Error message: Can't find KNOPPIX filesystem

[your_breakfast]

Yo!! I am trying to launch knoppix 3.6 on a very old pc. 200 MHz Pentium and so on.
The message "Looking for CDROM in /dev/scd0" stays for a while and then the following error message appears(help!!):

Can't find Knoppix filesystem, sorry.
Dropping you to a (very limited) shell. 
Press reset Button to quit.
Addition builtin commands and blah blah blah...

If I screw the cdrom device back into my own computer it works fine. wtf? help!

[rrfish72]

You have to try some cheatcodes to get it to run. If you F2 at the boot prompt it will give you some options to try. They are typed in like - knoppix lang=us nodma vga=791 alsa ..... That may help you get it running. The one I say to try first is knoppix testcd. That one checks the CD data integrity and md5sums.

[your_breakfast]

The one I say to try first is knoppix testcd. That one checks the CD data integrity and md5sums.

I just said. It runs fine on my own computer. same CD and same CDROM-device

[rrfish72]

Well I said try the others!

Here is list of possible cheatcodes to try and some other info:

CHEATCODES AND HINTS FOR KNOPPIX V3.6
================================================== ============================
(last update: 12.08.2004)

These options (can be combined) work from the ISOLINUX bootprompt:

knoppix lang=cn|de|da|es|fr|it|nl specify language/keyboard
knoppix lang=pl|ru|sk|tr|tw|us specify language/keyboard
knoppix gmt Use GMT-based time
knoppix tz=Europe/Berlin Use this timezone for TZ
knoppix atapicd Do NOT use SCSI-Emulation for IDE CD-Roms
knoppix alsa (or alsa=es193 Use ALSA sound driver (at your own risk)
knoppix desktop=fluxbox|icewm Use specified WM instead of KDE (1)
knoppix desktop=kde|larswm|twm Use specified WM instead of KDE (2)
knoppix desktop=wmaker|xfce Use specified WM instead of KDE (3)
knoppix screen=1280x1024 Use specified Screen resolution for X
knoppix xvrefresh=60 (or vsync=60) Use 60 Hz vertical refresh rate for X
knoppix xhrefresh=80 (or hsync=80) Use 80 kHz horizontal refresh rate for X
knoppix xserver=XFree86|XF86_SVGA Use specified X-Server
knoppix xmodule=ati|fbdev|i810|mga Use specified XFree4-Module (1)
knoppix xmodule=nv|radeon|savage|s3 Use specified XFree4-Module (2)
knoppix xmodule=radeon|svga|i810 Use specified XFree4-Module (3)
knoppix 2 Runlevel 2, Textmode only
knoppix floppyconfig Run "knoppix.sh" from a floppy
knoppix myconf=/dev/sda1 Run "knoppix.sh" from a partition
knoppix myconf=scan (or config=scan) Try to find "knoppix.sh" automatically
knoppix home=/dev/sda1/knoppix.img Mount loopback file as /home/knoppix
knoppix home=scan Automatic search for knoppix homedir
knoppix no{apic,agp,apm,audio,ddc} Skip parts of HW-detection (1)
knoppix no{dhcp,fstab,firewire} Skip parts of HW-detection (2)
knoppix no{pcmcia,scsi,swap,usb} Skip parts of HW-detection (3)
knoppix pnpbios=off No PnP Bios initialization
knoppix acpi=off Disable ACPI Bios completely
knoppix usb2 Try to initialize USB 2.x controller(s)
failsafe Boot with (almost) no HW-detection
knoppix pci=irqmask=0x0e98 Try this, if PS/2 mouse doesn't work *)
knoppix pci=bios Workaround for bad PCI controllers
knoppix ide2=0x180 nopcmcia Boot from PCMCIA-CD-Rom (some notebooks)
knoppix mem=128M Specify Memory size in MByte
knoppix dma Enable DMA accelleration for ALL IDE-Drives
knoppix noeject Do NOT eject CD after halt
knoppix noprompt Do NOT prompt to remove the CD
knoppix vga=normal No-framebuffer mode, but X
knoppix blind Start Braille-Terminal (no X)
knoppix brltty=type,port,table Parameters for Braille device
knoppix wheelmouse Enable IMPS/2 protocol for wheelmice
knoppix nowheelmouse Force plain PS/2 protocol for PS/2-mouse
fb1280x1024 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (1)
fb1024x768 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (2)
fb800x600 Use fixed framebuffer graphics (3)
knoppix keyboard=us xkeyboard=us Use different keyboard (text/X)
knoppix splash Boot with fancy background splashscreen
+ animations + progress bar **)
knoppix toram Copy CD to RAM and run from there
knoppix tohd=/dev/hda1 Copy CD to HD partition and run from there
knoppix fromhd Skip checking for Knoppix on CD-ROM
knoppix fromhd=/dev/hda1 Boot from previously copied CD-Image
knoppix bootfrom=/dev/hda1 Access Image then boot from previously
copied CD-Image (enables booting from
NTFS / ReiserFS) ***)
knoppix bootfrom=/dev/hda1/KNX.iso Access image, boot from ISO-Image. ***)
knoppix knoppix_dir=KNOPPIX Directory to search for on the CD.
knoppix knoppix_name=KNOPPIX Cloop-File to search for on the CD.
knoppix testcd Check CD data integrity and md5sums
expert Interactive setup for experts

NEW Kernels and Options in version 3.4:
knoppix26 [Options...] Boots with Kernel 2.6 (2.4 is default)
expert26 [Options...] Same for expert mode
knoppix26 acpi=off Disable ACPI configuration in Kernel 2.6
memtest Run memtest86 instead of Linux

**)
You can also have your own splash-screen in putting an executable shell-
script to /cdrom/KNOPPIX/splash.sh. For an example how to do this see:
/usr/bin/splash-knoppix.sh. (Feature added by Fabian Franz.)

***) Bootfrom needs access to a running Knoppix-System with the same Kernel
as the Bootkernel, before it is able to mount the partition / ISO-Image.
This should allow a poor mans install from NTFS-Partitions and makes it
also possible to boot an ISO-Image directly. You can also use wildcards
in the ISO-Filename, but it must be unique. So: If you have just one
KNOPPIX.iso on /dev/hda1 you can access it as: bootfrom=/dev/hda1/K*.iso,
but if there are several, you need to make clear, which one you want.
(Feature added by Fabian Franz.)

If your KNOPPIX CD makes strange noises during boot, or you see
frequent errors like "cloop: read error", or programs on your KDE
desktop keep crashing randomly, then your CD image is probably defective
or incomplete, or your CD-burner created a defective CD due to wrong
writing speed or bad media. This is the most common error reported.
Please boot with "knoppix testcd" to check if the CD is OK, and/or even
better, verify the MD5 checksums that are present on the mirrors before
writing the CD. In some cases, defective IDE controllers cause this
error if you have DMA enabled. Also, please read the KNOPPIX-FAQ.

In case of a failing hardware autodetection, try booting with any of
the "no-" options as shown in the table above, like in
knoppix noagp noaudio noapm noapic acpi=off nodma nopcmcia noscsi nousb
to skip some critical parts of the autodetection system.

The "noswap" option is useful for a forensic analysis without touching
existing swap partitions.

Some Boards apparently don't pass the proper memory size to the
linux-kernel. It may cause the message "Panic: cannot mount root file
system" and the system hangs. Use "knoppix mem=128M" to solve that
problem if your system has 128MByte memory for example (caution:
you MUST use a capital "M" here).

The "expert" mode provides a very simple interface to loading additional
Kernel modules from floppy disks (ext2 or vfat), plus interactive
configuration of mouse/keyboard/soundcard/xserver. "expert" mode supports
the same boot options as "knoppix".

The "floppyconfig" or "(my)config=/dev/partition" options allow you to
reconfigure the system after autoconfiguration by running a bourne
shell script called "knoppix.sh" from the root directory on the given
device (or floppy). There is a GUI to create such a configuration
floppy disk calles "saveconfig" (also located in the KDE menu under
"KNOPPIX", but experts also know how to do this by creating their own
shellscripts. From Version 2.1 and up, a file called "knoppix.sh", if
located in the toplevel KNOPPIX directory on CD, will also be executed
at startup. This makes ist easier to create customized versions without
having to change anything on the compressed filesystem KNOPPIX/KNOPPIX.

SCSI-Emulation is active for all CD-Roms (unless you switch it off by
using the "atapicd" option), so IDE CD-Writers should work with the
installed versions of cdrecord and cdrdao (or the graphical frontends
thereof, k3b for example).

If your BIOS does not support el torito booting from CD, you can create
two bootable floppy disks by issuing (from Knoppix running on a different
machine) the command "mkbootfloppy", which will create a bootable
Kernel-disk plus a disk containing the initial ramdisk, which will be
prompted for at boottime.

If you wish to remaster the CD, please don't forget to specify
-no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table \
-b boot/isolinux/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux/boot.cat
as option to mkisofs. Otherwise your CD won't be bootable. The
directory KNOPPIX, containig the compressed filesystem file "KNOPPIX",
must be located in the top level directory of the CD.

Caution: X-Screensaver: Don't start xlock or any screensaver that
requires a password. There are no default passwords on KNOPPIX,
i.e. all accounts are LOCKED unless you explicitly set a password.
See also README_Security.txt about this issue.
If you accidentially hit the screensaver button in KDE,
switch to one of the textconsoles by Control-Alt-F1 and kill
the screensaver (or just set a password for the knoppix user).

If you would like to edit your X-Server configuration manually
(/etc/X11/XF86Config-4 for XFree86 V4.x), use "knoppix 2" to boot
into runlevel 2 (textmode only) and, after changing the X
configuration, start the X environment with "init 5". Note that
you can always leave the graphical environment with "init 2", and
restart it later with "init 5".

[Cuddles]

The one I say to try first is knoppix testcd. That one checks the CD data integrity and md5sums.

I just said. It runs fine on my own computer. same CD and same CDROM-device

Well, that is all well and fine, same CD and drive works in both, but, unless the other system, the one that works, is IDENTICAL to the system that it doesnt work, then this whole thing is completely fruitless... ( I am willing to bet, they are not identical, thus, one MAY work, and the other, MAY not...)

As RRFish72 stated, use some cheatcodes, or boot option commands -=- Here is what I would do, in the order I would do them...

( 1 ) Do a Search on the Knoppix.net site for anything having to do with the issue you are having... i.e. enter in the Search box cant find knoppix filesystem -=- and see if anyone else ( probably ) has had the same issue... You may find someone else has already gotten you an answer...

( 2 ) Try any, and all, of the no... boot cheatcodes. These codes usually disable hardware detection of specific things, and especially do a "no..." on anything that isnt on your system, or part of it... EXAMPLES: if you dont have any PCMCIA devices, then do a nopcmcia code, if you dont have any SCSI devices, then add noscsi, etc... You may even want to try using the nodma.

( 3 ) Considering your initial post did not go into any details of your system, i.e.

Yo!! I am trying to launch knoppix 3.6 on a very old pc. 200 MHz Pentium and so on.

( all you mentioned is the processor and speed, how much memory does it have? Is it enough for running Knoppix? Does it meet the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS ??? etc... )

Lastly, realize that this forum, and all who participate on it, are all volunteers. No one gets paid to help, no one gets anything for doing what they do, we do it all, for the love of Linux, and Knoppix. If you want "priority" "priviledged" support, then maybe you should go out and buy Windows, and pay for there support... ( and deal with them leaving you on hold, or waiting for them to get you an answer, etc... )

This is all being done "out of a labor of love", and the nice thing is, most, if not all, here, care, and want anyone to succeed at running Knoppix, and pretty much, if you look around, almost any of the other Distrobutions. We help because we want to help, not for glory, honor, pay, brownie points, etc... We do it because we want to... Considering that this is all being done by volunteers, you may find your issue may not have an answer, or, more precisely, someone may not have encountered your issue, and thus, no one may have a "clear-cut" resolve for you. I dont run Debian Woody, so, I may not have "specific" answers to those issues, I may have ideas, or suggestions, and others may "know" exactly the right answer, who knows....

You asked for a solution of your issue, one, actually, a few, solutions were given. I've given you a few more. I think you can find your answer, I think you can get it to work. You just may have to do some work to get it though. I cant give you an exact answer to this issue, because what that issue is about, is a lot more complex than you think. Have you checked in your BIOS to make sure that you dont have "Plug and Play OS" enabled? Have you tried any of the boot cheatcodes? Can you provide more information on what is on the screen before the "Looking for CDROM in ..." message ? If you have successfully booted Knoppix on another system, you know just how much data goes by on the screen, and this kind of information can assist "anyone" to where in the boot sequence the failing is happening. Its good to get as much information on the issue as possible, and where it is happening...

My best guess on your resolve is: try the boot cheatcodes, either a few, or combinations. My first attempt would be to try ALL the "no..." cheatcodes, and see what happens. If that works, start removing one from the boot, until it doesnt work, you may find your culprit that way...

Hope this helps,
Ms. Cuddles

[firebyrd10]

Try typing

knoppix nodma

[rangalo]

Hi Your breakfast,

I am also totally new to Knoppix but I had the same problem when I burnt the CD of knoppix 3.7.

The problem is that some computers dont support SCSI emulation for IDE CD drives. So for stopping SCSI emulation, you have to boot with boot: knoppix atapicd and it will work fine.

Hardik