On Fri, Jan 13, 2006 at 08:15:42PM -0500, Chris Fisichella wrote: > Gentlemen, > > Thank you very much for clearing up the file naming issue for me. Using > vmlinux and initrd.gz is definitely the way to go. I certainly feel > indebted to you all. Perhaps I could help update the fine Debian > PowerPC installation manual if I can ever get this OS booted? That sounds nice. I have sent a patch for the problem you (and others) have met, but I welcome any enhancements to that patch. The bug I filed is #344477, available here: http://bugs.debian.org/344477 > Speaking of installation problems, I am 99% sure Debian is sitting on > my hard disk. The installation goes fine. I choose not to install Quik > because I am fairly sure BootX is the "manual boot loader" the > installer is referring to. Correct. > Unfortunately, I can not boot into Debian. I certainly apologize for > the delay in my response to your original postings, but I was trying > different permutations of the boot parameters and disk partitioning > options to somehow get around this re-occuring message: > > VFS: cannot open root device "hda12" or unknown-block(0,0) > please append a correct 'root=" boot option > kernel panic: VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) > <0>rebooting in 180 seconds.._ > > In BootX, I have always left the vmlinux kernel selected. I tried > deselecting the initrd.gz ramdisk file. When I did that, I would enter > hda12 into the BootX "/dev/" text box. I did that because the Debian > installer said: > > "You will need to boot manually with the /boot/vmlinux kernel on > partition /dev/hda12 and root=/dev/hda12 passed as kernel argument. This is an error in the installer manual. The kernel in the 3.1 release of Debian requires an initrd, and that excludes any root=/dev/hdXX boot argument. > I tried adding root=/dev/hda12 with and without the compressed ramdisk > image. If any root device is to be set, it would be root=/dev/ram, but I think that BootX will automatically set that when a ramdisk (initrd) is choosen. > I also reviewed the installation manual and the www.ppcnux.de BootX > tutorial that was given to me by Clive . They, apparently kept both > their vmlinux file and the compressed ramdisk image. They also added > the following additional kernel arguments > root=/dev/hda12 devfs=mount,all rw That is old, obsolete, incorrect information. > In Boot X, my additional kernel arguments text box now contains: > root=/dev/hda12 devfs=mount,all rw video=atyfb:vmode:14,cmode:32,mclk:63 > > And I end up with the same kernel panic. Yeah, because the kernel has not the drivers to the harddisk compiled in, they are compiled as modules and exists in the ramdisk (initrd) to be loaded at the first stage of the boot process. > Once again, I appeal to you > all for help. If you have any thoughts on this, I would welcome any > feedback. Even if you have already installed Debian, you need to start the debian-installer again. You will not need to reinstall, but there are files (a new kernel and a new initrd) on the partition that you installed Debian on that you need to copy to the MacOS partition so those files can be loaded by BootX. So, restart the debian-installer, and run it until it has identified your hardware (detected the harddisk). At that point you should get a shell prompt. (Either from the debian-installer menu, or by pressing Alt-F2). Now you must mount the partition where debian was installed, something like this: # mount /dev/hda12 /mnt Then "go into" that partition by the following: # chroot /mnt then mount the MacOS partition, below I asume it is at /dev/hda11. # mount /dev/hda11 /mnt Now copy the kernel and initrd to that partition: # cp /boot/vmlinux* /boot/initrd* /mnt Now, exit the chroot, and the shell. Cancel the debian-installer and reboot to MacOS. Within BootX choose the kernel and initrd you copied. Try boot into "Linux". Good luck -- Hans Ekbrand (http://sociologi.cjb.net) <hans@sociologi.cjb.net> A. Because it breaks the logical sequence of discussion Q. Why is top posting bad?
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