Install RH9 on Presario 300
 

My Presario server won't install past the initial loader. It says:

VFS: Cannot open root device "" or 48:05
Please append correct "root=" boot option
Kernal Panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 48:05

The server uses an embeded scsi-2 cd rom and hdd. The Red Hat 9 cd1 boots ok but I needed to add mem=112m to get it to see the ram. The hdd is unpartitioned and it is a 4Gb drive. I have tried various boot options such as /dev/sca1 and /dev/sca. If I can get past this point, I will end up with a nice home server. I hope someone can help. Thank you for your time.

hmm.... did you just download Red Hat 9 and burned it?? or did you buy the CDs??

I burned them. They worked ok on my workstation computer.

hmm... it maybe hardware issuess... post your specs....

Compaq Prosignia 300
90Mhz Pentium
112Mb Ram
Embedded scsi-2
scsi HDD=4Gb
scsi CD=8x
Embedded video
4 EISA slots - remember those days??
2 pci slots

At one point I installed a IDE I/O isa card and tried to install from an IDE CD rom but it failed at the same place.

I think it is not finding my HDD...is this right?

Did you just mistype or is your processor really 90Mhz Pentium?? I also noticed your RAM memory being 112MB, the Graphical minimum memory requirement is 128, so I think you can only use text mode....

Heres the Minimum and Recommended Hardware Requirements in Red Hat Linux 9:

CPU:
Minimum: Pentium-class
Recommended for Text Mode: 200 Megahertz Pentium-class or better
Recommended for Graphical Mode: 400 Megahertz Pentium-class or better

Hard Disk Space*:
Custom installation (minimum): 475 MB
Personal Desktop: 1.7 GB
Workstation: 2.1 GB
Custom installation (everything): 5.0 GB

*Additional space will be required for file storage.

Memory Requirements:
minimum for text mode: 64MB
minimum for graphical mode: 128 MB
recommended for graphical mode: 192 MB

Oh..I can hear you laughing all the way over here in North Carolina. Yes it's 90Mhz. I do not have any junk in my backyard but I have a hard time throwing away computers. I'm a collector of friends' junked systems. I just want to use this to learn; on my home network as a slow server.

lol... :D you can try installing Red Hat 5.2 i dont know if its still available for download though.... but that version should work in your system... I actually have a comercial box of Red Hat 5.2, I can burn it and Mail it to you but I'm in Phillipines so it will cost me, sorry.... :)

You may want to try a more minimalist distribution like older versions of Slackware. I hear it's more difficult to use though. However, with those kinds of specs, you may be limited to text usage...I know I for one really like purty X and couldn't handle all-text :)

Good points. I'll mull this over...