Installing 9.3 with loadlin -- unable to mount root fs
 

This is killing me.

I'm using a Sony VAIO laptop without a builtin optical drive (therefore can't boot from the DVD). I've been booting using the 3 boot disks but that takes literally about 40 minutes to boot thanks to the world's slowest USB floppy drive. Every time I boot I've been having partitioning problems, so I want to be able to get into the install much quicker to troubleshoot.

I copied loadlin.exe and the linux and initrd images (from \boot\loader) onto a FAT32 partition from the 9.3 DVD. I boot into DOS with a bootdisk and run loadlin:

loadlin linux root=/dev/ram initrd=initrd (actual paths not included to make this easier to read)

Every time the linux image and the initrd image uncompress fine, and the kernel seems to load. Then:

invalid compressed format (err=1)
VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (1,0)

What am I doing wrong? I really want to get 9.3 installed but this is driving me insane.

TIA

shock_ez

Not sure if this helps:
http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2003/0...l_loadlin.html

Thanks! I'll try to get the new version 1.6 later.

Odd, though, that SuSE wouldn't update the version in the DOSUTILS directory on disc. I guess since 99% of people are able to boot from the disc they don't bother.

shock_ez

Sadly, the loadlin.exe version on the SuSE disc is the same version as the newest loadlin available.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I thought it might have something to do with the root=/dev/ram parm but I have no idea what else it should be.

Once, I was able to get it working by running directly from the disc:

loadlin linux initrd=initrd

BUT it hung on activation of firewire devices (because I had previously loaded a DOS firewire driver and was accessing the DVD-Rom that way).

Is there hope?

thx

shock_ez

You may need to integrate some missing driver into initrd, but therefore you need a running Linux system. Maybe with a SuSE LiveCD you are able to create a new initrd.

Perhaps this is a stupid question, so forgive me ahead of time.

Could I just copy, for instance, the initrd image from the Live DVD? I can't, unfortunately, boot from any optical media so booting into the Live DVD is pretty much impossible, unless I try loadlin and I have the feeling I'll run into the same problem.

Thanks!

shock_ez

I don't think so, since the installer initrd may contain more stuff than the initrd of a Live system. However I do not know it for sure, it's always worth a try!

Well 9.3 has thus far thwarted my every effort at install, so for now it's back to 9.2

Regardless, thanks for the help!!

shock_ez