Hi I am experiencing a Kernel panic problem. Please help...

It is Redhat 7.2 Linux with kernel 2.4.7-10.

First I got a Journal Superblock error and mount error 22, so I used Linux Rescue in installation CD, ran e2fsck /dev/hda2, fixed and cleared all errors until it was clean.

After I reboot it, I have another error:
pivotroot: pivot_root (/sysroot, /sysroot/initrd) failed: 2
Freeing unused kernel memory: 220K freed
Kernel panic Kernal Panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

Here is the file system (fdisk -l)
/dev/hda1 * 1 7 52888+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 8 742 5556600 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 743 776 257040 82 Linux swap

What should I do next?

Thanks.

Are you sure there's a /dev/hda2 and a /dev/hda3? Doesn't seem right.

Do these steps to sort out your problem first check /etc/grub.conf file
to check patitions are in right or matching place and second check /etc/inittab file
to check booting runlevel of the system.

Do these steps to sort out your problem first check /etc/grub.conf file
to check patitions are in right or matching place and second check /etc/inittab file
to check booting runlevel of the system.

I tried to mount /dev/hda1 and /dev/hda2 after I ran linux rescue. And found out there is only one folder, lost+found, under hda2. I think that is the result of e2fsck.

What should I do? Reinstall linux? If so, How do I preserve the existing data?

Yes, I am pretty sure. I ran fdisk -l /dev/hda under linux rescue and got the table. I also mounted hda1 and hda2 and made sure they are boot and root directories.

It looks like your root partition got pretty much hosed so you have limited options of which reinstalling Linux is the easiest one. But a couple notes:

(1) RH7.2 is ancient history. You really should use an up to date distro because of bug fixes and the like. If you must use RH7 at least apply all of the RH and Fedora Legacy patches.

(2) The real question is why the problem happened in the first place. Did your system shut down uncleanly? Is it possible your hard drive is on the way out?

It looks like I might have to use RH7.2 for quite a while before I upgrade it. I will try to apply patches.

I did recall an unclean shutdown before this accident.

If reinstalling Linux is my only option, my concern would be how I can reinstall Linux while preserving existing data, which are all in the folder of lost+found?

Thanks.