HELP! Can't boot no more - When Kernel Upgrades Go Bad

[John Griffiths <john@capmon.com>]

Hi everyone, 

hoping someone can help me here

I followed the instructions on 

http://www.fs.tum.de/~bunk/kernel-24.html

for upgrading 2.2r3 to the 2.4 kernel.

I thought i'd followed the isntructions to the letter, 

but when i rebooted all seemed well until halfway through the reboot when it stopped.

the last "good" line in the bootup says

Linux IP multicast router 0.06 plus PIM-SM

then we get to the bad stuff

request_module[block-major-8: Root fs not mounted
VFS: Cannot open root device "801" or 08:01
Please append a correct "root=" bot option
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 08:01

and that's where it ends.

any help to either

a) get the system as-is to boot

or 

b) re-install and get 2.4 pon the "right way" would be appreciated.

I'd be very grateful for any help

John