problem mounting root under 2.4.0

problem mounting root under 2.4.0

[Chris Jones]

I'm unable to boot a 2.4.0 kernel on a system that's been running 2.2.18.  It
fails early in boot with the following messages:

request-module[block-major-8]: Root fs not mounted
VFS: Cannot open root device "801" or 08:01
Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 08:01

I suspect the problem is related to loading the aic7xxx.o module, but the
relevant messages have scrolled off the top of the screen.  I tried setting the
VGA mode to extended to give me 50 lines of output, but even though "lilo -q
-v" shows "VGA mode: EXTENDED", I still have a 25 line screen.  CTRL-Alt-DEL
doesn't work, so I have to power-cycle the machine, so I lose any messages that
are saved in memory.  Is there a way I can get the equivalent of "more" breaks
on boot so I have a chance to read the messages?

I have upgraded to modutils 2.4.1 and mkinitrd 2.5.  Are there some gotchas I
should be aware of?

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Re: problem mounting root under 2.4.0

[Chris Jones]

Chris Jones <clj@emc.com> writes:

[...]

  I suspect the problem is related to loading the aic7xxx.o module, but the
  relevant messages have scrolled off the top of the screen.  I tried setting the
  VGA mode to extended to give me 50 lines of output, but even though "lilo -q
  -v" shows "VGA mode: EXTENDED", I still have a 25 line screen.

Well, I noticed I hadn't configured CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT, which is why I wasn't
able to put my monitor into extended mode.  It now works, and I further noticed
I hadn't enabled RAM disk support, so my initial RAM disk wasn't being loaded.
So, 2.4.0 now boots (still with problems, probably caused by the modutils
changes, but at least I can debug now).

Thanks to the many people who emailed me with suggestions.


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