mkinitrd -k <kernel> -i <initrd>


ok, help out in the statement:

<kernel> is this where I am naming and placing the initrd file, or directing where to locate the kernel image file

I tried:
mkinitrd -k /boot/initrd-2.6.11.3.img -i 2.6.11.3

Root device: /dev/hdc1 (mounted on / as reiserfs)
Module list: reiserfs
No kernel image /boot/initrd-2.6.11.3.img found

I usually run mkinitrd in /boot, in this case I do not need to use full paths. <kernel> refers to the kernel binary, in your case vmlinuz-2.6.11.3y, <initrd> to the name you would like to give the ramdisk, e.g. initrd-2.6.11.3y (SUSE naming). If you run mkinitrd from outside /boot, the command could look like this:

mkinitrd -k /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.3y -i /boot/initrd-2.6.11.3y

I'm sure you are getting tired of walking me thru this, but I really do appreciate it.

Created the initrd file correctly, I think.

Error popped up that modules.dep may need to be updated. I may have jumped the gun, but I tried to reboot with the new kernel and got nothing. No errors, no nothing. After I selected the net kernel, screen went blank and nothing else happened. I did reconfigure the menu.lst file to include the new kernel image and initrd file.That is the only difference from the old configuration.

Is the modules.dep my problem now?

DA nono

Maybe something with your framebuffer configuration went wrong. In my favourite kernel howto (unfortunately in german) I found the following:
These parameters need to be set in your kernel config, otherwise blackout.

I think you can ignore the modules.dep error in the moment. This came during ramdisk creation and you didn't even get so far yet.

All of those lines are present in the config-2.6.11.3 file and are not commented out. Could there be a problem in the menu.lst file?

title linux
kernel (hd0,0) /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.3 root=/dev/hdc1 vga=791
initrd (hd0,0) /boot/initrd-2.6.11.3

That is the entry for the new kernel. The file names match what is in the boot dir. Does the initrd need to be a symbolic link instead of the actual gzip file?

DA nono

hd0,0 = hda1 in /dev. hdc1 should be hd2,0 I think.

Changed to this:

kernel (hd2,0) /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.3 root=/dev/hdc1 vga=791
initrd (hd2,0) /boot/initrd-2.6.11.3

Error 21: Selected disk does not exist

Changed to (hd0,2) in both lines:

Error 15: File not found

Changed to (hd0,1) in both lines:

Error 17: Cannot mount selected partition

I think my hair is getting thinner by the minute!

DA nono

A little progress!!!!!!!!!

Removed the vga=791 and set to (hd0,0)

THE SYSTEM STARTED TO BOOT!

But, it only got as far as:

rootfs: /dev/hdc1 major=22 minor=1 dev_t-5633
Kernel panic-not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(22,1)

Anyone seen this before?

DA nono

rootfs: /dev/hdc1 major=22 minor=1 dev_t-5633
Kernel panic-not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(22,1)

Is this part of the error telling me where in the config file the problem is?

This line in my config file is:

CONFIG_LOCAL_VERSION="y"

Sorry, I went home yesterday, but I see you still had help

Not mounting rootfs can have several causes:

1. rootfs could not be found due to false parameters in the bootloader
2. rootf could not be mounted because the HDD controller driver or the filesystem driver was not present at that stage. This could either be a unreadable ramdisk (you should see if the kernel reads the ramdisk) or that the driver was not included into ramdisk.

Did you see whether the HDD was recognised and the initrd properly loaded?

looks like your using grub, with that hd(0,0) = hda1, hd(1,1) = hdb2 etc.

RAMDISK driver initialized: 16 RAM disks of 64000k size 1024 block size

This is one of the lines. Is this what I am looking for?

DA nono

I think the more interesting part comes thereafter. Are the drivers (e.g. reiserfs) loaded from ramdisk, are the drives properly recognised.
BTW: did you upgrade the package mkinitrd before? Have a look here, if not:
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/top...tml&highlight=