noob issue with gentoo

theabcasian · 05-24-2009, 10:47 PM

hello Linux Questions

im a bit of a noob hare trying to setup a gentoo system, I'm trying to gain some OS experience and i have to say in the first two days I've learned a lot. so here's my problem i got all the way past setting up lilo as the boot loader mostly following the instructions on gentoo's web site however after reboot the kernel panics

Code:

VFS: Cannot open root device "303" or unknown-block(3,3) 
Please append a correct "root=" boot option; here are the available partitions:
0800       58605120 sda driver: sd
0801       40131 sda1
0802       506047 sda2
0803       58058910 sda3
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3,3)

ive been doing some digging on google and i see a lot of half answers none of which have worked for me.

this system is being installed on a fujitsu stylistic 4120 tablet

hardware details
Microprocessor
Mobile Intel® Pentium® III Processor - M Ultra Low Voltage(933 MHz, 512 K L2 cache, 133 MHz FSB)
Display
10.4" XGA LCD, indoor viewable or indoor/outdoor viewable
Electromagnetic (active) digitizer

Chipset
Intel 830MG

System Memory
256MB onboard, one DIMM slot available; upgrade with 256 MB or 512 MB SDRAM;
maximum memory to 768 MB (512 MB x 1)

Hard Drives1
60 GB ATA 100, shock-mounted hard drive

Graphics
Intel 830MG

Video Controller
Integrated Intel® Direct AGP graphics with up to 48 MB Dynamic Video Memory Technology

Audio
SigmaTel® STAC9767 with wavetable, 3D effect, and 3D positioning; Dolby® Headphone
Utility to emulate realistic surround sound using conventional stereo headphones on DVD
models; built-in microphone; headphone, microphone, and stereo line-in jacks.

Communications
Multinational 2 56K3 V.90 modem, 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet

System Ports
2 USB 1.1 ports
Infrared port (IrDA 1.1-compatible, 4 MBps)
External monitor connector
Modem (RJ-11) jack
Ethernet (RJ-45) jack
IEEE 1394 connector
Wireless IR keyboard receiver
System interface connector

PC Card Slot
One Type I or Type II slot; 32-bit PC CardBus architecture

I am using the latest minimal install cd from gentoo's site and the latest builds from the mirrors!

thanks for any help

-Carl

syg00 · 05-24-2009, 11:02 PM

LFS is a specific distro, as is gentoo - this should be elsewhere; maybe a moderator will move it.
I can think of easier places to get a Linux grounding, but gentoo is a fine distro. Which filesystem did you uses on that partition ?. Is in included in the kernel, or if not, is it in the initrd ?. Are you building your own kernel, or using genkernel ?.

theabcasian · 05-24-2009, 11:13 PM

if any mods read this i hope it gets moved to a better location i didn't know LFS was its own thing and i didnt see a gentoo section
i'm using a jfs file system trying to get a little extra speed out of an old system on all but swap i emerged it into the kernel and i built the kernel myself needed some extra parts for the tablet input as far as i know.

syg00 · 05-24-2009, 11:37 PM

It appears discussions are under way to get a gentoo forum here at last.
Run this against your .config - from the liveCD will be fine, but make sure you do it against wherever you mount your disk partition.

Code:

grep -i jfs /mnt/gentoo/boot/<your-config-file>

NeddySeagoon · 05-26-2009, 02:45 PM

theabcasian,

Code:

VFS: Cannot open root device "303" or unknown-block(3,3)

Tells that your boot loader is trying to mount /dev/hda3 as root but you have made the drive appear as SCSI

Code:

0801       40131 sda1
0802       506047 sda2
0803       58058910 sda3

Check your grub.conf file and /etc/fstab
Wherever your have /dev/hd* in those files, change it to /dev/sd*

theabcasian · 05-27-2009, 09:50 PM

changing to sda dosent do it the system recognizes the HDD as HDA from what i understand sda is for Sata drives. correct me if im wrong im not in a position to correct just to learn

veerain · 05-27-2009, 11:43 PM

Your first PATA hard disk is called as
/dev/hda
and subsequent one as
/dev/hdb
/dev/hdc
and so on.
for SATA it is called as
/dev/sda
/dev/sdb
/dev/sdc
and so on.

And the partitions on a single hard drive for example /dev/hda is named as
/dev/hda1
/dev/hda2
and so on

Similarly for second disk
/dev/hdb1
/dev/hdb2
and like that.

Hope it helps.

NeddySeagoon · 05-28-2009, 12:12 PM

theabcasian,

There are two sets of drivers in the kernel for PATA drives. If you use the old set under the

Code:

< > ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support  --->

menu, your PATA drives will have the old /dev/hd.. names

The other drivers are under

Code:

<*> Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers  -->

if you use these drivers your PATA drives will be allocated /dev/sd.. names.
This menu contains only the low level chip set controller code, you also need the correct selections on the

Code:

SCSI device support  --->

menu.

When your system failed to boot , it was looking for /dev/hda3, which is what

Code:

unknown-block(3,3)

means, (see /usr/src/linux/Documentation/devices.txt) but it found /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda3.

When you changed your grub.conf, did you get a different error message ?
if so, what was it?

Please post your grub.conf

theabcasian · 06-02-2009, 01:37 AM

well im not sure what did it but i rebuilt the whole system all i changed was i used genkernel and switched back from lilo to grub.

NeddySeagoon · 06-03-2009, 12:52 PM

theabcasian,

Thats a little drastic for your problem and by reinstalling, you have lost the learning opportunity that it provided. Still, there will be plenty more.

Welcome to Gentoo