[SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

burk · 2008-01-02 13:10:49

Hello

I just installed archlinux on the new hard drive I got for christmas (western digital sata2 500gb connected to sata mb). My problem is that I get a kernel panic when I boot, with a message saying:

Waiting 0s before mounting root device
kinit: Cannot open root device sdb5(8,21)
kinit: init not found
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

I've found a lot of posts with similar problems, but none of the fixes worked I've tried booting to fallback and using mkinitcpio -p kernel26. I've tried reinstalling the kernel, and I've fiddled a lot with the settings in mkinitcpio.conf, but I couldn't get it to work. (and yes, i've tried without the autodetect).

I installed from Don't Panic 2007.08-2, and uname -r gives:

2.6.23-ARCH

The root partition is ext3 on sdb5.
I hope someone will be able to help me fix this...

burk

Last edited by burk (2008-01-04 14:09:46)

pressh · 2008-01-02 13:17:42

so the -fallback kernel does work?

can you post your hooks for both the normal kernel and the -fallback kernel (respectively in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and /etc/mkinitcpio.d/kernel26-fallback.conf)

jacko · 2008-01-02 13:55:21

I would also be interested in what grub has to say, post your /boot/grub/menu.lst please as well. Not sure where ^^^ he is trying to head you, but I will follow along to see if I learn anything.

burk · 2008-01-02 14:08:49

Yup, the fallback kernel works perfectly. Here's mkinitcpio.conf:

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

I've also tried without any modules at all. Here's kernel26-fallback.conf:

MODULES="BusLogic"
FILES=""
HOOKS="base udev ide pata scsi sata usbinput raid filesystems"

Oh.. and here's my menu.lst aswell, but I'm pretty sure everything in there is alright:

# Config file for GRUB - The GNU GRand Unified Bootloader
# /boot/grub/menu.lst
[snip]
# general configuration:
timeout 5
default 0
color light-blue/black light-cyan/blue
# boot sections follow
# each is implicitly numbered from 0 in the order of appearance below
#
# TIP: If you want a 1024x768 framebuffer, add "vga=773" to your kernel line.
#
#-*
# (0) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux
root (hd1,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb5 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title Arch Linux Fallback
root (hd1,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sdb5 ro
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img
# (2) Windows
title Ny Windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1
# (3) Windows
title Gammel Windows
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

Last edited by burk (2008-01-02 14:34:56)

pressh · 2008-01-02 18:27:49

Looks fine on a first glance.
On what configuration of mkinitcpio.conf did you run mkinitcpio -p kernel26 ?
Did you try the original file ? I only can think you must hit the 2007.8 mkinitcpio bug.

burk · 2008-01-02 18:46:49

Well, I've tried several times, but I don't know if I did it with the exact original. I have tried to remove all the modules, and I have also tried to have as few as possible hooks (only: base udev sata keymap filesystems). I did some changes back and forth, but I think the one I posted here is the original.

Is there a way to generate a new mkinitcpio.conf like the installer did?

lilsirecho · 2008-01-02 18:56:58

Edit the hooks in mkinitcpio for the standard install of archlinux to get the desired params.

burk · 2008-01-02 19:13:48

Sorry? What do you mean I should do?

pressh · 2008-01-02 19:49:34

the default one is in ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/core/os/i686/mk … pkg.tar.gz. Extract the package in a directory.
Another option is to move your current mkinitcpio.conf to mkinitcpio.backup and then force a reinstall of mkinitcpio.

burk · 2008-01-02 21:32:58

I tried with the same hooks in that file but no luck I also tried reinstalling over ftp, but I still get the same error. The weird thing is that fallback always works...

byte · 2008-01-03 08:31:38

Add "rootdelay=3" to your kernel command line, just for fun.

burk · 2008-01-03 14:49:06

I tried that now, even with 10 seconds, but I still got the error. I also tried moving mkinitcpio.conf, forcing a reinstall and then rerunning it, but it didn't help.

Does the numbers in kinit: "Cannot open root device sdb5(8,21)" tell you something specific? Is there something special in that position?

Can there be something wrong with the sata drivers loaded for my new sata2 hard drive (my old hd is sata1, but I didn't think there should be much of a difference)? Should I try to downgrade something? In that case what?

nesrecar · 2008-01-03 15:32:25

Try earlymodules=piix on your kernel boot line. Also check your fstab entries. Or maybe your root device is wrong? (hd*? sd*?)

burk · 2008-01-03 16:03:21

Tried earlymodules=piix, but I still got the kernel panic. My fstab entries for the hd are:

/dev/sdb5 / ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sdb6 /home ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sdb7 swap swap defaults 0 0

My menu.lst is as pasted above. I'm pretty sure both of them are correct, because they were generated by the install program. / is the 5th partition on the second hard drive which makes it hd(1,4) and sdb5. I also have arch installed on my old hard drive, where I have the exact same menu.lst except for hd(0,4) and sda5.

Thanks for trying though... (:

EDIT:

Using my limited school french to read this thread http://forums.archlinux.fr/topic327.html I'm starting to think that it may have something to do with the hard drive being Sata2... ? I tried loading many of the modules I found using hwdetect --show-modules, but without luck (including sata_nv, st, sd_mod, ata_generic, amd74xx)

I hope someone can help me..

Last edited by burk (2008-01-03 17:22:44)

burk · 2008-01-03 18:58:38

FINALLY! I found the source to my problem on the wiki . It was quite far frow where we were searching. It says: "Note that SCSI devices may only have a maximum of 15 partitions while IDE can have 63. If you have over 15 partitions for a good reason you'll need to find a solution before you upgrade.", and I have more than that (at least if you count /dev/sda and /dev/sdb. So I unplugged the old sda, and I just had to fix some numbers in grub and fstab before I was able to boot! Now my problem is: how can i have both sata-drives connected while booting?

burk · 2008-01-04 14:09:28

Wow, akward... The whole error was because I should have used sda instead of sdb in menu.lst... Confusing when you root hd(1,4) and should make root=sda5, but at least it works! Thanks for all the help!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-01-02 13:10:49

[SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#2 2008-01-02 13:17:42

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#3 2008-01-02 13:55:21

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#4 2008-01-02 14:08:49

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#5 2008-01-02 18:27:49

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#6 2008-01-02 18:46:49

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#7 2008-01-02 18:56:58

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#8 2008-01-02 19:13:48

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#9 2008-01-02 19:49:34

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#10 2008-01-02 21:32:58

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#11 2008-01-03 08:31:38

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#12 2008-01-03 14:49:06

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#13 2008-01-03 15:32:25

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#14 2008-01-03 16:03:21

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#15 2008-01-03 18:58:38

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

#16 2008-01-04 14:09:28

Re: [SOLVED] New install won't boot without fallback (kernel panic)

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