Re: Building kernel for another computer
On Sun, 2004-03-21 at 18:55 +0000, Gary wrote:
> I need to build a newer kernel for my laptop in order that it will support a
> parallel network interface I have for it. Since my only way of getting
> anything onto the laptop is via floppy, what I did was build a suitable
> kernel on my potato box (yes, I know, that's old as well! it is not as old
> as 1.3 that is running on the laptop at the moment, however...), and copied
> the result onto a floppy. I then try and boot the laptop from the floppy (I
> want to be sure the kernel works okay before I replace the one on the hd).
> Everything goes well until it reports a kernel panic because it is "unable
> to mount root fs". Obviously I've missed a step somewhere. Would someone
> please give me a pointer to where? None of my books have anything in them
> regarding building kernels on one computer to run on another.
>
> I think that I can just add an extra lilo entry on the laptop, copy the
> kernel on to the lappy's hd and try it out that way, but I think I'd rather
> learn what step I am missing first (sometimes it is useful to know how to go
> over the mountain as well as knowing the route around).
>
> Thanks folks.
The default root device is set in the kernel at build time, so it'll be
trying to mount / from whichever partition is / on your build machine.
You can change this with 'rdev', ie:
rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/hda1
where /dev/fd0 is where the kernel image is (the floppy, in this case)
and /dev/hda1 is where the root partition is on the laptop. Obviously
check and change these values to match your setup.
HTH,
Shaun
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