Can't boot after apt-update / apt-upgrade
 

I'm running Debian 2.6.18, and after a recent apt-update and apt-upgrade I can no longer boot! The error messages read:

Begin: Mounting root file system... Begin: Running /scripts/local-top ... Loading multipath module
Loading multipath daemon
/proc/misc: No entry for device mapper found
Is device-mapper driver missing from kernel?
(repeated several times)
Incompatible libdevmapper 1.02.08 (2006-07-17) (compat) and kernel driver

device mapper prerequisites not met
done.
/init: /init: 1: udevadm: not found
Begin: Waiting for root file system ... done.
Gave up waiting for root device.

It looks like I need to make some changes to kernel modules at boot-up (?) but how do I do that without booting up and using modconf? Or is the new libdevmapper the problem? How would I revert to an older version??

Any help appreciated.

Oz.

Which branch are you running (Etch, Sarge, Sid) and what did you update/upgrade to?

Can you still boot the older kernel? The message seems to suggest that a newer kernel is incompatible with the device mapper.

If you can't boot at all, you will need to boot from a Live CD, mount your filesystems, and fix things by hand.

I wasn't trying to upgrade the kernel, just to get the latest versions of software. I didn't think apt-get update / apt-get upgrade altered the kernel version (?). As far as I know, I'm using Etch.
I am only given the options of 2.6.18 and 2.6.18 recovery in Grub - neither of which boot. Booting with a cd is not a problem, and I can mount my filesystem, but I need help with how to 'fix things by hand' to get it booting again!

Oz