Possible solution to common "unable to mount root fs" kernel panic while installing
 

Hi all,

I've noticed that many people here have been having a similar problem while attempting to install Linux. It seems just about every installation problem is due to a kernel panic stating that it can't mount root fs. I had that same exact problem, and found a solution that worked for me. Please note, however, that I run into a problem later on that has kept me from installing :(

I have two hard drives. The first one has WinXP loaded, and the second is what I want to install Linux (Mandrake 8.0) onto. Here's what I did, and it got me past the kernel error (note: you must at command prompt for installer. In Mandrake, you press F1 at start):
linux root=/dev/hdb1

So I guess for this to work, you have to have a distro that allows you to pass options to the kernel while installing. I wasn't able to do this with Suse, and I don't know which other ones are like this. Because, to my udnerstanding, Mandrake is based on Red Hat (is that right?), that same thing should work with Red Hat.

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Now for my problem...

I was extremely excited when I got past the kernel panic. However, I got another one :mad: . I get the following error:

Warning: unable to open an initial console
Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel

I tried a few things, like /dev/hdb, /sbin/init, and simply /, but none of those worked. I'm not really sure what I need to pass as the init. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks a lot
Patrick

sounds like it doesn't know which runlevel to start at, try init 5 to start the gui or init 3 for the console

could it be that you're trying to use a NTFS drive? I'm trying to install Fedora 4 onto an eighty gb. external hard drive that was formatted to NTFS. I found a kernel update, but i am lost as to how to install the update. Any help would be appreciated, as i am completely new to linux. I'll post the link once i make five posts.