"Hiawatha Bray" wrote in message news:...
> I have installed Suse 9 on the D hard drive inside my PC. In order to avoid
> problems with the C drive, that runs Windows XP, I did not install a boot
> loader on my C drive. Instead, I wanted to set up a floppy boot disk that
> would start the process. But when I use the boot disk I created with YaST,
> it boots the C drive, not the D drive. How can I tell it to boot the D
> drive? Thanks.

I am not familiar with YaST, but in general the other (more rude)
reply mentions that disks are labeled a bit differently in Linux than
in windows. Here's a small primer which you will need to tell it how
to boot.

Each disk in the machine is lettered starting with "a", and each disk
is broken into partitions which are each numbered starting with "1".
Your first hard disk - I'm assuming it's IDE - is going to be
/dev/hda
and will have some partitions on it:
/dev/hda1 - first partition, first hard drive
/dev/hda2 - second partition, first drive, and so on.
I'm betting the second disk is
/dev/hdb
and the first partition on the second disk is
/dev/hdb1

It would seem to me, not knowing your disk geometry (partition map,
any funky disk remappings in bios, etc.) that you want to tell your
boot disk to boot fom the /dev/hdb1 partition.

To do that, you probably want to wait for the "boot:" prompt, then
enter something like

boot: linux root=/dev/hdb1

Read over this if that didn't do it:
http://www.ibiblio.org/mdw/HOWTO/Boo...t-HOWTO-2.html

Where you want to fuss with lilo and grub is if you want to
permanently tell your boot loader to boot linux from /dev/hdb1 - in
that case, it involves tweaking a configuration file (/etc/lilo.conf
or /boot/grub/grub.conf), telling it that "if I type 'linux' at the
boot prompt, I want you to boot from such and such disk and partition"
- and then installing that configuration data on your boot floppy.

If you are feeling more adventurous, read the Grub pages and attempt
to install grub to your master boot record (MBR) on your first drive.
I believe this works without messing up windows as long as the
chainloader line is present. Don't quote me on it, because I haven't
tried it, and I would caution anyone attempting this that tampering
with the MBR can get you in more trouble than Michael Jackson at a
preschool pajama party. [I have gotten grub installed on my MBR,
*then* installed windows which I think stomped the MBR, and then
reinstalled grub and it was able to boot windows perfectly. I'm an
old-time lilo user and I recommend grub forever and always going
forward.]

Some info on Grub (tersely written):
http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/

Thanks for all the assistance. I've taken my own approach to the question,
largely because I can't find any way of entering the commands you suggested.
Trouble is, my way isn't working either.

I'd earlier tried to solve the problem by creating a boot floppy and booting
from that. But every attempt to create such a floppy failed. Then I found
the reason.. Buried in the manuals was a casual mention that later versions
of SuSE can't be booted from a floppy, because the necessary files need more
space.

I rooted around in the Suse manual and found instructions on how to create a
boot CD that'd see the D drive and boot from it. Yes, I know, it's called
/dev/hdb1/. I called it that in the file I created. Using the instructions
in the guide, I created an ISO file, then used a Linux CD burning utility to
convert this into a bootable disk. But when I booted it, things went wrong
at this point:

Loading kernel/fs/resierfs/reiserfs.o
sh-2021: reiserfs_read_super: can not find reiserfs on ide0(3,65)
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:41

It's annoying because right up to that point, it looked like Mission
Accomplished. Any ideas what could be causing this?


Thanks!

"Russ Fink" wrote in message
news:ab72d37a.0401211001.4a039fb6@posting.google.c om...
> "Hiawatha Bray" wrote in message
news:...
> > I have installed Suse 9 on the D hard drive inside my PC. In order to
avoid
> > problems with the C drive, that runs Windows XP, I did not install a
boot
> > loader on my C drive. Instead, I wanted to set up a floppy boot disk
that
> > would start the process. But when I use the boot disk I created with
YaST,
> > it boots the C drive, not the D drive. How can I tell it to boot the D
> > drive? Thanks.
>
> I am not familiar with YaST, but in general the other (more rude)
> reply mentions that disks are labeled a bit differently in Linux than
> in windows. Here's a small primer which you will need to tell it how
> to boot.
>
> Each disk in the machine is lettered starting with "a", and each disk
> is broken into partitions which are each numbered starting with "1".
> Your first hard disk - I'm assuming it's IDE - is going to be
> /dev/hda
> and will have some partitions on it:
> /dev/hda1 - first partition, first hard drive
> /dev/hda2 - second partition, first drive, and so on.
> I'm betting the second disk is
> /dev/hdb
> and the first partition on the second disk is
> /dev/hdb1
>
> It would seem to me, not knowing your disk geometry (partition map,
> any funky disk remappings in bios, etc.) that you want to tell your
> boot disk to boot fom the /dev/hdb1 partition.
>
> To do that, you probably want to wait for the "boot:" prompt, then
> enter something like
>
> boot: linux root=/dev/hdb1
>
> Read over this if that didn't do it:
> http://www.ibiblio.org/mdw/HOWTO/Boo...t-HOWTO-2.html
>
> Where you want to fuss with lilo and grub is if you want to
> permanently tell your boot loader to boot linux from /dev/hdb1 - in
> that case, it involves tweaking a configuration file (/etc/lilo.conf
> or /boot/grub/grub.conf), telling it that "if I type 'linux' at the
> boot prompt, I want you to boot from such and such disk and partition"
> - and then installing that configuration data on your boot floppy.
>
> If you are feeling more adventurous, read the Grub pages and attempt
> to install grub to your master boot record (MBR) on your first drive.
> I believe this works without messing up windows as long as the
> chainloader line is present. Don't quote me on it, because I haven't
> tried it, and I would caution anyone attempting this that tampering
> with the MBR can get you in more trouble than Michael Jackson at a
> preschool pajama party. [I have gotten grub installed on my MBR,
> *then* installed windows which I think stomped the MBR, and then
> reinstalled grub and it was able to boot windows perfectly. I'm an
> old-time lilo user and I recommend grub forever and always going
> forward.]
>
> Some info on Grub (tersely written):
> http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/

In comp.os.linux.help Hiawatha Bray wrote:
> I rooted around in the Suse manual and found instructions on how to create a
> boot CD that'd see the D drive and boot from it. Yes, I know, it's called
> /dev/hdb1/. I called it that in the file I created. Using the instructions

You are wrong.

> in the guide, I created an ISO file, then used a Linux CD burning utility to
> convert this into a bootable disk. But when I booted it, things went wrong
> at this point:
>
> Loading kernel/fs/resierfs/reiserfs.o
> sh-2021: reiserfs_read_super: can not find reiserfs on ide0(3,65)
> Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:41
>
> It's annoying because right up to that point, it looked like Mission
> Accomplished. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Sure - the reiserfs driver says there is no resierfs on hdb1 (major 3,
minor 65, or hex 0x341). Therefore you are wrong when you state that
there is a resiserfs on hdb1, since the reiser filesystem driver of
course is the ultimate arbiter of what is a reiserfs or not, and your
ideas are merely opinions in comparison.

The statistics of human programming errors suggests that you have made
the semantic error of confusing hdb1, the first partition on disk hdb,
with the first *linux* partition on disk hdb. But we have no data apart
from the statistics to work with here. If you could send us the
somaprobe results, that would be great. Ta.

Peter

Much as I appreciate the offer of help, you've just confused me more.

Sure - the reiserfs driver says there is no resierfs on hdb1 (major 3,
> minor 65, or hex 0x341). Therefore you are wrong when you state that
> there is a resiserfs on hdb1, since the reiser filesystem driver of
> course is the ultimate arbiter of what is a reiserfs or not, and your
> ideas are merely opinions in comparison.

What are you talking about? I never said there was a resiserfs on hdb 1.
How could I? I don't know what a resiserfs is, for pete's sake. I said it
wouldn't boot. Any ideas as to why it won't, and what I can do to make it
boot, would be greatly appreciated.

What's a somaprobe? And if the kernel's panicking, how do I find it?

Thanks.


"P.T. Breuer" wrote in message
news:dinnub.l3i.ln@news.it.uc3m.es...
> In comp.os.linux.help Hiawatha Bray wrote:
> > I rooted around in the Suse manual and found instructions on how to
create a
> > boot CD that'd see the D drive and boot from it. Yes, I know, it's
called
> > /dev/hdb1/. I called it that in the file I created. Using the
instructions
>
> You are wrong.
>
> > in the guide, I created an ISO file, then used a Linux CD burning
utility to
> > convert this into a bootable disk. But when I booted it, things went
wrong
> > at this point:
> >
> > Loading kernel/fs/resierfs/reiserfs.o
> > sh-2021: reiserfs_read_super: can not find reiserfs on ide0(3,65)
> > Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:41
> >
> > It's annoying because right up to that point, it looked like Mission
> > Accomplished. Any ideas what could be causing this?
>
> Sure - the reiserfs driver says there is no resierfs on hdb1 (major 3,
> minor 65, or hex 0x341). Therefore you are wrong when you state that
> there is a resiserfs on hdb1, since the reiser filesystem driver of
> course is the ultimate arbiter of what is a reiserfs or not, and your
> ideas are merely opinions in comparison.
>
> The statistics of human programming errors suggests that you have made
> the semantic error of confusing hdb1, the first partition on disk hdb,
> with the first *linux* partition on disk hdb. But we have no data apart
> from the statistics to work with here. If you could send us the
> somaprobe results, that would be great. Ta.
>
> Peter
>

Hiawatha Bray wrote:
> And if the kernel's panicking, how do I find it?

Lol, made my day!

--
Ben M.

----------------
What are Software Patents for?
To protect the small enterprise from bigger companies.

What do Software Patents do?
In its current form, they protect only companies with
big legal departments as they:
a.) Patent everything no matter how general
b.) Sue everybody. Even if the patent can be argued
invalid, small companies can ill-afford the
typical $500k cost of a law-suit (not to mention
years of harassment).

Don't let them take away your right to program
whatever you like. Make a stand on Software Patents
before its too late.

Read about the ongoing battle at http://swpat.ffii.org/
----------------

In comp.os.linux.help Hiawatha Bray wrote:
> Much as I appreciate the offer of help, you've just confused me more.

Why? Is your optical circuit malfunctioning?

> > Sure - the reiserfs driver says there is no resierfs on hdb1 (major 3,
> > minor 65, or hex 0x341). Therefore you are wrong when you state that
> > there is a resiserfs on hdb1, since the reiser filesystem driver of
> > course is the ultimate arbiter of what is a reiserfs or not, and your
> > ideas are merely opinions in comparison.
>
> What are you talking about? I never said there was a resiserfs on hdb 1.

Then why are you trying to boot one?

Loading kernel/fs/resierfs/reiserfs.o

(Whooooo! You *typed* that!)

sh-2021: reiserfs_read_super: can not find reiserfs on ide0(3,65)
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:41

Are you saying that the fs is not a reiserfs? Well, whatever it is, why
don't you include a driver for it in your kernel, then? And if it is
not a reiserfs, why *did* you include a driver for a reiserfs in your
kernel?

Would you mind explaining your inference engine backtrace? I am unable
to detect the deduction laws you are applying, given your announced
objectives and the corresponding observations.

> How could I? I don't know what a resiserfs is, for pete's sake.

WHy do you want to know? And why don't you? (not that I am interested -
I merely wonder what stops you looking it up).

> I said it
> wouldn't boot. Any ideas as to why it won't,

It won't boot because there is no appropriate filesystem for the kernel
you have created at the point where you have told the kernel to expect
one. The kernel is only logical. It does not know how to second-guess
your intentions from your actions (indeed, I am having trouble myself).
It merely does what it is told to. You told it to boot from hdb1, but
there is no filesystem there that it can boot from.

So either you are wrong about where the filesystem is, or you have
created a kernel without the appropriate file system driver. EIther
way, the knowledge of what you have done and what your intentions are
are locked within your own neural mass, and I am afrraid we will have
to extract it ...

> and what I can do to make it
> boot, would be greatly appreciated.

You can fix one of the two possible human errors noted above.

> What's a somaprobe?

A somaprobe is a full-body probe to trace your neural pathways and
corporal interactions, with the aim of back-mapping your virtual logical
structure. The aim is for us to be able to understand what you know and
what you are doing, and why. The treatment is usually only applied to
patients who are unable or unwilling to speak for themselves.

> And if the kernel's panicking, how do I find it?

Find what?

Peter