Kernel panic

[JuliusV]

Hi there,

I have recently installed F15 and one of the problems is that booting F15 with the F15 kernel crashes. When starting I get a black screen with error messages. Along which: "Kernel panic -> Unabler to mount root".

In the GRUB I can choose for the latest F14 kernel and when using this I can startup F15. Is there a way of fixing this problem?

Cheers,

Julius

[stevea]

Something is wrong in the /boot/initramfs* file OR the /boot/grub/grub.conf kernel line parametes.

The message indicates the initramfs cannot access your disk(or other) root file system. Maybe the initramfs doesn't have the disk drive or grub.cong "root=..." parameter is wrong.

Rebuilding the initramfs may solve the problem. Search the forum for directions.

[diamond_ramsey]

Originally Posted by JuliusV

...Along which: "Kernel panic -> Unabler to mount root".

In the GRUB I can choose for the latest F14 kernel and when using this I can startup F15. Is there a way of fixing this problem?...

Post the contents of your /boot/grub/grub.conf file.
==============================================
[root@localhost ~]# more /boot/grub/grub.conf

"...
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=0
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora (2.6.35.12-88.fc14.x86_64)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.35.12-88.fc14.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/VolGroup-lv
_root rd_LVM_LV=VolGroup/lv_root rd_LVM_LV=VolGroup/lv_swap rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD
rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /initramfs-2.6.35.12-88.fc14.x86_64.img
title Fedora (2.6.35.11-85.fc14.x86_64)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.35.11-85.fc14.x86_64 ro root=/dev/mapper/VolGroup-lv
_root rd_LVM_LV=VolGroup/lv_root rd_LVM_LV=VolGroup/lv_swap rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_MD
rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /initramfs-2.6.35.11-85.fc14.x86_64.img..."

You could be missing the initrd line, but a posting of your /boot/grub/grub.conf file will help confirm some things.
==============================================
Follow stevea's advice, always good information from stevea.

[JuliusV]

title Fedora (2.6.38.2-9-fc15.i686)
root (hd0,4)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.638.2-9.fc15.i686 ro root=UUID=950343c2-1a 45404548-a6b0-9e319f8bd208
rd_NO_LUKS rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_MD rd_NO_DM LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 KEYBOARDTYPE=pc
KEYTABLE=us rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initfamfs-2.6.38.2-9.fc15.i686.img

Because I don't have internet on F15 I could not copy-paste, so I had to write it down and type it. Possibly there might be little mistakes, but overall this should be it. The last line (initrd etc.) I added myself as it was missing.

I looked into /boot and fount there was no .img-file for fc15. Can I make one?

[jvillain]

Can you from boot a previous kernel? If so I would do that, uninstal your latest kernel and then reinstall it. Making the initramfs is part of the install process. It looks at your existing system for a lot of it's parameters so booting off a working previous version is preferable.

If that isn't an option then you could try booting off of a DVD into rescue mode. chroot to your root partition, make sure you mount your boot partition onto your root partition and then run mkinitrd. I don't guarantee it will work but it is worth a try.

[JuliusV]

Thanks for the advise. I will try it as soon as I have fixed my other problem: no internet connection

[JuliusV]

[rmvanderspek@laptop2 ~]$ sudo yum install kernel-2.6.38.2-9.fc15.i686
Loaded plugins: presto, refresh-packagekit
Setting up Install Process
No package kernel-2.6.38.2-9.fc15.i686 available.
Error: Nothing to do

I really don't get it. How can there not be a package available for the f15 kernel?

---------- Post added at 08:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 AM ----------

After removing duplicates it is now installing the F15-kernel. I don't understand why it didn't work before, but does work now. Anyhow: I'm glad it does .