Kernel panic on install

[m.lynn]

I am an IT consultant working from home. Having suffered for years with Microsoft software I made the decision to migrate to Linux. My main machine has a 10gb Windows 98 partition that I rarely use and a 10gb Windows 2000 server partition which handles my networking, including internet access. I installed SUSE Linux on a third partition (17gb). I did not alter the boot partition and booted from the CD.

Befire I could complete my self training on Linux, my Windows 2000 server crashed and I had to reinstall it. After I did that, I lost my Linux. I have tried to reinstall with Suse, Red Hat and Mandrake. The first two by booting from CD and the last by booting from floppy as the distribution I have is on DVD and my DVD is not bootable. All of them end with the same message: -
Kernel Panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 01:03.

My machine is AMD 1.2 ghz with 256mb RAM and (I think) SIS Motherboard

My Linux capability is exhausted. HELP PLEASE!!

[mdwatts]

If it the same kernel panic happens with multiple distros, I would say you have a HD or boot sector problem.

What partitions remain on your HD and what bootloader are you using for W2K and 98?

Is the HD on primary master and the cdrom/dvd on secondary master?

[m.lynn]

Thanks MDWatts.

Apologies

The numbers are different from the different distributions. Suse gave me 08:01 and Red Hat gave me 09:00. Is that significant?

The boot manager is the Windows 2000 boot manager - the Windows 2000 setup automatically overwrites the Master Boot Record.

There are three partitions - I let the Linux install take the rest of my Hard disc. I think you are right about the disc configuration but I need to check by rebooting the machine I am typing this message on

[mdwatts]

The 09:00 I recognize from other posts as sometimes it can be attributed to power management being enabled in the bios. Give that a try by disabling.

[m.lynn]

Thanks mdwattss. When I disabled the power management, the install came up straight away. I now have Mandrake 9.0 installed on my third partition.

Mind you, Windows 2000 did not like it with the power management disabled. However, when I enabled power management, both Windows 2000 and Linux seem perfectly happy.

I have never been able to get support like this from the Microsoft world. Should I assume that it will always be like this? At the moment I cannot help but feel incredibly grateful.

I will now continue my migration to Linux. Maybe I will soon reach the stage at which I can repay this by providing similar support to others..

Michael Lynn

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by m.lynn

I have never been able to get support like this from the Microsoft world. Should I assume that it will always be like this? At the moment I cannot help but feel incredibly grateful.


That is due to Windows problems not usually being fixable. :p

We do try our best here and if we know the solution, we do try to help.

Glad to see you got it working. Enjoy.