Re: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
- Original Message - From: "Dave Sherohman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Debian User List" Sent: Monday, October 08, 2001 4:52 PM Subject: Re: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04 > On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 02:17:20PM -0400, Stan Brown wrote: > > I'm trying to set up a new machine this weekend, and i'm in trouble. > > I know you needed a solution by Monday, so this is a bit late, but I > haven't seen anyone else post an explanation of what the error > actually means, so... > > > Now, I have a problem. The machine will no longer boot from the hard disk. > > I get the message from the subject line. I can boot it from the boot > > floppy. > > lilo (or something else) is telling the kernel to mount / from device > 21:04 and the kernel doesn't know how to do that. According to > Documentation/devices.txt in my kernel source tree, major device 21 > is the generic SCSI subsystem and minor device 04 in that system is > the fifth device, so 21:04 would be /dev/sg4 (or /dev/sge). Either > a) you don't have generic SCSI support in your kernel, b) you don't > have five generic SCSI devices, or c) you have to boot off a SCSI > drive (/dev/sd*), not a generic SCSI device (/dev/sg*). Hmm, maybe the kernel has no support for your scsi card/devices, yes. BTW, probably the magic number written to the real-root-dev file is the magic number description for your root device (every device in Linux can be described by such a number combination - for the numbering system see attached file devices.txt, the format in the real-root-dev file is for example for /dev/hdb1: 0x365). Cheers, Stephan <>
Re: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
> > During the install of the 2.4 kernel package. I goot a message about > > needing to add a initrd line to lilo.conf. This is probably the cause of your problem. I had the same problem the first time I installed a 2.4 kernel package with apt-get. Just follow the instructions and edit your lilo.conf file to point to the initrd file and your machine should work again. HTH
Re: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 02:17:20PM -0400, Stan Brown wrote: > I'm trying to set up a new machine this weekend, and i'm in trouble. I know you needed a solution by Monday, so this is a bit late, but I haven't seen anyone else post an explanation of what the error actually means, so... > Now, I have a problem. The machine will no longer boot from the hard disk. > I get the message from the subject line. I can boot it from the boot > floppy. lilo (or something else) is telling the kernel to mount / from device 21:04 and the kernel doesn't know how to do that. According to Documentation/devices.txt in my kernel source tree, major device 21 is the generic SCSI subsystem and minor device 04 in that system is the fifth device, so 21:04 would be /dev/sg4 (or /dev/sge). Either a) you don't have generic SCSI support in your kernel, b) you don't have five generic SCSI devices, or c) you have to boot off a SCSI drive (/dev/sd*), not a generic SCSI device (/dev/sg*). Although a) and b) are both possible, I suspect that c) is also true, so your machine will continue to fail to boot until you tell it to use a device of the correct type. > During the install of the 2.4 kernel package. I goot a message about > needing to add a initrd line to lilo.conf. That's really only necessary if you use the stock kernel or roll your own and have certain things built as modules; I know filesystem drivers fall into this category, but can't say what else does. I don't use modules much, so I haven't had to deal with initrd. -- When we reduce our own liberties to stop terrorism, the terrorists have already won. - reverius Innocence is no protection when governments go bad. - Mr. Slippery
Re: Help! Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 05:42:19PM -0400, Stan Brown wrote: | I've tried grub _and_ lilo. Grub just comes up in the interactive menu. | Lilo starts loading the kernel and then the kernel spits out this meesage. Is this the same machine you just asked about the initrd stuff for? To boot with an initrd (as Herbert's packages require) you need the following sort of layout in grub : title Debian GNU/Linux (stock kernel 2.4.9) root(hd0,0) kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.9-686 root=/dev/hda4 read-only initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.9-686 apm=on initrd /boot/initrd-2.4.9-686 Note that you need an initrd= for the kernel and to use 'initrd' instead of 'boot' at the end of the section. | This hapened just after I upgraded to the 2.4 kernel from the kernel | packages for that. You still have the older kernel to boot so you can fix your setup, right? Have you ever booted a 2.4 kernel before? Do the stock 2.2 kernels work for you? Do you have any weird IDE controllers? When I first compiled my own 2.4 kernel on this system I accidentally disabled by IDE controller, thus it couldn't find the disks. HTH, -D
Help! Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
I've tried grub _and_ lilo. Grub just comes up in the interactive menu. Lilo starts loading the kernel and then the kernel spits out this meesage. This hapened just after I upgraded to the 2.4 kernel from the kernel packages for that. I desperately need to have this machine working by Monday. Can anyone sugest what to other that starting all over? -- Stan Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED]843-745-3154 Charleston SC. -- Windows 98: n. useless extension to a minor patch release for 32-bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16-bit patch to an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor, written by a 2-bit company that can't stand for 1 bit of competition. - (c) 2000 Stan Brown. Redistribution via the Microsoft Network is prohibited.
Re: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
- Original Message - From: "Stan Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Debian User List" Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2001 8:17 PM Subject: Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04 > I'm trying to set up a new machine this weekend, and i'm in trouble. > > I installed a minimal "stable" over the network. then upgraded to Progeny. > Then I wen to istall the 2.4 kernel packages from > http://people.debian.org/~bunk (thanks for the good work on these BTW). > > Now, I have a problem. The machine will no longer boot from the hard disk. > I get the message from the subject line. I can boot it from the boot > floppy. > > During the install of the 2.4 kernel package. I goot a message about > needing to add a initrd line to lilo.conf. It sufested puting a line in > /etc/kern-img.conf (from memory). I have tried this, and also tried adding > the sugested initrd line to /etc/lilo.conf. But nieht gets me to the point > where I can boot from the hard disk. > > Help Please! Hi! Have you called the command "lilo" once at the command line after changing lilo.conf? Maybe that'll do it. Cheers, Stephan
Kernel Panic: VFS Unable to mount root fs on 21:04
I'm trying to set up a new machine this weekend, and i'm in trouble. I installed a minimal "stable" over the network. then upgraded to Progeny. Then I wen to istall the 2.4 kernel packages from http://people.debian.org/~bunk (thanks for the good work on these BTW). Now, I have a problem. The machine will no longer boot from the hard disk. I get the message from the subject line. I can boot it from the boot floppy. During the install of the 2.4 kernel package. I goot a message about needing to add a initrd line to lilo.conf. It sufested puting a line in /etc/kern-img.conf (from memory). I have tried this, and also tried adding the sugested initrd line to /etc/lilo.conf. But nieht gets me to the point where I can boot from the hard disk. Help Please! -- Stan Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED]843-745-3154 Charleston SC. -- Windows 98: n. useless extension to a minor patch release for 32-bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16-bit patch to an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor, written by a 2-bit company that can't stand for 1 bit of competition. - (c) 2000 Stan Brown. Redistribution via the Microsoft Network is prohibited.
