> On Monday 08 September 2008 9:26:54 pm Greg wrote: >>>As far as I know, the "root=" line is passed as one of the parameters to >>>the booting kernel, so it shouldn't matter what version of Grub you're >>>using. For instance, if you're running Linux, look at the Linux kernel >>>documentation for the kernel in /Documentation/kernel-paraemeters.txt -- >>>you'll see that one of the parameters the kernel takes is the "root=" >>>parameter -- and that support is there regardless of you use an initrd >>>image or not. >>> >>>The label that you need to enter in "root=LABEL=" is the label on the >>>desired PARTITION, not the drive's VOLUME label. 'cfdisk' can list the >>>partition labels along with the device names on the disk. For doing a >>>double-check, have a look at the 'findfs' command. >> >> kernel-parameters.txt: >> root= [KNL] Root filesystem >> >> I know I need the root= parameter. I need a way to point to a label >> instead of hard coding a dev entry and no initrd. > > Are you compiling your own kernel? i.e. what are you doing to get rid of > the initrd image requirement? I ask because all the popular distributions > that I know of ship kernels that come with (and require) an initrd image by > default.
Yes I am compiling my own kernel. I am compiling everything I need into the kernel. The policy (written by the previous admin) is to compile everything in as the kernel runs faster and is more secure. There is no =m in the .config only =y or =n. > I recently gave a presentation on the subject of compiling the Linux 2.6 > kernel a couple of months ago, and I went into the details of how to build > the Linux kernel without an initrd image because that's how I like to build > my own. The video and other talk materials are available. > > ftp://ftp.coredump.us/kernel-talk_05-13-2008/ I will look at it this afternoon. >> I tried root=LABEL=WD320G in menu.lst and it didn't work. > > What error do you get? Was it a kernel panic due to not being able to find > the root filesystem, i.e. "cannot find init"? VFS: cannot open root device "LABEL=WD320G" on unknown-block(0,0) please append a correct "root=" boot option Kernel Panic-not syncing VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) and the caps lock and scroll lock lights flash. >> I used e2label to label the hard drive. > > Okay. > >> Here is the output from cfdisk: >> cfdisk 2.12r >> >> Disk Drive: /dev/sdc >> Size: 250059350016 bytes, 250.0 GB >> Heads: 255 Sectors per Track: 63 Cylinders: 30401 >> >> Name Flags Part Type FS Type [Label] Size >> (MB) >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>--- sdc1 Boot Primary Linux ext3 [WD320G] 249637.25 >> sdc2 Primary Linux swap 419.49 >> >> findfs LABEL=WD320G >> /dev/sdc1 > > Good, thanks for including that info -- that looks like it checks out. > >> My /etc/fstab looks like this and works: >> LABEL=WD320G / auto defaults 1 1 > > Good. > >> What did I do wrong? > > As far as I can tell the problem is that the kernel you're trying to boot > doesn't contain the necessary support to find the hard disk. Running 'lsmod' > on a kernel that does boot properly (assuming said kernel uses an intrd image > and thus loads drivers as modules) will give you some clues as to what device > drivers you'll need to build-in to the kernel if you want to boot up without > an initrd image. Running '/sbin/modinfo ' should give you an > idea of whether a device driver module is disk related and thus required to > build-in. Everything is compiled in. There are no modules. Everytime I run a make menuconfig and make a change I do a grep for =m in the .config. grep '=m' .config Does it matter if I am compiling kernel 2.6.21.7? I know it is an old kernel, but it is what I must work with. >> Thanks, >> >> PS I know the drive is 250GB but labeled 320G. > > Is it? I didn't notice.... > >> And sorry for the other post with the wrong subject. > > Thanks for reposting with the right subject. > > -- Chris > > -- > > Chris Knadle > [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093185mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Grub-devel mailing list Grub-devel@gnu.org http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/grub-devel
