kernel panic - not syncing : VFS: unable to mount root FS on unknown-block
 

I'm geting this error message at startup:
"kernel panic - not syncing : VFS: unable to mount root FS on unknown-block"
I just upgraded from kernel 2.4 to 2.6, then this happend.
any suggestions?

Same thing happened to me when I didn't include reiser support in the kernel. You can either include the filesystem support in your kernel or create an initrd to load the module at startup.

Do a search on the error message to find other suggestions.

Kent

Check your config and make sure that you built-in the proper filesystem support. Do not compile this as a module.

I ran this command for FS support
mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.10 -m reiserfs

Heres my lilo entry
################
image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-2.6.10
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/hda3
label = Linux-2.6
read-only

I'm and idiot!! The problem was in lilo, i asumed that my loader was pointing to hda3; when in reality it was pointing to hda1
Thanks for your timely help!

hi u wrote following:

I ran this command for FS support
mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.10 -m reiserfs

Heres my lilo entry
################
image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-2.6.10
initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
root = /dev/hda3
label = Linux-2.6
read-only


Im expiring the same problem, but i dont know what to do. In my how to isnt a stage where i should assign the FS to the new kernel.

My question is : where to input this command and at which stage? It will be very helpful for me

10x

what does your lilo look like? This happened because I pointed my lilo to hda1 instead of hda3.

hi

the problem is i didnt wrote any commant to point lilo for the new kernel. Here are all steps i have done to install the new kernel :

1. $ tar -zxf linux-2.6.11.4.tar.gz
2. $ cd linux-2.6.11.4
3. $ make xconfig
4. $ make
5. # cp .config /boot/config-2.6.11.4
# cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.11.4
# cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.4
# ln -sf config-2.6.11.4 /boot/config
# ln -sf System.map-2.6.11.4 /boot/System.map
# ln -sf vmlinuz-2.6.11.4 /boot/vmlinuz
6. # make modules_install
7. # /sbin/lilo

In my opinion there is no additional info on step 7, should be any, or not?

thats all i have done, and i didnt see anything about the FS. so what isnt present in my How to and what else should i do?

10x

Can you still get into you linux system?
you need to edit "/etc/lilo.conf"
add this:
--------------------------------

image = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.4
root = /dev/hd*
label = **any thing**
read-only

---------------------------------

i think that will work, I'm not a linux expert though. If you cant get it to work this way, I suggest starting a new thread in the forms.

I have the same problem(I upgraded to 2.6.13)
but I'm pretty sure that I included my ide and filesystem statically(not modules) (I already compiled my own kernel before), and I'm also sure that there is nothing wrong about my lilo.conf because "make install" does that automatically(I also checked my self)

so what could be another reasons for that error?

Hi guys,
I went through the same problem when I upgraded kernel from 2.4 to 2.6 on Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop. It is documented here. And specifically, the fix post

What IDE controller do you have? Or specifically what is the chipset?

There is a likely hood that on 2.6 kernel, your IDE harddisk is recognise as /dev/sd**, just as it happens to mine.

The solution is to change the lilo.conf entry for your new kernel image root = /dev/sd**

Remember to change your /etc/fstab entries as well. If you do not change that, you will be able to boot but the kernel will complain it can't mount the root partition later.

You forgot make modules, also check that you've support for your harddisk type and filesystem in your kernel, you should be fine with those.

Hi everyone,

I got the same problem here, my SuSE 9.2 can't boot. I understand that I must reach config file but I can not even reach my HD with external tools, such as this famous Ultimate Boot CD which includes a live Linux too. The hda1 (swap) and hda2 (reiserfs) are seen in the table of Qtparted (a GUI tool for handling partitions) but hell, no way to change anyting on them, formatting doesn't work either. The booting stops with the error message: hda: read-initr: uncorrectable error: LBA 2020108 This sector is in the hda2 partition that includes SuSE 9.2. Any workaround for that?

Kernel Panic- not syncing
 

Hello Experts,
I am having same problem after I upgraded my Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is installed as application on my XP.
Normal Ubuntu gives me error "[ 0.785649] kernel panic - not syncing : VFS: unable to mount root FS on unknown-block(8,2)"
Safe/Recovering boot option gives me details traceback..
Pid :1 comm: swapper not tainted 2.6.32-27-generic#
call Trace:
[<c058b313>]?printK+0x1d/0x22
....
Please need a help..

Wow... this is a blast from the past!

The error is usually indicative of miss configured grub or something like that. What do you mean that ubuntu is installed as an application?