# 2.6.5 / devfs problem

## cpwp

Hi All,

I'm having real problems getting any 2.6 kernel but 2.6.3-gentoo-r2 to work on my amd64 system. I have recompiled many times, each checking and re-checking that I've got all the necessary IDE and filesystem bits - but still the kernel can't mount my root fs.

```
VFS: Cannot open root device "hda3" or hda3

Please append a correct "root=" boot option

Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on hda3
```

The output from 'fdisk -l' under 2.6.3-gentoo-r2:

```
Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System

/dev/hda1   *           1           6       48163+  83  Linux

/dev/hda2               7          30      192780   82  Linux swap

/dev/hda3              31        4865    38837137+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/hdb: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System

/dev/hdb1   *           1        5222    41945683+   7  HPFS/NTFS
```

Kernel 2.6.5 (vanilla) finds the hard disks in the correct order at boot time:

```
VP_IDE: VIA vt8237 (rev 00) IDE UDMA133 controller on pci0000:00:0f.1

    ide0: BM-DMA at 0xfc00-0xfc07, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:DMA

    ide1: BM-DMA at 0xfc08-0xfc0f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:DMA

hda: WDC WD400JB-00ENA0, ATA DISK drive

hdb: WDC WD1200JB-00CRA1, ATA DISK drive
```

The only difference I can see at boot time is that 2.6.3-gentoo-r2 outputs:

```
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.

VFS: Mounted root (ext3 filesystem) readonly.

Mounted devfs on /dev
```

just before loading init.

Other threads on this forum suggest using /dev/discs/disc0/part3 instead of /dev/hda3 in my grub.conf - which I have tried to no avail.

Can anyone suggest anything else to try?

cpwp

-- 

AMD Athlon64 3200+

ASUS K8V SE Deluxe

----------

## steveb

hmm... maybe you did not select something in the 2.6.5 kernel. how does the diff between the to kernel configurations look like?

```
diff /usr/src/linux-2.6.3-gentoo-r2/.config /usr/src/linux-2.6.5/.config
```

cheers

SteveB

----------

## cpwp

Hi steveb,

Thanks for the quick response, here's the diff output:

```
30c30,31

< CONFIG_LOG_BUF_SHIFT=15

---

> CONFIG_LOG_BUF_SHIFT=18

> CONFIG_HOTPLUG=y

63,64c64,65

< # CONFIG_X86_MSR is not set

< # CONFIG_X86_CPUID is not set

---

> CONFIG_X86_MSR=y

> CONFIG_X86_CPUID=y

89c90

< CONFIG_ACPI_AC=y

---

> # CONFIG_ACPI_AC is not set

103d103

< # CONFIG_ACPI_RELAXED_AML is not set

127a128

> # CONFIG_PCI_MMCONFIG is not set

130d130

< CONFIG_HOTPLUG=y

149a150

> CONFIG_SYSVIPC_COMPAT=y

159a161

> # CONFIG_DEBUG_DRIVER is not set

192,193c194

< CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CRYPTOLOOP=y

< # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_COMPRESSLOOP is not set

---

> # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CRYPTOLOOP is not set

194a196

> # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_CARMEL is not set

197c199

< CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y

---

> # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD is not set

238a241

> # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_ATIIXP is not set

260d262

< # CONFIG_DMA_NONPCI is not set

267c269

< CONFIG_SCSI_PROC_FS=y

---

> # CONFIG_SCSI_PROC_FS is not set

287a290,295

> # SCSI Transport Attributes

> #

> # CONFIG_SCSI_SPI_ATTRS is not set

> # CONFIG_SCSI_FC_ATTRS is not set

> 

> #

296d303

< # CONFIG_SCSI_DPT_I2O is not set

304a312

> # CONFIG_SCSI_SATA_VITESSE is not set

334c342,345

< # CONFIG_MD is not set

---

> CONFIG_MD=y

> # CONFIG_BLK_DEV_MD is not set

> CONFIG_BLK_DEV_DM=y

> CONFIG_DM_CRYPT=y

342c353

< # IEEE 1394 (FireWire) support (EXPERIMENTAL)

---

> # IEEE 1394 (FireWire) support

344c355

< CONFIG_IEEE1394=y

---

> CONFIG_IEEE1394=m

350a362

> # CONFIG_IEEE1394_EXTRA_CONFIG_ROMS is not set

356c368

< CONFIG_IEEE1394_OHCI1394=y

---

> CONFIG_IEEE1394_OHCI1394=m

374,377d385

< # Macintosh device drivers

< #

< 

< #

397d404

< # CONFIG_INET_ECN is not set

401a409,413

> 

> #

> # IP: Virtual Server Configuration

> #

> # CONFIG_IP_VS is not set

405c417,471

< # CONFIG_NETFILTER is not set

---

> CONFIG_NETFILTER=y

> # CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG is not set

> 

> #

> # IP: Netfilter Configuration

> #

> CONFIG_IP_NF_CONNTRACK=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_FTP=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_IRC=m

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TFTP is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_AMANDA is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_QUEUE is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_IPTABLES=y

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_LIMIT=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_IPRANGE is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MAC is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_PKTTYPE=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MARK is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_MULTIPORT is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TOS is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_RECENT is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_ECN is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_DSCP is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_AH_ESP is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_LENGTH is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TTL=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_TCPMSS is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_HELPER is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_STATE=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_CONNTRACK=m

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_MATCH_OWNER is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_FILTER=y

> CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REJECT=y

> CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_NEEDED=y

> CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MASQUERADE=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_REDIRECT=m

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_NETMAP is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_SAME is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_LOCAL is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_SNMP_BASIC is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_IRC=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_NAT_FTP=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_MANGLE=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TOS is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_ECN is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_DSCP is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_MARK=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_CLASSIFY is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_LOG=y

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_ULOG is not set

> # CONFIG_IP_NF_TARGET_TCPMSS is not set

> CONFIG_IP_NF_ARPTABLES=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_ARPFILTER=m

> CONFIG_IP_NF_ARP_MANGLE=m

412d477

< CONFIG_IPV6_SCTP__=y

474c539

< CONFIG_8139TOO=y

---

> CONFIG_8139TOO=m

498d562

< # CONFIG_NET_BROADCOM is not set

507c571,578

< # CONFIG_PPP is not set

---

> CONFIG_PPP=m

> # CONFIG_PPP_MULTILINK is not set

> # CONFIG_PPP_FILTER is not set

> CONFIG_PPP_ASYNC=m

> CONFIG_PPP_SYNC_TTY=m

> CONFIG_PPP_DEFLATE=m

> CONFIG_PPP_BSDCOMP=m

> CONFIG_PPPOE=m

520a592

> # CONFIG_NETCONSOLE is not set

540a613,614

> # CONFIG_NETPOLL is not set

> # CONFIG_NET_POLL_CONTROLLER is not set

545c619

< # CONFIG_ISDN_BOOL is not set

---

> # CONFIG_ISDN is not set

585c659

< # CONFIG_KEYBOARD_ATKBD is not set

---

> CONFIG_KEYBOARD_ATKBD=y

586a661

> # CONFIG_KEYBOARD_LKKBD is not set

606c681

< # CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE is not set

---

> CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_CONSOLE=y

614a690

> CONFIG_SERIAL_CORE_CONSOLE=y

616,617c692,695

< CONFIG_UNIX98_PTY_COUNT=256

< # CONFIG_PRINTER is not set

---

> CONFIG_LEGACY_PTYS=y

> CONFIG_LEGACY_PTY_COUNT=256

> CONFIG_PRINTER=m

> # CONFIG_LP_CONSOLE is not set

620,629d697

< 

< #

< # Linux InfraRed Controller

< #

< # CONFIG_LIRC_SUPPORT is not set

< 

< #

< # Mice

< #

< # CONFIG_BUSMOUSE is not set

642c710

< CONFIG_NVRAM=y

---

> # CONFIG_NVRAM is not set

654,660c722,723

< # CONFIG_AGP_INTEL is not set

< CONFIG_DRM=y

< # CONFIG_DRM_TDFX is not set

< # CONFIG_DRM_GAMMA is not set

< # CONFIG_DRM_R128 is not set

< # CONFIG_DRM_RADEON is not set

< # CONFIG_DRM_SIS is not set

---

> # CONFIG_AGP_INTEL_MCH is not set

> # CONFIG_DRM is not set

682,684c745,746

< # CONFIG_I2C_AMD756 is not set

< # CONFIG_I2C_AMD8111 is not set

< # CONFIG_I2C_ELV is not set

---

> CONFIG_I2C_AMD756=m

> CONFIG_I2C_AMD8111=m

687c749

< CONFIG_I2C_ISA=y

---

> CONFIG_I2C_ISA=m

689d750

< # CONFIG_I2C_PHILIPSPAR is not set

698,700c759,760

< # CONFIG_I2C_VELLEMAN is not set

< CONFIG_I2C_VIA=y

< CONFIG_I2C_VIAPRO=y

---

> # CONFIG_I2C_VIA is not set

> CONFIG_I2C_VIAPRO=m

704c764,785

< # I2C Hardware Sensors Chip support

---

> # Hardware Sensors Chip support

> #

> CONFIG_I2C_SENSOR=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_ADM1021=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_ASB100=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_DS1621=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_FSCHER=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_GL518SM=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_IT87=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM75=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM78=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM80=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM83=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM85=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_LM90=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_VIA686A=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_W83781D=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_W83L785TS=m

> CONFIG_SENSORS_W83627HF=m

> 

> #

> # Other I2C Chip support

706,708d786

< CONFIG_I2C_SENSOR=y

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_ADM1021 is not set

< CONFIG_SENSORS_ASB100=y

710,720d787

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_FSCHER is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_GL518SM is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_IT87 is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_LM75 is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_LM78 is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_LM83 is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_LM85 is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_LM90 is not set

< CONFIG_SENSORS_VIA686A=y

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_W83781D is not set

< # CONFIG_SENSORS_W83L785TS is not set

721a789

> # CONFIG_I2C_DEBUG_ALGO is not set

725a794,798

> # Misc devices

> #

> # CONFIG_IBM_ASM is not set

> 

> #

738a812

> # CONFIG_FB_PM2 is not set

780,790d853

< # Bootsplash configuration

< #

< # CONFIG_BOOTSPLASH is not set

< 

< #

< # Speakup console speech

< #

< # CONFIG_SPEAKUP is not set

< CONFIG_SPEAKUP_DEFAULT="none"

< 

< #

793c856

< CONFIG_SOUND=m

---

> CONFIG_SOUND=y

798,799c861,865

< CONFIG_SND=m

< # CONFIG_SND_BIT32_EMUL is not set

---

> CONFIG_SND=y

> CONFIG_SND_BIT32_EMUL=y

> CONFIG_SND_TIMER=y

> CONFIG_SND_PCM=y

> CONFIG_SND_RAWMIDI=y

801,802c867,870

< # CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL is not set

< # CONFIG_SND_RTCTIMER is not set

---

> CONFIG_SND_OSSEMUL=y

> CONFIG_SND_MIXER_OSS=y

> CONFIG_SND_PCM_OSS=y

> CONFIG_SND_RTCTIMER=y

808a877

> CONFIG_SND_MPU401_UART=y

816a886

> CONFIG_SND_AC97_CODEC=y

817a888,891

> # CONFIG_SND_ATIIXP is not set

> # CONFIG_SND_AU8810 is not set

> # CONFIG_SND_AU8820 is not set

> # CONFIG_SND_AU8830 is not set

842a917

> # CONFIG_SND_INTEL8X0M is not set

844c919

< # CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX is not set

---

> CONFIG_SND_VIA82XX=y

850c925

< CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO=m

---

> # CONFIG_SND_USB_AUDIO is not set

873a949

> # CONFIG_USB_EHCI_SPLIT_ISO is not set

880c956

< CONFIG_USB_AUDIO=m

---

> CONFIG_USB_AUDIO=y

906a983

> # CONFIG_USB_MTOUCH is not set

907a985

> # CONFIG_USB_ATI_REMOTE is not set

942c1020,1041

< # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL is not set

---

> CONFIG_USB_SERIAL=m

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_GENERIC is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_BELKIN is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_WHITEHEAT is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_DIGI_ACCELEPORT is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EMPEG is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_FTDI_SIO is not set

> CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_VISOR=m

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_IPAQ is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_IR is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_EDGEPORT_TI is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN_PDA is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KEYSPAN is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KLSI is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_KOBIL_SCT is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_MCT_U232 is not set

> CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_PL2303=m

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_SAFE is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_CYBERJACK is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_XIRCOM is not set

> # CONFIG_USB_SERIAL_OMNINET is not set

953d1051

< # CONFIG_USB_BRLVGER is not set

977c1075,1077

< # CONFIG_REISERFS_FS is not set

---

> CONFIG_REISERFS_FS=m

> # CONFIG_REISERFS_CHECK is not set

> # CONFIG_REISERFS_PROC_INFO is not set

979,980c1079,1084

< # CONFIG_XFS_FS is not set

< CONFIG_MINIX_FS=y

---

> CONFIG_XFS_FS=m

> # CONFIG_XFS_RT is not set

> # CONFIG_XFS_QUOTA is not set

> # CONFIG_XFS_SECURITY is not set

> # CONFIG_XFS_POSIX_ACL is not set

> CONFIG_MINIX_FS=m

984c1088

< CONFIG_AUTOFS4_FS=y

---

> # CONFIG_AUTOFS4_FS is not set

1011,1012c1115

< # CONFIG_DEVFS_DEBUG is not set

< CONFIG_DEVPTS_FS=y

---

> CONFIG_DEVFS_DEBUG=y

1018d1120

< # CONFIG_SUPERMOUNT is not set

1025c1127,1128

< CONFIG_HFS_FS=m

---

> CONFIG_HFS_FS=y

> # CONFIG_HFSPLUS_FS is not set

1030d1132

< # CONFIG_SQUASHFS is not set

1047c1149

< # CONFIG_NFSD_TCP is not set

---

> CONFIG_NFSD_TCP=y

1052c1154

< # CONFIG_SUNRPC_GSS is not set

---

> # CONFIG_RPCSEC_GSS_KRB5 is not set

1084c1186

< CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_437=y

---

> # CONFIG_NLS_CODEPAGE_437 is not set

1107c1209

< CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_1=y

---

> # CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_1 is not set

1117c1219

< CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_15=y

---

> # CONFIG_NLS_ISO8859_15 is not set

1120c1222

< CONFIG_NLS_UTF8=y

---

> # CONFIG_NLS_UTF8 is not set

1148,1150c1250,1252

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_HMAC is not set

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_NULL is not set

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_MD4 is not set

---

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_HMAC=y

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_NULL=y

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_MD4=y

1160,1161c1262,1264

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_CAST5 is not set

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_CAST6 is not set

---

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_CAST5=y

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_CAST6=y

> CONFIG_CRYPTO_ARC4=y

1163c1266

< # CONFIG_CRYPTO_UCL is not set

---

> # CONFIG_CRYPTO_MICHAEL_MIC is not set

1169c1272

< CONFIG_CRC32=y

---

> CONFIG_CRC32=m
```

----------

## steveb

i don't see anything what you could missed (but it to big to keep the complete overview...)

how about trying to use the old config file?

```
cd /usr/src/linux-2.6.5

mv ./.config cpwp-config

make mrproper

cp ../linux-2.6.3-gentoo-r2/.config ./.config

make oldconfig

make && make modules_install
```

cheers

SteveB

----------

## cpwp

Unfortunately, using the 2.6.3-gentoo-r2 config file and 'make oldconfig' resulted in the same problem.

I also tried disabling Legacy USB Support in the BIOS and appending 'idle=poll' to my kernel line in grub.conf - two suggestions made in the AMD64 Installation Technotes.

I believe I am using the latest BIOS revision for this motherboard.

cpwp

----------

## steveb

well... allow me to summarize:

- the ide driver is recognized by the 2.6.5 vanilla kernel

- old kernel configuration with new kernel does not work

- bios is up to date

- /dev/discs/disc0/part3 instead of /dev/hda3 does not work

- tweaks to the bios do not help

did you once tryied to make an minimum kernel configuration? just ide driver, cpu type, filesystem (i think you use ext3), devfs, pty support, no sound, no usb, no firewire, no network, etc?

did you tried another kernel then the vanilla kernel? maybe mm-sources or the new gentoo-development sources?

cheers

SteveB

----------

## cpwp

 *Quote:*   

> well... allow me to summarize: 
> 
> - the ide driver is recognized by the 2.6.5 vanilla kernel 
> 
> - old kernel configuration with new kernel does not work 
> ...

 

Yes, those are correct  :Smile: 

I have tried a number of different kernels:

2.6.3-gentoo-r2 WORKS

2.6.4 DOESN'T WORK

2.6.5-gentoo-r1 DOESN'T WORK

2.6.5 vanilla DOESN'T WORK

I will first try to make a really basic kernel, as you describe, then I will try mm-sources, as bandwidth here is limited  :Smile: 

Thanks,

cpwp

----------

## steveb

okay... make the basic kernel and keep us informed  :Wink: 

----------

## steveb

is this your current bios version?

cheers

SteveB

----------

## _David_

Alright, good to see I'm not the only one struggling with this problem

I can get it to boot perfectly fine by scrapping DevFS from the kernel.

But then Gentoo will complain that it needs DevFS.

As soon as I compile DevFS into the kernel, I get this problem.

I'm using gentoo-dev-source kernel 2.6.5 , its a new install, so have not tested older kernels).

Does Gentoo actually still need DevFS , given it's been marked Obsolete ?

----------

## Gentoonie

Well dudes, i habe a kinda the same problem.

I used the 2.6.5 Kernel in original from kernel.org.

At boot i get a Kernel VFS panic as mentioned in the first post, root on hde3 couldnt be mounted bla bla.

Also a gentoo script advises me to get DevFS support, even though i compiled it into the kernel for 100% sure.

And the bad thing is i am far away from any solutions =/

----------

## steveb

 *_David_ wrote:*   

> Alright, good to see I'm not the only one struggling with this problem
> 
> I can get it to boot perfectly fine by scrapping DevFS from the kernel.
> 
> But then Gentoo will complain that it needs DevFS.
> ...

 NO! Gentoo can run without DevFS!

my system does not use DevFS at all  :Wink: 

i am runing UDEV with kernel 2.6.5-mm4

cheers

SteveB

----------

## The Sentry

I'm running a router with a 2.6.4 kernel, and I only got ISDN working with devfs DISABLED. Gentoo complains every boot and the "set user font" outputs 4 screens of errors, but except from that everything works fine.

----------

## cpwp

 *steveb wrote:*   

> is this your current bios version?

 

My current BIOS is version 1001.005 - the only one listed for this board on the Asus web site.

By the sound of other posts in this thread, it's not a stupid omission from my config (as expected :)- but will try the minimal kernel this evening.

cpwp

----------

## SDKB

Exact same problem here too 

I think i may try the UDEV thing, running out of ideas.

If someone cracks this one, please make sure you post how!   :Very Happy: 

----------

## cpwp

Just read the Gentoo UDEV howto, which looks like the business. I also like the idea of having devices names after their USB serial number, as I do a lot of work with USB devices, such as GPS and Wi-fi ;-)

cpwp

----------

## irf2003

cpwp, can you post your /etc/lilo.conf or whatever

bootloader .conf file you are using?

hth

----------

## cpwp

irf2003,

The machine in question is at home - switched off, so this is from memory, but I'm pretty sure it's correct:

```
default 0

timeout 5

title=Gentoo Linux (2.6.5)

root (hd0,0)

kernel /2.6.5 root=/dev/hda3
```

cpwpLast edited by cpwp on Tue Apr 13, 2004 12:03 pm; edited 1 time in total

----------

## irf2003

ok, cpwp,

did you use genkernel to build your kernel?

hth

----------

## cpwp

 *Quote:*   

> ok, cpwp, 
> 
> did you use genkernel to build your kernel?

 

No, I've configured it manually.

cpwp

----------

## irf2003

ok, cpwp,

assuming that you are not using initrd, you have compiled

the kernel manually, and that the kernel image is "2.6.5"

the your grub.conf should be as follows:

```

default 0 

timeout 5 

 

title=Gentoo Linux (2.6.5) 

root (hd0,0) 

kernel (hd0,0)/boot/2.6.5 root=/dev/hda3

```

hope the above solves your problem.

in any case case do let us know should you need

any further assistance.

happy gentooing

----------

## cpwp

Okay, thanks irf2003.

I can't try it out until this evening (GMT here), so I'll post the results as and when. To be honest, I will be kicking myself if that works, as I seem to have tried every other possible permutation of grub.conf   :Wink: 

Mind you, grub has no problem finding the kernel, just mounting the root device - so may I (politely) ask why I need the two (hd0,0) parts?

cpwp

----------

## irf2003

 *cpwp wrote:*   

> Okay, thanks irf2003.
> 
> I can't try it out until this evening (GMT here), so I'll post the results as and when. To be honest, I will be kicking myself if that works, as I seem to have tried every other possible permutation of grub.conf  :wink: 
> 
> Mind you, grub has no problem finding the kernel, just mounting the root device - so may I (politely) ask why I need the two (hd0,0) parts?
> ...

 

not sure why, i don't use grub myself, but from my exposure

to grub from others who use it, kernel should be specified

in the long form {i.e. kernel (hd0,0)/boot/kernelimage}

hth

do let us know how it goes

best rgds & happy gentooing

----------

## faethon

 *steveb wrote:*   

>  *_David_ wrote:*   Alright, good to see I'm not the only one struggling with this problem
> 
> I can get it to boot perfectly fine by scrapping DevFS from the kernel.
> 
> But then Gentoo will complain that it needs DevFS.
> ...

 

Hmm, I have seen the same problem though, when moving from a running 2.4.25 system, which includes devfs, to the 2.6.5 kernel I also found that there is a complaint on /devfs missing. Maybe because some daemons (like the xdm, or the xfs fontserver, or maybe referrals to USB devices) that are started are actually referring to devfs devices, whereas these have now (again) moved to other points in the udev devices tree? But then it also means that it is nearly impossible to have a system with two kernels: 2.4.25 (stable, working version) and 2.6.5 (unstable, development kernel). Or am I missing a point here?

----------

## steveb

 *faethon wrote:*   

> Hmm, I have seen the same problem though, when moving from a running 2.4.25 system, which includes devfs, to the 2.6.5 kernel I also found that there is a complaint on /devfs missing. Maybe because some daemons (like the xdm, or the xfs fontserver, or maybe referrals to USB devices) that are started are actually referring to devfs devices, whereas these have now (again) moved to other points in the udev devices tree? But then it also means that it is nearly impossible to have a system with two kernels: 2.4.25 (stable, working version) and 2.6.5 (unstable, development kernel). Or am I missing a point here?

 

you miss the point by 50%

udev and devfs are tools used to handle the device nodes in /dev. to an application the handling of /dev device nodes is transparent and it is not importat if udev or devfs is handling the device nodes in /dev.

btw: you can have both kernels runing on the same system. and you can mix udev and devfs is you like.

btw2: 2.6.5 is not unstable! 2.6 it is the new stable kernel. in gentoo it is marked as development, but this does not change the fakt, that 2.6series is the new stable kernel.

cheers

SteveB

----------

## cpwp

 *irf2003 wrote:*   

> ok, cpwp,
> 
> assuming that you are not using initrd, you have compiled
> 
> the kernel manually, and that the kernel image is "2.6.5"
> ...

 I just tried this to no avail, I still get the 'Could not mount root fs' error message.

What's the general consensus on this? If it's a devfs problem, surely the guys on the kernel mailing list have better things to do than hack depreciated devfs. Should I try UDEV next?

cpwp

----------

## SDKB

feel free to try UDEV, but i just did a complete reisntall followinf the UDEV guide and same problem remains.

even though i'm loath to do it, my next move is genkernel.

SDKB

----------

## Gentoonie

 *The Sentry wrote:*   

> I'm running a router with a 2.6.4 kernel, and I only got ISDN working with devfs DISABLED. Gentoo complains every boot and the "set user font" outputs 4 screens of errors, but except from that everything works fine.

 

Same here,  2.6.5 Kernel, every boot i get the a VFS error cant mount root, 4 screens of font settings and complaining scripts about no devfs.

----------

## cpwp

I wonder why my amd64 machine runs 2.6.3-gentoo-r2 without any trouble. Perhaps that revision of the kernel is 'luckily' broken ;-)

 *Quote:*   

> Feel free to try UDEV, but i just did a complete reisntall followinf the UDEV guide and same problem remains.

 

Hmm... maybe this does warrant a query on the kernel mailing list if it's not a devfs bug.

The annoying thing is, the panic happens just before init is called, so there's no way to see if there is anything in /dev/ at all. I tried using 

```
root=/dev/discs/disc0/part3
```

 but the kernel panics with as before, but also says something about "unknown block (hd0,0)" as well. Does this mean the kernel could find /dev/hda3 - even if it couldn't read from it?

I hope this meandering burbage means something to someone ;-) 

cpwp

----------

## pjp

Moved from Installing Gentoo.

----------

## irf2003

cpwp,

here is another try

add devfs=mount to your kernel line as follows

```

kernel (hd0,0)/boot/2.6.5 root=/dev/hda3  devfs=mount

```

hth

----------

## _David_

After emerging udev , and configuring it.

And swapping from the gentoo-sources to the plain vanilla kernel,

i'm booting 2.6.5 cleanly now.

----------

## Simba

I don't know if my problem has something to do with devfs or not but 

the symptom is the same:

2.6.2-gentoo works

2.6.3-gentoo works

but

2.6.4-gentoo doesn't work

2.6.5-gentoo doesn't work

2.6.5 vanilla doesn't work

it says vgscan segmentation fault during booting. so I can't 

mount any lvm partition.

all kernel configurations are the same.

----------

## Benjamin1

I wanted to try 2.6.5 because my ACPI sleep state crahses and 2.6.5 seemed to habe some changes in the ACPI implementation....

I have completely the same problem. 2.6.3 works, 2.6.5 does it not complaining about a kernel panic due to not mounting defvs in a manually confgured system with a grub.conf call like 

```

kernel (hd0,0)/boot/bzImage265 root=/dev/hda1.

```

Genkernel 2.0.3 leads to:

```
ash-2.05b# genkernel all

* Gentoo Linux Genkernel; Version 3.0.2

* Compiling Linux Kernel 2.6.5-gentoo for x86...

/usr/bin/genkernel: line 95: [: print_info: integer expression expected

/usr/bin/genkernel: line 95: [: print_info: integer expression expected

* ERROR: Load loop support!

```

what ever it is. 

[/code]

----------

## cpwp

Sorted!

After switching to UDEV (very cool I might add) - 2.6.5 vanilla boots with no problems at all.

Thanks to all you guys for the help.

cpwp

----------

