Knoppix 3.4 HD install LiLO problem ...

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello all:

After downloading the new Knoppix 3.4 CD and thoroughly trying the Live version out with both the 2.5 and 2.6.5 versions of the kernel, I went on to do a hard disk install with the new knoppix-installer script.

As expected everything went off quite well and besides having to modify the vga=xxx entry (to 'normal') in the lilo.conf file and having to manually start CUPS, there were no major surprises.

I had already practised a lot with the Knoppix 3.3 CD. ;-)

The rig is composed thus:

First drive SCSI
sda1 W2000
sda5

Second drive SCSI
sdb5
sdb6

Third drive SCSI
sdc1
sdc2
sdc3

Fourth drive
sdd5 IDE HDD FAT32 in a USB 2.0 enclosure.

The Knoppix install is on the third SCSI drive (sdc1) and LiLO is on the first SCSI drive's (sda1) mbr.

At boot, besides the W2000 option at sda1, LiLO offers three additional options:

Linux
Linux (2.4)-1
Linux (2.6)-2

The first and the second options boot into kernel 2.4 with this error message:

mount: fs type devfs not supprted by kernel.

The third option does not boot and gives the following error message:

pnp: unable to assign resources to device 01:01.01.
Kernel panic: VFS:unable to mount root fs on unknown block(8.33)

From there, only a hard reset gets me out.

It would seem to me that this is a LiLO problem as the Live CD works perfectly well with both kernel options.

It is at this point that my first question comes up:

Why are there 'three' options (instead of just the two kernels) to boot into Linux?

I'd expect just two, 2.4 and 2.6.

The first two have apparently the same effect and boot into 2.4.26 although the corresponding entries in the

lilo.conf file point to different kernel images:

Label='Linux'
/boot/initrd.img

Label='Linux (2.4)-1'
/boot/initrd.img-2.4.26

Curiously enough, the third option ...

Linux (2.6)-2

... does not point to any image at all, the space is just blank.

If I add what would seem to be the correct line: (which is an existing image file)

/boot/initrd.img-2.6.5

LiLO will balk when run and say:

Fatal: empty map section.

My second question is:

How to solve the problem presented by 'mount: fs type devfs not supprted by kernel problem'?

Is it a problem at all?

And the last and most important question ....

How can I fix this so as to be able to boot into the 2.6.5 kernel?

Ahhh ...
Another last one ;-)

KMix loads along with X ...
Can't find where to tweak so as to stop it from loading.

Thanks in advance.

CIV

[kelmo]

Installation to external drives is only possible if your bios supports booting from those devices. If yours does, I don't know.

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello:

Nope ...
I am not installing to the external drive.

I have successfully installed Knoppix 3.4 to the third drive's first primary partition, sdc1.



The Knoppix install is on the third SCSI drive (sdc1) and LiLO is on the first SCSI drive's (sda1) mbr.


The problem is booting to the 2.6.5 kernel.

Thanks anyhow,

CIV

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello again:

I've been able to trace the problem to the existence of a zero-length initrd.img-2.6.5 file ... ;-/

That's why Knoppix won't boot with the 2.6.5 kernel.

So then it is not a LiLO problem.

But I have no idea how to go from here.

Is this a bug in the knoppix-installer script?
Or is it something I have not done correctly?

Anyone?

Thanks in advance,

CIV

[Fabianx]

Hello again:

I've been able to trace the problem to the existence of a zero-length initrd.img-2.6.5 file ... ;-/

That's why Knoppix won't boot with the 2.6.5 kernel.

So then it is not a LiLO problem.

But I have no idea how to go from here.

Is this a bug in the knoppix-installer script?
Or is it something I have not done correctly?

Anyone?

Thanks in advance,

CIV

Hi,

well you can try to rebuild the initrd and see what problems are there:

mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.5 2.6.5

And tell me whats happening ...

cu

Fabian

PS: Nice that means SCSI does work with installer. Despite there were some reports that said the opposite.
PPS: The first entry is just for you that you don't need to change lilo.conf when you install a new kernel ...

[dcampagna]

Hi all,
I tried the above suggestion and found that mkinitrd fails as below

root@ttyp0[boot]# mkinitrd -o /mnt/sda1/boot/initrd.img-2.6.5 -r /dev/sda1 2.6.5
/usr/sbin/mkinitrd: add_modules_dep_2_5: modprobe failed
FATAL: Module sd_mod not found.

What now? Is this a problem with the makeup of the Knoppix 3.4 disk?
Regards,
Dave

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello FabianX:

Thanks for the reply and the info.
I was beggining to lose hope. ;-)



PS: Nice that means SCSI does work with installer. Despite there were some reports that said the opposite.


Indeed ...
I find that it works quite well, at least from what I can see from my polluted MS background. :lol:

FWIW, this Celeron 366 rig has 512Mb RAM and boots with an Adaptec AHA-29160 card running these units:

Seagate ST39140LW Ultra2
Seagate ST39140LW Ultra2
IBM DCAS 34330 UW (where Knoppix lives)
Toshiba 40X CD-ROM
Sony 926S 2x6 CD-R
HP Surestore 5000i DAT Drive



PPS: The first entry is just for you that you don't need to change lilo.conf when you install a new kernel ...


Thank you for this bit of info.
I was really wondering about that and I see that it is not explained anywhere.

As I could not wait to see what was up, I just reinstalled using the Debian option.

But I still cannot boot into Knoppix26.
I get the same error as before.

The lilo.conf file is still missing the pointer to an image file and my guess (haven't checked yet) is that the zero length file is still there.

The Knopppix CD will boot into 2.6.5 (boot: knoppix26) but strangely enough, if I boot using cheatcodes 'knoppix26 2 [whatever options], the Knoppix CD will simply 'not' boot into 2.6.5, complaining that it does not see the (2.6.5, evidently) filesystem.

No idea as to what's going on.
Could it be a layout problem as Dave suggests?

Best regards,

CIV

PS: Say, what's the deal with devfs?

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello FabianX:

I tried your suggestion and had the same result as Dave:

root@Groucho-lnx:~#
root@Groucho-lnx:~# mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.5 2.6.5
/usr/sbin/mkinitrd: add_modules_dep_2_5: modprobe failed
FATAL: Module sd_mod not found.
root@Groucho-lnx:~#



The lilo.conf file is still missing the pointer to an image file and my guess (haven't checked yet) is that the zero length file is still there.


I can confirm that the zero-length /boot/initrd.img-2.6.5 file is still there.
ie: once again, it was not created on install.

Anyone with ideas?

Thanks in advance,


CIV

PS: UPDATE 14/05/04 19:46 -03:00 GMT

I googled "FATAL: Module sd_mod not found." and found a few references in the Gentoo forum relating to module-init-tools-3.0.

Quote:
module-init-tools-3.0_pre6, 7, 8, and 9 are buggy
SOLUTION: downgrade to pre5

This problem is over my head at this moment, so if anyone has any ideas as to how to fix it, I'd be very grateful if they were posted.

Tks.

[insane_sam77]

whats lilo huh

[j.drake]

Stands for LInux LOader. Probably the most commonly used bootloader for Linux HD installations, but GRUB - GRand Unified Bootloader is gaining ground. Both allow multiple boots, so that you can still do stuff in Windows that Linux won't do yet (e.g., accommodate someone else in your household who doesn't want to use linux).

[Liquidant]

don't know if this will help


http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8171

[ChillyWilly]

Calvi wrote:


At boot, besides the W2000 option at sda1, LiLO offers three additional options:

Linux
Linux (2.4)-1
Linux (2.6)-2

The first and the second options boot into kernel 2.4 with this error message:

mount: fs type devfs not supprted by kernel.

The third option does not boot and gives the following error message:

pnp: unable to assign resources to device 01:01.01.
Kernel panic: VFS:unable to mount root fs on unknown block(8.33)

From there, only a hard reset gets me out.

This is exactly what I get after having installed 3.4. I've tried to understand the rest of the thread, but a lot of it is beyond me. Were you able to resolve this issue, after all? I kind of got lost, and don't know what the result was. My thread is here:

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10735

Any help would be tremendously appreciated..

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello CW:

No, I have not been able to find the cause of the problem.

I have asked about the problems I have had in a number of posts but to no avail.

I don't know if this is an 'installer problem', a 'SCSI driver problem' or something else related to init-tools or whatever ... :lol:

The thing is that only the first version of the Knoppix CD will boot kernel 2.6, the next two will not. Whatever has changed in the CDs composition, drivers or layout has the clue.

See my posts to get the idea:

http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10697
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10615
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10614
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10385

Apparently there originally were some posts saying that the installer did not work properly with SCSI installations and these problems do seem (at least to me) something that is related to PCs running SCSI rigs, so mabe it is SCSI driver related.

But I really can't say ...

I'll have to read and investigate the link posted by liquidant and see what gives.

Nevertheless, I see that the post is related to the very first 3.4 version of Knoppix handed out at the C'T expo and not distributed for downloading. It apaprently had some quirks and missing files, most probably due to the fact that it was strictly a LiveCD for evaluation.

All posterior versions surely had the missing files incorporated to the CD as well as quite a few fixes which made it more complete and installable.

Sorry, but I'm afraid that's all I can contribute for the moment.

Cheers and don't give up,

CIV

[ChillyWilly]

Thanks CIV

I noticed, however, that you say elsewhere that you're able to boot into 2.4, albeit with the now-infamous (and infuriating!) error message about devfs. Is that true? I've actually never been able to boot into an installation, because it hangs after the kernal panic (whichever option is loaded from LILO). So for me, it's not even a 2.6 issue--I just want to have any version running!

Perhaps I'll go find the first ISO (5.4.04?) and try to install that... I'd just like to see anything running, at this stage.

[Calvi Risorta]

Hello again, CW:



.... you're able to boot into 2.4, albeit with the now-infamous (and infuriating!) error message about devfs. Is that true?


Of course ...
I've never told a lie. :lol:

Seriously, have a look at all the posts I linked for the details.

All versions of the Knoppix CD ran 'Live' 2.4 on my rig.
Only the first one booted 2.6. I was able to install all three (2.4) to CD.




I've actually never been able to boot into an installation, because it hangs after the kernal panic (whichever option is loaded from LILO). So for me, it's not even a 2.6 issue--I just want to have any version running!


My guess is that it's one thing if the LiveCD does not boot and another if you cannot get it to install on to the HD.

If you cannot boot the LiveCD, have a long hard look at the cheat codes sheet. The key to many a problem usually lies there.



Perhaps I'll go find the first ISO (5.4.04?) and try to install that... I'd just like to see anything running, at this stage.


Did you ever try version 3.3?

All this said, I think that we must not lose sight of the fact that KnoppixCD is a LiveCD distro (and a fantastic one at that !!!) but one which apparently was never meant to be a distro for installing to HD.

This makes me think that to find a solution to the small set of problems many of us have experienced with the HD installation we'll have to both keep an eye on this forum for anything new but also look elsewhere for cleaning up our act when installing Knoppix to HD.

As I read in the first page of this forum:



Once you have installed Knoppix, it basicly becomes debian, so you should check out www.debian.org for information.


Have a look here:
http://jetblackz.nabaza.org/
It's just full of great easy to understand info about Linux in general and how to install it.

Do read all of it ...

And very specially look here:
http://jetblackz.nabaza.org/InstallingKnoppix34.html

Cheers and don't give up.

CIV