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i keep getting a "kernel panic, vms: can't mount the root fs," after upgrading my kernel to 2.6.x.
what i did:
downloaded the kernel from kernel.org, untarred it in /usr/src/, made a /usr/src/linux symlink, configured the kernel, make && make modules_install, copied the bzImage to /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8.1, copied System.map to /boot, added the image to grub/menu.lst:
/boot is ext3 on /dev/hda3, root is /dev/hda2 on xfs. i have ext2, ext3, and xfs built into the kernel.
i've also tried using lilo (preferred bootloader actually), with the same problem then starting for all kernels -- which is why i though i would try it with grub. also, maybe it's worth mentioning that this is after a fresh install (after trying before trashed my webserver ) with only the base system and module-init-tools installed, and a couple of other non-relevant things (ncurses-dev, lynx, etc.)
i saw the "guide to 2.6 kernel on debian," but i don't need an initrd (or maybe i do, it seems ). i guess mainly i'm wondering why the same method that works on every other linux -- and which worked for me when i originally did the 2.4.24 last year -- doesn't work on debian. what am i missing with 2.6?? thx.
oops, yeah, it was (hd0,2) and i also tried hd0,1 thinking it was looking for initrd on hd0,2.
this is an intel BX440 motherboard, and i believe i have support for that in the kernel.
>edit: i installed lilo again, and now i can boot the original kernel, but not 2.6.8.1. it must be some kernel option -- i'm going back to check that now -- or again, something to do with initrd?
I followed the Debian Kernel 2.6 Guide and it worked without a hitch. If you're looking for a newer kernel, or one made for your CPU, just change the name of the apt package. Last time I checked, they had 2.6.8 available for most architectures in Unstable (I'm using the K7 build for Athlons). It's a lot easier than building one yourself.
Originally posted by talkingwires I followed the Debian Kernel 2.6 Guide and it worked without a hitch. If you're looking for a newer kernel, or one made for your CPU, just change the name of the apt package. Last time I checked, they had 2.6.8 available for most architectures in Unstable (I'm using the K7 build for Athlons). It's a lot easier than building one yourself.
i might end up doing that, but esp. since this is a server i'd prefer to try to figure out as much as possible what the problem is first. it's a real hassle to have to bring the computer in (it runs in the garage) and set up a monitor, keyboard, etc. because something got fscked up and i can't boot or ssh in anymore. i'm following the debian.org kernel guide to try it again, i'll see if that works.
i'd also like to find out what's going on with all the VFS errors i'm getting rebooting even after a fresh install. i can't figure out where they're coming from or how to disable whatever's causing them:
i don't even have ext2, FAT or Reiserfs filesystems compiled into the kernel. is that behavior controlled by the /etc/init.d/mountall.sh script? i'm just wondering if whatever that's about is the same thing causing the VMS kernel panic error with 2.6.
Originally posted by synaptical
i might end up doing that, but esp. since this is a server i'd prefer to try to figure out as much as possible what the problem is first. it's a real hassle to have to bring the computer in (it runs in the garage) and set up a monitor, keyboard, etc. because something got fscked up and i can't boot or ssh in anymore. i'm following the debian.org kernel guide to try it again, i'll see if that works.
i'd also like to find out what's going on with all the VFS errors i'm getting rebooting even after a fresh install. i can't figure out where they're coming from or how to disable whatever's causing them:
i don't even have ext2, FAT or Reiserfs filesystems compiled into the kernel. is that behavior controlled by the /etc/init.d/mountall.sh script? i'm just wondering if whatever that's about is the same thing causing the VMS kernel panic error with 2.6. [/B]
No those are not causing the error it looks like the modules that are built into the initrd that is installed with the default kernel and are the errors when those file systems are not found.
No those are not causing the error it looks like the modules that are built into the initrd that is installed with the default kernel and are the errors when those file systems are not found.
yeah, i do have the computer in here while i'm working on it.
i tried the newbiedoc method (very similar to the debian.org method), and things got really bad. it won't even boot past the processor recognition in the very beginning, but gives some weird error about the "timesource" ("using tsc for high-res timesource" (?)) and just hangs there. maybe it can't handle my old hardware (PII 300).
so i took that botched kernel out, and when i ran lilo again, i got some error about /proc and /dev designations for the ide device:
Warning: ' /proc/partitions does not match 'dev' directory structure.
Name change: /dev/ide/host0/bus1/target1/lun0/disc -> /dev/hdd '
hdd is my disc on IDE2 that i mount to /www. not sure what the error message is about, but at least it wrote the working kernel lilo.conf to the MBR.
anyway, the "debian way" isn't making much sense to me. i fail to understand why those initial initrd fs checks are necessary (or why they even happen) when i'm not booting with an initrd, and i don't understand why it is so problematic just to compile a kernel. i have compiled probably hundreds of kernels since using linux (including one on this very same box when it was libranet debian -- a 2.4 kernel, though), and i've never had a problem like this. i must be missing something about 2.6, some kernel option somewhere, or something to do with the startup sequence. maybe i'll try a 2.4 kernel and see if that works.
>EDIT:
i just compiled a 2.4.26 kernel the "slackware" (i.e., normal ) way, and it works fine. no initrd, no kpkg, no fakeroot, no VFS errors, no hassles. no network either, but the module loads so i think i just missed something simple in the network options -- not used to the 2.4.x setup after using 2.6 for so long.
so i guess i will just keep this for now -- maybe it's not even worth going to 2.6 on this hardware for such a low-end webserver that's really just for light personal use anyway. i still would like to know what the deal is with debian and 2.6, though, in case i decide to upgrade in the future and still want to use debian. it just seems kind of weird that it would fail so badly with panics and that tsc/timesource thing when everything is done the "same as it always was." but unless anyone has definite information, i'm going with 2.4, and this case is closed.
Last edited by synaptical; 09-22-2004 at 04:12 PM.
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) with only the base system and module-init-tools installed, and a couple of other non-relevant things (ncurses-dev, lynx, etc.) 
). i guess mainly i'm wondering why the same method that works on every other linux -- and which worked for me when i originally did the 2.4.24 last year -- doesn't work on debian. what am i missing with 2.6?? thx.
is that behavior controlled by the /etc/init.d/mountall.sh script? i'm just wondering if whatever that's about is the same thing causing the VMS kernel panic error with 2.6.
