[3281] in linux-scsi channel archive
Re: SCSI - Kernel Panic - Can't mount root fs error
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bruce P. Schuck)
Mon Feb 9 08:22:08 1998
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 08:14:30 -0500 (EST)
From: "Bruce P. Schuck" <bruce@aps.org>
Reply-To: Linux SCSI Mailing List <linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu>
To: Linux SCSI Mailing List <linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu>
In-Reply-To: <199802081959.LAA25993@cray.varesearch.com>
On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, Larry M. Augustin wrote:
> "can't mount root fs" usually results because the Linux kernel is unable
> to see the root disk drive. This can happen if you recompile your
> kernel and leave out support for your SCSI controller. lilo will load
> the Linux kernel, but when the kernel tries to mount the root disk, it
> can't because that driver is missing.
When it's coming up it does recognize both hard drives on the primary IDE
bus, /dev/hda (DOS/Windows - LILO), and /dev/hdb (where Linux and its swap
partition reside).
> Watch your boot messages carefully and make sure your kernel sees the
> root disk. You should see it listed during the boot messages.
I'll get a more exact message, but it says something about reading past
end of medium.
> Check your /etc/fstab to make sure the root device is correctly listed.
It is.
> Check your lilo.conf to make sure the root device is correctly listed.
> Make sure that's the lilo.conf you are really using.
It is.
Funny part. I boot with the simple boot floppy. Still gives me the
error. But when I exit from being root, it goes into multiuser mode,
loads all my optional modules, starts daemons and I can then access
everything normally. Since I can get this far, I might backup those
things I don't want to recreate (X86Freeconfig, ppp scripts for different
ISPs, /etc/resolv.conf (different nameserver for different ISPs, my
.fvwmrc file, etc...). Then reinstall completely, even letting the
install reformat /dev/hdb.
At least I didn't loose access to everything as I originally thought.
Bruce S.
