Kernel Panic

RensoreK · 01-03-2008, 09:11 PM

I'm installing Mandriva 2008 (LiveCD) distro and I am somewhat new to linux but upon installing the OS, Vista kept booting, so using a Super

Grub CD I reinstalled Grub (Mandriva some reason wouldn't load it properly). Now when I boot Vista, it works, but Mandriva I get this error.

Where did I go wrong? Your help is appreciated!

Code:

Loading ext3.ko module
Mounting /proc filesystem
Mounting sysfs
Creating device files
Mounting tmpfs on /dev
Creating root device
No resume device specified
Trying userspace resume from suspend.conf file
No Resume device in suspend.conf
echo: cannot open /sys/power/suspend2/do_resume for write: 2
echo: cannot open /sys/power/tuxonice/do_resume for write: 2
Mounting root filesystem /dev/root/
mount: error 6 mounting ext3 flags defaults
Well, retrying without option flags
mount: error 6 mounting ext3
Well, retrying without any flag
mount: error 6 mounting ext3
Switching to new root
ERROR opening /dev/console!!!!: 2
unmounting old /proc
unmounting old /sys
switchroot: mount failed: 22
Kernel Panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

samwise17 · 01-04-2008, 05:07 AM

I notice two things. One, the system appears to be trying to resume from suspend to ram or disk. Two, an ext3 filesystem is failing to mount. Maybe Grub is using the wrong partition as root after the reinstall. I suggest it's the swap partition, as this could explain the resume-from-suspend attempts. Remember, grub counts partitions from zero. This has screwed me over fustratingly before. Do you know the partition layout on your hard drive? That is, which partitions are used for root, swap, home? You should double check the layount with what grub has in /boot/grub/menu.lst. It should be something like

Code:

title Mandriva Linux
root (hd0,2)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz
initrd /boot/initrd

Now grub counts from zero, so (hda,2) is actually the third hard drive partition.

If you can't boot linux at all, a live-cd can be very helpful, so try booting from the mandriva live cd to get some diagnostic info. Or get a special-purpose live cd such as Knoppix or PuppyLinux (I really like Puppy), which are great system-rescue tools.

RensoreK · 01-04-2008, 05:17 AM

I've tried booting directly from the partition using Super Grub CD and I get a constant beep from the pc speaker, I've also tried booting failsafe minus the resume parameters and the kernel still panics. I have only 3 partitions a 8GB / partition, 3GB swap and a 60GB /home partition.

samwise17 · 01-04-2008, 05:22 AM

I might try and give you a bit more info about what I see in the error message.
A Kernel Panic happens when the operating system cannot continue. Basically it's a system crash.

Code:

echo: cannot open /sys/power/suspend2/do_resume for write: 2
echo: cannot open /sys/power/tuxonice/do_resume for write: 2

suspend2 and tuxonice are programs that allow you to suspend/put to sleep your system. Neither of them have resume information.

Code:

 
Mounting root filesystem /dev/root
mount: error 6 mounting ext3
...
switchroot: mount failed: 22

The root filesystem (all the important system files) can't be accessed. So the system grinds to a halt.

samwise17 · 01-04-2008, 05:34 AM

That was quick!
Does the Mandriva CD still boot? It could be a corrupt install. In fact, not having grub working in the first place is really unusual. Reinstalling Mandriva could be the go.

If you want to poke around a bit more first, get a live cd and look at the partitions with GParted, and look at /etc/fstab, a file which lists all the disk partitions, their type, and which device they are on (devices are special files in the /dev directory. You hard drive will be /dev/hda or /dev/sda. Partitions will be /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, etc).

RensoreK · 01-04-2008, 05:40 AM

Well GRUB works fine. I can boot my windows partition, and my Mandriva LiveCD boots perfectly, compfusion and everything, including network and sound

samwise17 · 01-04-2008, 11:10 PM

Ok. So grub is working, live cd works, and the hard drive mandriva install will not boot, even if done directly with a grub boot cd. Maybe when you reinstalled grub you overwrote something, but I don't know enough about mandriva to be sure about how they set up grub and the system boot.
Either start from scratch and reinstall, or post the content/boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab files. You should be able to mount and look at your hard drive with the mandriva livecd. Also have you tried looking on google for other mandriva uses with the same or similar problem?