Fresh Sarge Install - 2.6.8 Kernel Panic

[Ryan Foley <rfoley@gmail.com>]

Hey,

I'm new to this mailing list. I'm pretty familiar with linux
administration but I'm fairly new to using it as a workstation. I'm
hoping to solve a problem that I've run into several times with sarge,
usually causing me to fallback on pre-compiled kernel images from apt.

I have a fresh sarge installation on a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop. I
have everything configured as well as I can with the kernel image, so
I've compiled a 2.6.8 kernel. However, booting into the new kernel
gives me the following panic:

VFS: Cannot open root device "hda2" 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)

I have WinXP on hda1 with the Debian installation on a single
partition, hda2. Here's the config from my menu.list:

title           Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.820041219
root            (hd0,1)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.820041219 root=/dev/hda2 ro vga=791
savedefault
boot

I've googled around and tried a few general fixes, but none of them
have worked. They involved removing the root= line, putting root= on
its own line (I was desperate), and making sure the ext2 and 3 were
included in the kernel, as well as the obsolete VFS modules. Here's my
.config: http://www.technomyst.com/.config

I doubt it's causing the problem but I've also installed official
nvidia drivers. Other then that I'm not using any kernel patches.

Thanks!
-Ryan Foley