it is because it is not an M$ system myself. I am actually using MD 9.0, and it is installed and has no probs. yet. My curiosity is more why does it do it in MD and not RH.

I am also wondering if I made a mistake in install and put it not in the MBR but at sector one, could this do it and how do I verify which I have done.

by **Void Main** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 12:49 pm

Definitely turn off that virus checking crap in your BIOS and see what happens. If the CD works on your other machines then it is not the CD (although older drives can't read CDRWs and some CDRs).

by **bazoukas** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 9:09 pm

If the MBR is altered while the virus check is enabled in the BIOS you will always get that.
The virus check does not know how to distinguish between a boot loader and an actual virus. So it takes it as a virus (hey think of it this way, the virus check works afterall).
Always check to see if its enabled or not when you do things like that. It may not cause any problems (my mobo asked me if it was ok to continue and I had no problems) or it may do what is doing to you now.
Now with RH not giving you that warning, who knows maybe RH has a smarter way to talk with the AV on the mobo.

My guess is that its the AV that causes that.
Or who knows i may be talking out of my ass iwhen it comes with your specific problem.

by **shira** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 9:17 pm

perhaps RH used a different boot loader than mandrake
as I recall MDK's standard is lilo, I haven't used RH so I don't know what it uses

by **Void Main** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 9:20 pm

Red Hat switched to GRUB a few releases ago. I believe Mandrake also uses it now.

by **bazoukas** » Wed Jan 15, 2003 9:26 pm

I prefer Grub to be honest. It makes more sense to me than Lilo.

by **shira** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:53 am

the last version of mandrake I used was 8.2 and there was a choice of lilo or grub but lilo was the default but I don't keep up to speed on MDK releases anymore

I concur about grub, I feel more in control when I use it

by **Linux Frank** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 9:26 am

I am thinking it's the boot loader. Just to get you up to date. MD 9.0 uses Lilo as default and RH 8.0 uses Grub as default.

You, of course, have the choice as to which one you use

which is one of the many wonderful benefits I have found since starting using GNU/Linux not quite a year ago.

I have disabled the virus checker in the bios, so it is no longer a problem. But this brings up a small point to clarify. The bios is of course not specific to linux, how do the bios viruses work, and can they effect a linux machine the same way they effect a M$ machine, or are they actually worms, reliant on adequate bios or OS patching, and therefore should I patch the bios. Is my bios secure no that I use Linux?

by **Calum** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 10:15 am

i was thinking the same thing the other day and would be interested in the answer.

also, if you like grub, use it, even when using mandrake.

by **Void Main** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 2:34 pm

On the machines I have used with a BIOS containing a boot sector virus check I believe all they really do is monitor to see if your boot sector has changed, not really that there is a virus contained within it. So if you install a new operating system that changes the boot sector (or tries to change it) you will get an alert. I don't know if yours is like that or not and if it is after you turn off the boot sector check in the BIOS and install your new operating system you "should" be able to turn the check back on and be ok. Let me know if that is not the case in your situation.

by **Linux Frank** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:22 pm

Once again you show yourself a font of good knowledge. It no longer says my OS is a virus. So is making a change to the boot sector all a bios virus/worm can do?

by **Void Main** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:34 pm

A small set of viruses change the boot sector. For instance if you stick a floppy in your drive that contains a boot sector virus the first thing it will do is try and modify the boot sector on your heard drive. There is plenty of info on the net regarding what they do. Of course I'm not personally worried about it just like I am not worried about any other virus. I don't use an operating system that is susceptible to viruses and I don't use floppy disks from someone else. The day I see my first Linux virus will be the day I still don't worry about it. :)

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