not able to boot to default kernel
 

using mandriva 2008. when trying to boot to default kernel it doesn't work and hangs with a kernel panic.
Can boot to other kernels, but get the message

"Nov 15 19:51:27 localhost kernel: RAMDISK: Couldn't find valid RAM disk image starting at 0.
Nov 15 19:51:27 localhost kernel: EXT2-fs warning (device hda1): ext2_fill_super: mounting ext3 filesystem as ext2
Nov 15 19:51:27 localhost kernel: VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly. "

then boots ok.

Whats happening.

I'm moderatly technical, but this has me stumped, all help gratefully received and I'm happy to post the solution here if it'll help. Also happy to hear if my hard drive is ill, as this looks a possible cause.

Oh by the way, bootloader is LILO

Ken

What error messages does the default kernel give before it panics? There are a number of possible causes, other error messages might help in pinning it down. Did you make any changes recently, e.g. upgrading kernels? Did you do everything through the package management system or did you change things manually?

As for the hard drive, you can check your kernel log for errors relating to that. You could also try installing smartmontools and running a diagnostic. Unless you're noticing other problems after booting, I'm guessing hard drive errors probably aren't the cause.

Does your lilo config include an initrd line? It would look something like this:

ok here is some more info.
 

Thanks for the pointers guys. Here is what i have found :-

Yes there is an initrd line in my lilo config, the default is

initrd=/boot/initrd.img

and all the other entries are of the form

initrd=/boot/initrd-<kernel version>mdk.img

where <kernel version> is..well its the relevant kernel version !

I have installed smartmondisk and done a long test which indicates no hard disk erors.

I have used the package manager to install everything and I do think that it was an updated package that caused the start of the problem. i can't remember exactly what it was, but i definitely had an updated bootsplash screen or somehing from Mandriva, since when I appear to have the problem. Difficulty is I don't know what the package was called.

The kernel panic message are as follows (excuse any errors as obvioulsy this is handwritten !)

Ramdisk Compressed image found at block 0
switched to high resolution mode on CPU0
invalid compressed format (err=1)
vfs cannot open root device "301" or unknown-block(3,1)
Please append a corect "root=" boot option:here are the available partitions:
Kernel-panic - not syncing : vfs : unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3,1)

Hope that rings a bell with someone !

Would i be right in assuming that the issue is with the initrd.img as the others appear to work ok ??

Ken

Solved !
 

Well looks like I'd just been a little impatient here !

Having seen a related thread here I decided to use the drakboot graphical boot loader configurer. I'd aborted it a few days ago believeing it to have crashed, must have left something mangled in lilo.conf.

All seem fine now, thanks to everyone who posted !

By the way ! I believe GRUB is better/easier...true or false ??

Ken

I'm sure there are plenty of arguments about lilo vs. grub. There is one difference that I think is worth mentioning: when the lilo configuration file changes, lilo has to be updated. However, when the grub configuration file changes, nothing more needs to be done. For this reason I prefer to use grub. I've no idea what lilo's command prompt is like (or even if there is one), but while the grub prompt is a little difficult to get to grips with, figuring it out has enabled me to fix booting problems on a number of occasions.

Grub, I find, is easier to use and more adaptable then LILO.