hello, im a rookie at configuring linux and i have problem booting slackware 13.1 just installed. i get a message similar to this
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-
block(8,4)
i got this one from another user who has a similar problem, they say i should fix lilo.conf and it actually was pointing to a wrong partition so i fixed it. i also fixed /etc/fstab to make it point to the right partition /dev/sda3.

but after fixing the files, it still wants to load something in /dev/sda4, i dont know why so what should i do next, please explain with commands and not just words. thanks!

edit this is my lilo.conf

# LILO configuration file
# generated by 'liloconfig'
#
# Start LILO global section
# Append any additional kernel parameters:
append=" vt.default_utf8=0"
boot = /dev/sda3

# Boot BMP Image.
# Bitmap in BMP format: 640x480x8
bitmap = /boot/slack.bmp
# Menu colors (foreground, background, shadow, highlighted
# foreground, highlighted background, highlighted shadow):
bmp-colors = 255,0,255,0,255,0
# Location of the option table: location x, location y, number of
# columns, lines per column (max 15), "spill" (this is how many
# entries must be in the first column before the next begins to
# be used. We don't specify it here, as there's just one column.
bmp-table = 60,6,1,16
# Timer location x, timer location y, foreground color,
# background color, shadow color.
bmp-timer = 65,27,0,255

# Standard menu.
# Or, you can comment out the bitmap menu above and
# use a boot message with the standard menu:
#message = /boot/boot_message.txt

# Wait until the timeout to boot (if commented out, boot the
# first entry immediately):
prompt
# Timeout before the first entry boots.
# This is given in tenths of a second, so 600 for every minute:
timeout = 1200
# Override dangerous defaults that rewrite the partition table:
change-rules
reset
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
vga = 773
# Normal VGA console
# vga = normal
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x64k
# vga=791
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x32k
# vga=790
# VESA framebuffer console @ 1024x768x256
# vga=773
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x64k
# vga=788
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x32k
# vga=787
# VESA framebuffer console @ 800x600x256
# vga=771
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x64k
# vga=785
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x32k
# vga=784
# VESA framebuffer console @ 640x480x256
# vga=769
# End LILO global section
# Windows bootable partition config begins
other = /dev/sda1
label = Windows
table = /dev/sda
# Windows bootable partition config ends
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
root = /dev/sda3
label = Linux
read-only
# Linux bootable partition config ends

i can boot windows fine by the way

What partitions did you create on your hard drives?

What file system type is your root partition? Did you create an initrd? Did you tell mkinitrd the file system type of your root partition? Did you add the module(s) required to support your root partition file system type in your initrd?

If this was an initial install, mkinitrd will run and not find all the required kernel modules unless you had run the command "chroot /mnt" prior to running mkinitrd.

You gotta do

/sbin/lilo

in terminal as root
afetr updating /etc/lilo.conf

1./dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 for other os's, /dev/sda3 for this one (also installed lilo here and made this one the active partition), /dev/sda5 for swap /dev/sda6 and sda7 for files.
2. ext4
3. no i didn't, or i don't know i just installed slackware with the default configuration (pressed enter all the time).
4 and 5. how can i do this if i can't start the os?

After editing your lilo.conf you must run lilo as root to install the changes to the boot reecord.

If you have the Slackware DVD at hand, try what follows.

1. Boot with the DVD as if you would like to install Slackware again
2. Do not run setup but login as root then run following commands:
3. Reboot

There are instructions on screen when booting the Slackware setup disk which show how to boot to an installed Slackware partition using the setup disk. Just look at this and follow instructions.

Follow bgeddy's instructions, or you can...

1. Boot to the install CD/DVD, login as root
2. Create a mount point for slackware partition, like
3. Mount the slackware partition, like
4. Chroot to the mounted partition, like
5. Run to see if all is OK, then...
6. Run Then reboot and you should get to your slackware installation.

If anything fails along the way please post exactly what happens here and we will try to take it from there.

Good luck!

hello, what i needed to know was that i could chroot a partition to update lilo. Now the os boots fine, i'll make sure to read the documentation before posting if i have another problem, but sometimes there are little things like this that one doesn't manage to solve without asking, so thanks for answering, really apreciate.

I certainly know how important it is to be able to ask for those missing bits of knowledge!

Glad you got it working - glad to help!

The interesting bit is that for an initial install of Slackware (in other words, from scratch), you almost certainly must run "chroot /mnt" prior to running mkinitrd. I have found that the installer kernel does not have all of the modules available that the generic kernel uses. (I guess if you choose to run the huge kernel yourself, this wouldn't be a problem.)

I used to solve the problem by symlinking everything that I needed into the /mnt area; needless to say, that was time consuming, irritating, and error prone beyond belief. Alien Bob mentioned in an e-mail that "chroot /mnt" would allow mkinitrd to work without any such administrative contortions. (It's actually mentioned in the README_LVM.TXT file on the installer.)

He was right.

To avoid all that I always install lilo at first with the kernel-huge image