kernel panic:I have no root I want to scream

kernel panic:I have no root I want to scream

[Ravi Kumar Munnangi]

Iam using Redhat linux 2.4.18-14(which came with
installing RHlinux-8.0.
Now I want to reconfigure  the kernel.

I have download the linux 2.4.18 from ftp:kernel.org

Ihave put the file in /home/cs0205/
There itself I unzipped the file.
Then I saw a new directory /home/cs0205/linux
then cd /home/cs0205/linux
make mrproper
make xconfig
  During the configuration I havn't made any changes
to 
   the default configuration.I have just saved the 
   default configuration and exited.
make dep
make clean
make bzImage
make modules
make modules_install
make install
  After this I observed that there are new files in 
  /boot like vmlinuz-2.4.18 and vmlinuz-2.4.18.img
  Before there were files named vmlinuz-2.4.18-14 and
  vmlinuz-2.4.18-14.img
  
 I have then changed my /etc/lilo.conf file as follows
  prompt
timeout=50
default=linux_new
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
linear

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18-14
        label=linux
        initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.18-14.img
        read-only
        append="hdb=ide-scsi root=LABEL=/"
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.18
        label=linux_new
        initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.18.img
        read-only
        append="hdb=ide-scsi root=LABEL=/"


other=/dev/hda1
        optional
        label=DOS

I have run /sbin/lilo
when I tried booting with the new kernel image, its
stopping after giving the message,
kernel panic:I have no root I want to scream

please help me!!!!!!!!!

Dear friends,
  Iam new to linux.
  I don't know why we should do make mrproper,dep
clean
   bzImage,etc.
  What is the result of this make?
  will u please suggest any resources on net?
  or any text book?
  
  I have read somewhere saying that we have to copy
the 
  bzImage in linux/arch/boot/ to /boot/
  I have also seen something regarding System.map!

  What does this System.map and bzImage contain?
  Do I really have to copy them?
  Then what is the use of make install?
  
 please answer to my queries!!!!!!
  Thankyou!
 for reading the mail patiently!


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Re: kernel panic:I have no root I want to scream

[Tim Schmielau]

> make xconfig
>   During the configuration I havn't made any changes to
>    the default configuration.I have just saved the
>    default configuration and exited.

You should have, unless you have exactly the same configuration as Linus
Torvalds has.
Probably drivers for accessing the root filesystem are missing, but you
also need to configure a whole heap of other things as well.

The Kernel Howto at
  http://www.linux.org/docs/ldp/howto/Kernel-HOWTO/
makes a good reading.