Hi

Have a Dell D610 with Toshiba MK8026GAX 80GB HD which is listed as ATA/100 interface.

Have dual boot with WinXP on first partition, and successfully installed Debian Sarge on 2.4.27 kernel in another partition .

GRUB is installed on MBR.

Have rebuilt a 2.6.15 kernel and it won't boot (into 2.6.15).
error is
vfs: cannot open root device hda4 or unknownn block.

Is this the 2.6.15 transition to SATA ? I'm a bit confused as description of disk says it is only ATA/100 i/f but there's a SATA controller listed in lspci below.

so do I need to transition to sata disks? is this the boot prob?

here is lspci:
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. Mobile Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. Mobile Memory Controller Hub PCI Express Port (rev 03)
0000:00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev d3)
0000:00:1e.2 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1e.3 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc: Unknown device 5460
0000:02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5751 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 01)
0000:03:01.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments: Unknown device 8036
0000:03:01.5 Communication controller: Texas Instruments: Unknown device 8038
0000:03:03.0 Network controller: Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless 2200BG (rev 05)

here is my fstab currently: (for the 2.4 kernel)
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda4 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda8 /home ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/hda7 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 iso9660 ro,user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0


here is /boot/grub/menu.lst excerpts for the 2.6.15 part and the WinXP part:
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.15
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15 root=/dev/hda4 ro
savedefault
boot
#.....
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,1)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

and here is /boot/grub/device.map:
(hd0) /dev/hda



Do I need to make a hd to sd transition for sata? What do I do about the WinXP boot info in menu.lst, leave it as is ?

Do I need to modify menu.lst, fstab and device.map files to get this 2.6.15 working?

then I run update-grub and reboot?

(I don't want to lose boot option to Windows if modifying Grub - this is my machine for work!)

If GRUB crashes what does one do - use a LiveCD to Boot and try to repair Grub?

I don't know why your kernel upgrade has gone wrong but I can suggest one thing: before you try anything else, make a GRUB boot floppy with your current setup, so that you will always be able to get back to Windows, even if you mess up your Linux install. See http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache...tage2%22&hl=en or http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=195826

thats a very prudent proposition, but which laptops come with floppies these days?

Anyone know if one can make a GRUB rescue CD?

(going a bit off my thread here...but nice to know)

You certainly could make a GRUB boot CD, but I've never had cause to, so don't know how.

OK, still not booting my custom kernel 2.6.15

for those not read top post, boots OK on 2.4.27 using /dev/hda4
message is for 2.6.15
VFS: cannot open root device sda4 on unknown-block(0,0)
kernel panic unable to mount root fs

this is after modifying following in /boot/grub and /etc/

I manage to rescue, and revert back to 2.4.27, via a Knoppix LiveCD (kernel 2.6.11) which itself sees all partitions as /dev/sdax

This is really just changing /dev/hda instances to /dev/sda ones (that's what most of my google searches show up as necessary,
modify device.map menu.lst, fstab for kernel sata support..?)

menu.lst to
# kopt=root=/dev/sda4 ro
## ......
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.15
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15 root=/dev/sda4 ro
savedefault
boot
## following will boot OK if I reset fstab "sda" back to "hda"
title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386
root (hd0,3)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda4 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
savedefault
boot

points on above:
does kopt field need changing?
Is an initrd necessary , see the 2.4 kernel uses one.
I've checked, there is a /boot/vmlinuz-2.5.15 file there

device.map
(hd0) /dev/sda

fstab
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/sda4 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda8 /home ext3 defaults 0 2
/dev/sda7 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 iso9660 ro,user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0


fdisk -l /dev/hda : (when 2.4 is running)

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 1 13 104391 de Dell Utility
/dev/hda2 * 14 1319 10490445 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda3 1320 9197 63280035 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda4 9198 9729 4273290 83 Linux
/dev/hda5 1320 7693 51199123+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda6 7694 7787 755023+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda7 7788 7852 522081 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda8 7853 9197 10803681 83 Linux

Got it to Boot finally
hidden in .config file , following needs setting:
# CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDE_SATA is not set
CONFIG_SCSI_SATA=y

then of course in /boot/grub/menu.lst change all root=/dev/hda instances to root=/dev/sda (for the 2.6.x kernel you're booting)
also change "hda" instances in /etc/fstab to sda

(when certain versions failed to boot, I rescued via a Knoppix liveCD via which you can re-edit fstab back to hda to get the old 2.4 kernel version working (probably there's a more elegant way - sometimes I got into 2.4 console mode without having to do this). As this was 2.6.11 based this also let you see how it mounts all the partitions)

Hey,

I am experiencing the same issue at the moment. I've been having it for a whle, but I was never able to fix it. So I was very happy to find out that you figured out what the actual problem is. Unfortunately I'm not as knowledgeable about my dear Debian as you seem to be. So I don't really know how to use your case to solve mine. Maybe you could help on this. My Linux partition is /dev/hdb1 mounted on /mnt/hdb1 (sda is my external HD only containing data).

lspci:
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 South]
0000:00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)
0000:00:0b.0 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 43)
0000:00:0b.1 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB (rev 43)
0000:00:0b.2 USB Controller: NEC Corporation USB 2.0 (rev 04)
0000:00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
0000:00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
0000:00:10.0 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
0000:00:10.1 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
0000:00:10.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
0000:00:10.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
0000:00:10.4 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86)
0000:00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
0000:00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
0000:00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 78)
0000:00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
0000:00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
0000:00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
0000:00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400] (rev a1)

my fstab:
# /etc/fstab: filesystem table.
#
# filesystem mountpoint type options dump pass
/dev/hdb1 / ext2 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hdb2 none swap sw 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/fd0 /floppy vfat defaults,user,noauto,showexec,umask=022 0 0
/dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom iso9660 defaults,ro,user,noauto 0 0
#/dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 ntfs auto,user,exec,ro,uid=kris,gid=kris 0 0
/dev/hdb3 /mnt/hdb3 ext2 auto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/data vfat defaults,user,noauto,showexec,umask=022 0 0
/dev/sda5 /mnt/media vfat defaults,user,noauto,showexec,umask=022 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/kingston vfat defaults,user,noauto,showexec,umask=022 0 0
#//Stella/data /mnt/windata smbfs username=kris,password=stellaartois D,rw,users,umask=000 0 0
none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0
none /selinux selinuxfs noauto 0 0

/boot/grub/device.map:
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/hdb

fdisk -l /dev/hdb (running 2.6.9-2-k7):
Disk /dev/hdb: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 9964 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 4267 34274646 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 4268 4389 979965 92 Unknown
/dev/hdb3 4390 9964 44781187+ 93 Amoeba


Thanks in advance!

kr!s