# kernel panic

## vrencki

hello anybody

unfortunately my kernel does not boot.   :Crying or Very sad:  i get the following error:

VFS: Cannot open root device "803" or unknown block (8,3)

please append a correct "root=" boot option;

Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on 

unknown-block(8,3)

my /etc/fstab is:

# NOTE: If your BOOT partition is ReiserFS, add the notail option to opts.

/dev/sda1               /boot           ext2            noauto,noatime  1 2

/dev/sda3               /               ext3            noatime         0 1

/dev/sda2               none            swap            sw              0 0

/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom      auto            noauto,ro       0 0

#/dev/fd0               /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto          0 0

# glibc 2.2 and above expects tmpfs to be mounted at /dev/shm for

# POSIX shared memory (shm_open, shm_unlink).

# (tmpfs is a dynamically expandable/shrinkable ramdisk, and will

#  use almost no memory if not populated with files)

shm                     /dev/shm        tmpfs           nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0

the /etc/lilo.conf is:

boot=/dev/sda

prompt

timeout=50

default=gentoo

image=/boot/kernel_fmr2

  label=gentoo

  read-only

  root=/dev/sda3

i have read the installation handbook various times but i do not find

what i am doing wrong and so i would be very glad to get any idea

whats going wrong.

many thanks in advance

- vrencki -

----------

## gerard27

I use grub myself never used lilo.

But in your lilo you have 

```

boot=/dev/sda 
```

Shouldn't that be 

```

boot=/dev/sda1 
```

Gerard.

----------

## vrencki

hi thanks your answer

installation handbook 

http://www.gentoo.de/doc/de/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=10

says for /etc/lilo.conf definitely

boot=/dev/sda 

with the explanation: # installation of lilo in mbr

when i tried to execute /sbin/lilo for installation of lilo in mbr with entry

boot=/dev/sda1

system claims

(chroot) livecd linux # /sbin/lilo

Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed

Warning: Partition 1 on /dev/sda is not marked Active.

Added gentoo *

2 warnings were issued.

but nevertheless when doing /sbin/lilo with the recommended entry

boot=/dev/sda

system claims a little shorter

(chroot) livecd linux # /sbin/lilo

Warning: LBA32 addressing assumed

Added gentoo *

One warning was issued.

but i cant find detailed description of that warning.

- vrencki -

----------

## gerard27

You are right,like I said I never used lilo.

The error you get

```

VFS: Cannot open root device "803" or unknown block (8,3)

please append a correct "root=" boot option;

Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on

unknown-block(8,3)
```

The 8,3 sounds like FAT (DOS).

The 8 is for file/directory name,the three is for extension.

Which gives me the impression it is looking for the kernel on the mbr.

I can't help you here.

I am curious however why you used lilo instead of grub.

Gerard.

Edit: Did you use genkernel?

----------

## vrencki

anyway many thanks your answers.

you are right, 8,3 sounds like fat(dos). thats an idea....

im using lilo cause i've done long time ago with suse linux and there i had

no problems. so i just took it without thinking much about it when i now

tried gentoo. but when the problem persists i think i will switch to grub.

in other cases in this forum i found many users having problems with lilo.

on the other hand i don't want to give up that fast   :Evil or Very Mad: 

for kernel compilation i used manual mode, not genkernel.

as i said: anyway many thanks   :Smile: 

----------

## TJNII

Yea, stay true to lilo!  Keep the faith, Brother!

Anyways....

Do you have the proper drivers for your SATA hardware built into your kernel?  Your conf files look fine.  Chances are /dev/sda3 doesn't actually exist because the driver isn't compiled in or the wrong driver is grabbing the device before the proper one.

I have bin bitten by this many times.  It has always been the driver, for me.

----------

## vrencki

ok, i did it! not the "smoothest" solution but it works   :Shocked: 

i used genkernel instead of manual configuration of kernel.

off course so i did not found out what my problem was before

but the machine is up and running!

but before i tried to implement anything that looks just a little

sensefull regarding sata without success.

again many thanks your answers   :Smile: 

----------

## Jaglover

 *gerard82 wrote:*   

> You are right,like I said I never used lilo.
> 
> The error you get
> 
> ```
> ...

 

For sake of clarity, 8 is the driver in use, being SATA/PATA/SCSI which gives us sdx devices, 3 is third partition on first drive. Your kernel is looking for root filesystem on sda3.

----------

