(solved for the moment)Slackware failed install. Unable to boot.

jmgibson1981 · 06-04-2022, 10:03 PM

I'm firmly stuck with the 15 installer.

Code:

---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(252,1) ]---

I get this regardless of lvm or straight partition installation in virtualbox. I don't get it. There is exactly nothing I can do. I followed the steps. Is this normal?

I've never used Slackware of any kind. I installed only the a package set because I wanted a clean slate to build my own system but this just... it makes no sense. The installation guides just tell you what stuff is, doesn't tell you that you need this or that, or what requires what. How is one supposed to use it if just getting it running is this hard, or at the least blatantly not obvious.

*SOLVED with potential problem found?*

I did a basic install with the guide using cfdisk and gpt. Mbr partition per menus. LVM. This time I used gdisk instead of cfdisk. Used the codes instead of a menu (ef02 for mbr, 8e00 for lvm). This along with grub worked just fine. So either lilo just couldn't deal with my gpt (which I found is apparently a problem sometimes) or the cfdisk didn't do the mbr correctly. Not entirely sure which. I'm too noob to know the difference. Maybe someone can explain what I did wrong or whatever. That and maybe a suggestion on updating the installation instructions.

rkelsen · 06-05-2022, 05:42 AM

That particular error message means that the kernel doesn't have support for the root filesystem. The Slackware installer builds an initrd to fix this.

Are you using EFI?

jmgibson1981 · 06-05-2022, 08:06 AM

Not using EFI on host or the vm. My desktop is an old machine that still has muscle so I've had no reason to upgrade.

hazel · 06-05-2022, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmgibson1981

I've never used Slackware of any kind. I installed only the a package set because I wanted a clean slate to build my own system but this just... it makes no sense. The installation guides just tell you what stuff is, doesn't tell you that you need this or that, or what requires what. How is one supposed to use it if just getting it running is this hard, or at the least blatantly not obvious.

You can't do that with Slackware! You're obviously thinking of something like a Debian net-install or a freshly-installed barebones Gentoo. That's the advantage of distros that do full dependency checking. You can start small and build upwards. You can't do that with Slackware unless you are prepared to do a lot of hard work. The normal (and easy) way to install Slack is to do a full install, then use the software you want and ignore the rest. If you do that, "it just works". You might find this useful:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...lackers-38755/