Kernel panic partially sorted.

thorpe · 2007-05-10 02:53:59

Hey all,

New Arch user here.... been using Gentoo as my main sys for about 3 years. Other distros for a couple before that.

Ok, long story. I have just completed my first Arch install (sweet), rebooted and got a kernel panic. Something about being unable to mount root fs. Ive managed to find a solution to this problem (and got the system booted) after reading a thread about a similar issue. It all related to mkinitcpio.conf.

Anyway, all I needed to do was edit my /etc/fstab and /boot/menu.list so that hda* became sda*. I just don't understand why.

Referencing my filesystems via sda* just doesn't seem right. How do I go about changing whatever it is I need to change to get them back to hda* ?

My mkinitcpio.conf

MODULES="ata_generic ata_piix"
BINARIES=""
FILES=""
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata keymap filesystems"

My /etc/fstab

none        /dev/pts    devpts      defaults                0       0
none        /dev/shm    tmpfs       defaults                0       0
/dev/cdrom  /mnt/cdrom  iso9660     ro,user,noauto,unhide   0       0
#/dev/dvd    /mnt/dvd   udf         ro,user,noauto,unhide   0       0
#/dev/fd0    /mnt/fd0   vfat        user,noauto             0       0
/dev/sda11  swap        swap        defaults                0       0
/dev/sda7   /           reiserfs    defaults                0       1

My /boot/menu.list

default 0
fallback 0
timeout 1
hiddenmenu

title Gentoo
root (hd0,11)
kernel /gentoo/stable/kernel-2.6.20-gentoo-r7-10.05.2007 root=/dev/hda5

title  Arch
root   (hd0,11)
kernel /arch/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda7 vga=775
initrd /arch/kernel26.img

I am dual booting Arch with Gentoo, so my /boot layout is a little different. I did not install grub as I'm using the one installed with Gentoo.

I think I may need to reconfigure my mkinitcpio.conf file and then maybe rebuild my kernel / image. I'm just not sure how or what to configure. I really don't want to reference my disks via sda* as it just makes no sense.

This is a minimal install, I haven't installed anything but base as yet.

Thanks in advance.

PS: I very much like the look of this system.

Last edited by thorpe (2007-05-10 02:57:26)

thorpe · 2007-05-10 09:44:51

I hate to bump, but has anyone got any ideas?

I tried removing 'pata scsi sata' from the hooks line as it would seem I do not need these, changed all references to my harddrives back to hda*, rebooted and got the same Kernel panic.

ERROR: Failed to parse block device name for '/dev/hda7'
ERROR: root fs cannot be detected. Try using the rootfstype= kernel parameter

There was a little more to the error but thats all I wrote down.

Anyone got any ideas how I can reference my partitions by hda* and not sda*?

jond · 2007-05-10 15:29:12

I believe it's because of a new "pata" driver in kernel 2.6.19 and upwards. It lists all IDE disks as sdaX etc.
My solution was this http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Per … ice_naming

I also read somewhere that the new driver is supposed to be better, you don't need to use hdparm and stuff.

The way I think, following that wiki page is the best way to do it. Just get rid of hda and sda troubles 4ever

*edit*:
I also tried to remove the pata hook in mkinicpio.conf, and if I remember correctly, that turned my disks into hdXX again. But my system also felt a bit slower/sluggier or something, so I changed back.

Last edited by jond (2007-05-10 15:32:08)

thorpe · 2007-05-10 23:11:45

Sorry... maybe I don't understand the wiki page, but I just can't see how that all relates to my problem. Why is this the only distro that recognizes my harddrive as sda and not hda? It just seems really weird to me.

byte · 2007-05-10 23:17:46

Because this distro defaults to using libata instead of ide. If you don't like it run the installation again with 'arch ide-legacy'.

thorpe · 2007-05-10 23:43:57

Thankyou. Will do.

dmartins · 2007-05-11 05:51:55

thorpe, from what I've read, libata is the way the kernel is heading. It deals with PATA and SATA drives in the same manner meaning everything is going to be /dev/sdX It is supposedly a much needed re-write for a "fairly" important kernel subsystem. And guess what? It seems IDE CD drives are now /dev/srX (at least on my PC).:P

Why is this the only distro that recognizes my harddrive as sda and not hda?

I'm sure they'll all be moving this way eventually. I haven't used gentoo in a couple months but it seems to me they are a bit slower with their kernel upgrades (if you don't count the multiple ebuild revisions), which may be a good thing sometimes

klixon · 2007-05-11 07:32:40

If you just want to change your device-names back to hda, your only have to change the MODULES and HOOKS in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

make it:

MODULES=""
HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide keymap filesystems"

if you have SATA or SCSI disk, also include those hooks... be sure to remove PATA, though, as that is the one that gives you problems...

and then do

# mkinitcpio
check for errors... ;)
# mkinitcpio -g /boot/arch/kernel26.img # Or wherever you want it...

And don't forget to update fstab and grub/menu.lst before you reboot

PS: pata realy is the way to go, but each his own of course...

Last edited by klixon (2007-05-11 07:33:28)

Arch Linux

#1 2007-05-10 02:53:59

Kernel panic partially sorted.

#2 2007-05-10 09:44:51

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#3 2007-05-10 15:29:12

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#4 2007-05-10 23:11:45

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#5 2007-05-10 23:17:46

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#6 2007-05-10 23:43:57

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#7 2007-05-11 05:51:55

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

#8 2007-05-11 07:32:40

Re: Kernel panic partially sorted.

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