Debian Lilo/GRUB/FS fixs with Knoppix

Pick up a copy of Knoppix it is sooo easy:Knoppix
I used KNOPPIX_V5.1.0CD-2006-12-30-EN.iso

Next burn the iso image onto a cdrom with something easy like this if you have a another linux box:
cdrecord dev=/dev/hdc KNOPPIX_V5.1.0CD-2006-12-30-EN.iso
(any generic data burn will do as well)
Insert your freshly shorn cd and reboot (make sure you can boot from CD
you might have to adjust the BIOS for this).

Hit Enter and let Knoppix bootup:
Get an Xwindow and mount the partition where you think lilo resides
On many systems this is /dev/hda1 (i.e. root or /) so mount it:
mount -t ext2 /dev/hda1 /mnt (use ext3 if that is you fs type)

To fix a corrupted lilo I did this:
rm -fr /etc
rm -fr /boot
ln -s /mnt/hda1/etc /etc
ln -s /mnt/hda1/boot /boot
lilo

You should be able to do something similar for lds like GRUB you can
also fix broken file systems too if you know where root is. Look at
/etc/fstab to find the mount points and use e2fsck to save yourself.

On the web people have reported using chroot to fix corrupted files
but I found it flaky and finicky.