Booting a 2.6.12 Custom Kernel in Debian
 

So I just built a custom kernel as I've been doing since I started working with 2.4 kernels. For some reason though this time I just can't get the thing to boot. I get the dreaded

kernel panic - not syncing:VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

I'm assuming from what I read that I'll need to use one of the newer utilities to build an initrd-like file to get things going but I can't figure out where to start. Any help is very appreciated.

In general, I don't think you NEED an initrd as long as you remember to compile in your chipset and filesystem type as Y instead of M.

What type of hardware are you running?

what file system are you using and what process did you go through to build and install the kernel?

Thanks for the quick replies:

* I'm using ext3

* I downloaded the source from kernel.org, uncompressed it, ran menuconfig, did my thing there, saved it, made a dpkg then installed the dpkg. This is how I've always done it but until recently it was with 2.4 kernels, early 2.6 kernels, and always LILO, now I'm using GRUB.

As far as compiling in my chipset (not as a module) I chose the nearest possible for my hardware setup which is:

Dell OptiPlex 160L w/ Intel 810 board PIV processor, all on board stuff, regular IDE HD.

one way ive found my clipsets and other stuff was to boot knoppix and then run lsmod and try and get the same modules from xconfig/gconfig/menuconfig.

ext2 support is natively compiled in as far as i remember, correct me if im wrong, but its worth a check.