Installing 9.3 with loadlin -- unable to mount root fs
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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.
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.
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.
Could I just copy, for instance, the initrd image from the Live DVD?
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!
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