[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [parisc-linux] Upgrading from 2.4 to 2.6

Harry Cochran wrote:


Thanks for your input. Could it really be true that the "stable" version of
2.6 (2.6.8-2-32-smp) can't recognize an ext3 root partition? The only way I
know to "load a new kernel" since I can only boot fromt he install cd is to
blow away what I have spent a lot of time building. Seems like I'm missing
something.
Yes, that is true. IF the ext3 filesystem is not built into the kernel (but compiled as a module) then the system cannot use that as the root filesystem. Its a kind of chicken and egg problem: the kernel needs to know the filesystem to access the modules.
You donnot need to put away a lot: If ext2 is buld-in and ext3 is not, just update (downdate...) /etc/fstab to indicate that root is in ext2. I expect ext3 is readable as ext2 too. If needed you might need to downgrade the root to ext2 (with `tune2fs`, remove the journalling stuff).
An other idea is to use an other machine to put a kernel on the boot-partition that can read ext3.
Then, you can also try to load the ext3 module (or any other module) from an other medium like tape, cdrom or network, if the kernel can use that. 


Success

CBee





-----Original Message-----
From: cbeerse@gmail.com [mailto:cbeerse@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 4:46 AM
To: Harry Cochran
Subject: Re: [parisc-linux] Upgrading from 2.4 to 2.6


Harry Cochran wrote:



Hi,

	Could someone please help me recover from a failed attempt to upgrade my
J6000 to 2.6?

	Looks like I can't boot the 2.4 kernel I have on the system because it's
name doesn't end in 32 or 64 (it ends in smp) -><-.

	My J6000 has a cd-rom, so I thought maybe I could boot from that, but sea
ipl doesn't find it.

Here's my original question:

*************

	Sorry for the newbie question, but I'm trying to boot 2.6 and I don't


quite


understand how to set up the "root=" for it.



With palo, the partition/mount info is also important: some directories are
relative to the boot-partition, others are relative to the root partition.



My palo.conf says:
--command line=1/boot/vmlinux root=/dev/sda3 HOME=/ initrd=/initrd.img
console=ttyS0 TERM=vt102
--recoverykernel=/boot/vmlinux



This recovery-kernel is relative to the run-time root.
Be noted, this kernel is moved to the palo-partition (/dev/sda0) when
running
`palo`. Best to use the distro's kernel for this, alternative, a kernel that
sure works for recovery purposes. Most systems have /boot/vmlinux a softlink
to
the prefered kernel, which most times is not the recovery kernel...



--init-partitioned=/dev/sda

Here's what my palo.conf generates on boot right now:

0 1/boot/vmlinux



The 1 indicates partition 1 is the boot-partition, the /boot/vmlunix is a
relative path on that partition. Hence, If /dev/sda1 is your /boot
partition, te
line should be: "1/vmlinux".

Then, the filesystem of /boot is best `ext2` since that is supported by
most, if
not all tools. Other filesystems might not be supported.



1 root=/dev/sda3



The root filesystem



2 HOME=/
3 initrd=/initrd.img



Carefully check if the initrd parameter is relative to the root or to the
boot
filesystem.



4 console=ttys0
5 TERM=vt102

On boot I get:

cannot open root device "sda3" or unknownblock(2.0)



What is the filesystem on /dev/sda3? It better be ext2 since that is
understood
by most systems. ext3 is possible, I would not use others.



Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs or unknown-block(2.0)



I think your kernel only allows ext2 and finds something else.



	I have seen one document which says I have to build a ramdisk, but it
doesn't tell me how. What's worse is that I can't get 2.4.26 to boot again
even though I have a symlink (vmlinux.old) to it. I tried changing line 0


to


1/boot/vmlinux.old (and deleting the "initrd=/initrd.img" line, but it


still


boots 2.6.8. I even tried inserting a line saying
recoverykernel=/boot/vmlinux.old but that didn't help.



I've seen teh palo that comes with gentoo has an option to list the
directory of
the boot-device, so you can check the kernel path.

Keep in mind:
palo must be able to read the boot device (/dev/sd1). Try ext2.
The kernel must be able to read the root device without loading a module.
Most
kernels have ext2 build in.


My idea: once you have a proper working kernel, build a new one without any
modules (all stuff build in) and configure that as a recovery kernel in
palo.



*************

	I'm sure there's an easy answer and maybe everyone is tired of answering
these kind of newbie questions, but I'm desperate, so I thought I'd try


one


more time.

Thanks,

Harry


_______________________________________________
parisc-linux mailing list
parisc-linux@lists.parisc-linux.org
http://lists.parisc-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/parisc-linux
Reply to: