Whenever i try and boot i get these errors
Kernal Ver.=2.4.20-31.9
Kernal boot options(i think??, the options listed when i click 'e')
i tried using the original kernel version that came with redhat 9 but it gave same errors.

I havent updated or changed the kernel for 6 months. and i dont think i changed anything the last time i used the computer.
I suspect it might have soemthing to do with the harddrive.

I tried a knoppix cd but it gave me much the same errors, the kernel panic and invalid compressed format. I also got an error about SMP

Thanks in Advance

I'm not very familiar with RedHat, but I think that bit about "root=LABEL=/" is bad. Try replacing it with something like:

root=/dev/hda2

or

root=(hd0,1)

I hope that helps.

--Dane

root=/dev/hda2 didn't work so i tried /dev/hda1. It gets a line further and says "Warning: unable to open an initial console
Kernel panic: No init found.Try passing init= option to kernel"

i tried init=/sbin/init, but that gave same error.

Try putting in the value for the runlevel you want to start at (3, 4, 5, etc.). In mine (on Gentoo) it says init=linuxrc. Dunno what that means; it might just be a gentoo thing. Also try putting in init=/bin/sh. That was recommended on a website I saw. (http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/topic-19763.html)

I'm kind-of shooting in the dark here, so if anybody else has an idea, please post!

--Dane

No luck

I believe your root partition should be /dev/hda2 as Grub counts from 0.

Therefore root=/dev/hda2 should be OK. What you need to do also is to amend the LABEL in the /etc/fstab file first statement so that /dev/hda2 corresponds to /.

Red Hat series distros do have this mismatched from time to time.

So what do i have to change/add to fstab. This is what it is currently. (trimmed)

since your call your root consistently as /dev/hda2. In the first line in fstab just substitute

LABEL=/ with /dev/hda2 so that RH knows it corresponds to the / directory, in a similar manner as the later statement which raw device corresponds to swap

Could this actually be a problem with my ram as i tried to boot with different ram and it booted fine, but when i plugged the network cable in the computer froze and wont boot again. In fact when i switched the old ram to different slots the computer would either freeze at "Checking nvram" or the screen would not turn on. With the new ram in, the monitor will not turn on.

Could there be a problem with my ram slots? Is there anyway to tell?

Thanks

You have to isolate one problem from another. Mixing the hardware fault with the software problem can be a major headache.

You should go back to the original ram arrangement (& network arrangement) and start from there. Get the system working first then try out the ram and network.

You should be aware of each Mobo can work with only a certain brands of rams (approved by the Mobo vendor). Also a Mobo manufacturer frequently dictates the arrangement of how to fill up the slots.

Yeah that is a bit of a problem, i cannot get the original ram to work again, i have tried putting it back in the orginal slots, but no luck. I even tried removing the network card and sound card.

I have cheapo ram so it doesnt really matter which slots they are in and I have also tried using only one stick at a time.

Thanks

The hardware can be tested by a Live CD from another LInux