T-u-N-i-X: as long as things (devices) are working, you don't have to worry. ie, if you have built the USB support into the kernel then you don't need to modprobe for it.(there will be no module for it). Well, seeing your problems, i feel it is the faulty kernel configuration that is to be blamed and not by changing LABEL=/ instances to /dev/<hd number>. btw, how did you configure the kernel? one of the easiest ways in which to build an error free kernel is by loading the default kernel configuration of the distro that is present in the /boot directory and then modifying somethings to suit your needs. this can be done by running make xconfig that gives you a graphical display or make oldconfig that keeps the existing options and prompts for new or changed options. Also, it is advised to build support for the filesystem of the root partition into the kernel than to have it as a module. Suppose if any module error is present when booting and you don't have that device, then remove it from the kernel.. Also, if some device is not working then search for it in the kernel configuration and if it is not included then include it. if it is included as a module, then note down the module name present in its help section. NOTE that some options can only be used as a module and some only by building it into kernel.
Suppose some modules are not loading by default at startup, then insert these lines in either rc.sysinit or rc.local present in /etc/rc.d/ :
/sbin/modprobe <module name 1 without .o>
;;
;;
/sbin/modprobe <module name n without .o>
NOTE that rc.modules file is present in Slackware and not Fedora.....

Also, are you creating the init ram disk image after compiling the new kernel..? it can be created by:
mkinitrd /boot/initrd-<some name>.img <name of the kernel modules directory present in /lib/modules/>
Also, copy the System.map file present in the kernel source folder to /boot/
This is the part of your grub.conf:
--------------------------------------
title Fedora Core (2.6.0)
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/bzImage-2.6.0 ro root=/dev/<hd number> hdc=ide-scsi rhgb
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.0.img

And part of your fstab:
-------------------------
/dev/<hd number> / ext3 defaults 1 1
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda7 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,user,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/cdrom1 /mnt/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 noauto,user,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,user,kudzu 0 0
/dev/hda5 /mnt/tunix auto noauto,user
/dev/hdb1 /mnt/arsiv auto noauto,user

Hope this info.. is useful. ATB. Try these out and get back with the result as 2.6 can be compiled and run without problem....

P.S.: check whether you have configured /dev support into your kernel...

/etc/rc.d/rc.modules is where you should load the modules for slackware, mandrake, redhat, or fedora.

If the file is not there you can simply create it.

"/etc/rc.d/rc.modules is where you should load the modules for slackware, mandrake, redhat, or fedora.

If the file is not there you can simply create it."

thanks for sharing the info DavidPhillips..

If you do create the file don't forget to set the x bit on it.

chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/rc.modules

Well; my Kernel is working now but it can't mound the file system I guess... It gives me a change to enter the root password and change a few things (but i can't because everything is read-only) there comes the power of usb mouse but it gives errors that it cannot mount /dev/partition it cannot go through tty's and more.... I think I've compiled /dev support into the kernel (tell me where to paste from .config) and the things for ext3 filesystem are included... Just tell me what else I can do... I think it's about my .config but what ?

mount -o remount,rw /

would remount the root filesystem as read-write

Actually what i have observed in Fedora (may be redhat also) is that the file is /etc/rc.modules not /etc/rc.d/rc.modules since the file /etc/rc.modules is executed on bootup according to the initscripts.

It should be a link like all of the other rc. scripts

[david@zeus david]$ ls -l /etc/rc.modules
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 Sep 6 18:43 /etc/rc.modules -> /etc/rc.d/rc.modules

I don't have any rc.modules file in both directories : /etc and /etc/rc.d .. And my standart Fedora kernel (2.4......) works fine with that configuration. I have no problem with it. Does any one have an idea about the problem ? I can post parts of the .config file or all of it. But please let's solve this problem..

Here's my kernel .config file ==> http://tiger98.hypermart.net/dosyalar/config

Hope it helps..

Thankyou very much for this thread !

It led me to a totally obvious entry in my lilo.conf file, which was indeed :-

LABEL=/

changing that to /dev/hda1 in lilo and fstab fixed everything (well, got me booted anyway)

Finally I can go on and fix other things in Redhat 9

EDIT:

T-u-N-i-X, the kernel compiling process can be a real bear unless you know your hardware and even then, it can get nasty.

I've done about 20 successful kernel compiles over about 18 months and about 200 unsuccessful ones !

It gets easier with time, you get to know what to include and what not to.

Bottom line - always read the Help section on every kernel section you wish to change before doing so. You can usually cut your kernel size to 60% of the default install if you know what your doing.

But, as this thread suggests, sometimes you hit a brick wall.

Well;
The main problem was when I write /dev/hda6 instead of LABEL=/ the init process was going on but there was lots of errors. It was because of the activation of devfs option. It's solved now. Thanks everyone for helping me..

i went ahead and built 2.6, and got lucky. the first build booted.
the last time i tried that source tree was 2.5.63, and i couldn't get it to boot
after a couple of tries, in the spring. i tried it again yesterday, and accidently
had it set for p4. i got the error message "kernel built for sse2", which i don't
have. i changed that option and rebuilt and was able to boot.
10 patches later i was at 2.5.72, and it booted. none of my modules were
loading though, and i was getting a "function not implemented" error.
several more patches and i was up to 2.6.0-test5. still boots. same errors.
each time i was using make oldconfig to update the .config file.
i patched up to 2.6.0, ran make oldconfig, compiled and still working, but
no modules. i was desperate, so i read the README, and apparently
i had to upgrade a couple of things. module-init-tools, and procps.
now the modules load. i haven't gotten sensors, or my vesa console
or my lucent modem working yet, and the new kernel is a little slower
than my old one. at least at what i tested. so i went back. 2.4.23-ck1.
i just wanted to compile it since everybody else was
the first compile at 2.5.63 took the longest since i had to go through and
select all the options myself. i don't enjoy that. i do think the new
kernel configure and compile setup is much simpler and easy to
understand for a newbie, and the make help gave some usefull options.

Well, I really munged up my RedHat 9.0, forcing me to reinstall.

Trying to get the sound modules to work I once again got a kernel panic message I couldn't seem to fix.

Then I somehow messed up the default install kernel so that it couldn't read reiserfs partitions and my 2.6 kernel source was in my home directory on that partition !

*Sigh* - back to the drawing board and more searching and reading !

if your redhat cdrom couldn't read reiserfs, and i bet it could, knoppix
could.