Kernel Panic : unable to mount root fs on unknown-block (0,0)

[B Thomas]

Hi,

I am trying to compiler my own kernel. Booting with the new kernel fails
with the error message : "unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0).
My hardware setup consits of a sata disk (/dev/sda1) and an ide disk
(/dev/hda1). The root file system is installed on /dev/sda1. I used grub
to install the boot record on the same system. The stock kernel that came
with my linux distribution works fine from the same file system. There are
no differences in the options used in grub's menu.1st for the two kernels
(in booth cases root=/dev/sda1). I would be grateful if you could give me
a pointer or two on how to go about identifying the cause of the boot
failure. I suspect it may have to do with one of the kernel config
options. But I am not sure which one. I can post the .config file if
necessary.

regards
b thomas

[Moe Trin]

On 08 Dec 2007, in the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.linux.questions, in article
<475a7f5e$0$26075$***@free.teranews.com>, B Thomas wrote:

COMMENT: "comp.os.linux.questions" is a bogus newsgroup only carried on
mis-configured news servers trying to win the "we have more groups than
anybody" contest. Try 'comp.os.linux.hardware'.

Post by B Thomas
I am trying to compiler my own kernel. Booting with the new kernel fails
with the error message : "unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0).

Your boot loader configuration is hosed. See the 'devices.txt' file
that should be in your kernel source documentation. '0.0' is a null
device.

Post by B Thomas
My hardware setup consits of a sata disk (/dev/sda1) and an ide disk
(/dev/hda1). The root file system is installed on /dev/sda1.

which would probably be dev 8:1, not 0.0. Did you include the
"right" kernel driver as a compiled-in (not module) option? Did you
compare your kernel configuration to that of the distribution kernel?

Post by B Thomas
I used grub to install the boot record on the same system. The stock
kernel that came with my linux distribution works fine from the same
file system. There are no differences in the options used in grub's
menu.1st for the two kernels (in booth cases root=/dev/sda1).

I'd be looking at the GRUB documentation none the less. I suspect you
are missing some boot file or variable line. Oh, and it also helps
to identify the existing distribution. Some are using some strange
concepts.

Old guy