[lug] AIC-7890 SCSI Controller

[Calvin Dodge]

On Mon, Mar 12, 2001 at 01:34:10PM -0800, Dhruva Reddy wrote:
> 
> I updated the kernel from 2.2.14 to 2.2.18, and when I
> try to boot the new one, it cannot seem to mount the
> root file system, and the kernel panics.

Is your primary hard drive SCSI? If so, then the SCSI driver (aic7xxx) needs to be available to the kernel at boot time - in your case, in the initial ramdisk (typically named initrd-KERNELVERSION).

Did you UPDATE the kernel (rpm -U), or did you install it (rpm -i)?

If you installed it, then just boot to the older kernel and create a suitable initrd file for the newer kernel:

mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.2.18  (or whatever the exact version is)

Then edit /etc/lilo.conf, and add "initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.18" to the section which mentions the new kernel.

Finally, run lilo.  You can now reboot to the new kernel.


If you UPDATED it (removing the old kernel - that's a no-no, BTW, until you've successfully booted to the new kernel), then you'll need to create a boot floppy with the SCSI module on board.  Is there any chance you did this during the install, or some time before doing the kernel update?

At any rate, you _should_ be able to boot from that floppy, then make the new initrd file as described above.

Calvin

-- 
Calvin Dodge
Certified Linux Bigot (tm)
http://www.caldodge.fpcc.net