Can't reboot after update

["Zembower, Kevin" <kzembowe@jhuccp.org>]

I'm hoping someone can help me with this urgent problem. I just applied
the updates that became available in the last couple days to my Debian
etch host running on a Dell PowerEdge 2450 server. This included an
update to the kernel, so I rebooted the host. The host failed to
restart. The first error message on the console was '/init /init cannot
open /dev/root no such device.' Just before that, it said "mounting root
file system. Running /scripts/local-top." It finally ended by dropping
me into BusyBox, with which I'm not familiar.

There were no earlier indications of problems with the output to the
console. All the output concerning /dev/sda, where all my directories
are partitioned, seemed normal. This host uses a Dell PERC 3/Si card to
provide RAID-5.

Can anyone help me correct this problem? Any suggestions of commands to
run in BusyBox to either fix or diagnose this?

Thanks in advance for your help, advice and suggestions.

-Kevin

Kevin Zembower
Internet Services Group manager
Center for Communication Programs
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
111 Market Place, Suite 310
Baltimore, Maryland  21202
410-659-6139