Slackware 12.0 on 64 MB
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From: Sambo on 31 Jan 2008 20:24 Arun Dev wrote: > Hi all > > I just tried my luck on an old P-II, 233 MHz, 64 MB laptop. > > Booting huge.s I could finish the installation. But I can't start > the installation. It gives > > no file system could mount root, tried: > Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on > unknown-block(8,2) > > Am I correct in assuming that the initrd is too big for the 64 MB? > > The root device is accoding to lilo.conf /dev/hda2 > > Kernel was 2.6.22 "generic". > > Arun I had similar problem which turned out to be bad ram , even though the bios ram test passed. Originally thought it was the multiprocessor kernel, on my first attempt.
From: Arun Dev on 1 Feb 2008 11:35 Am 31.01.2008 02:24, Sambo schrieb: > Arun Dev wrote: >> >> I just tried my luck on an old P-II, 233 MHz, 64 MB laptop. >> >> Booting huge.s I could finish the installation. But I can't start >> the installation. It gives >> >> no file system could mount root, tried: >> Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on >> unknown-block(8,2) >> >> Am I correct in assuming that the initrd is too big for the 64 MB? >> > I had similar problem which turned out to be bad ram , even though the > bios ram test passed. Originally thought it was the multiprocessor > kernel, on my first attempt. Could it be a hardware problem after all? I reinstalled with ext2. During boot-up the filesystem check fails. I booted from the cd and tried "e2fsck -v -y /dev/hda2" and get this story (manually typed): --- BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 00005e40 printing eip: *pde = 00000000 Oops: 0002 [#1] CPU: 0 EIP: 00c0:[<00003c65>] Not tainted VLI EFLAGS: 00010003 (2.6.21.5 #2) ..... stack trace follows ... Call Trace: ========================= Code: Bad EIP value EIP: [<00003c65>] 0x3c65 SS:ESP 0068:c3b45e3e Segmentation fault --- This laptop was not used for years. The CMOS battery had "feathers" around the edges :-( We replaced it. Arun
From: james on 1 Feb 2008 11:53 Arun Dev <nospam(a)pleaz.xy> wrote in news:47a1f939$0$3421 $5402220f(a)news.sunrise.ch: > Am 31.01.2008 02:24, Sambo schrieb: >> Arun Dev wrote: >>> >>> I just tried my luck on an old P-II, 233 MHz, 64 MB laptop. >>> >>> Booting huge.s I could finish the installation. But I can't start >>> the installation. It gives >>> >>> no file system could mount root, tried: >>> Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on >>> unknown-block(8,2) >>> >>> Am I correct in assuming that the initrd is too big for the 64 MB? >>> >> I had similar problem which turned out to be bad ram , even though the >> bios ram test passed. Originally thought it was the multiprocessor >> kernel, on my first attempt. > > Could it be a hardware problem after all? > [snip] > > This laptop was not used for years. The CMOS battery had "feathers" > around the edges :-( We replaced it. > > Arun > Yes, it could. Depending upon the type of battery it might have leaked a caustic base (alkali for alkaline batteries) onto the motherboard. This is a not-uncommon occurrence among older equipment. Sometimes damaged traces can be repaired, sometimes not. It is interesting, though, that you seem to be able to boot from CD and do enough to install an OS. Perhaps you might try a less ambitious install, or try installing a small variety of different small distros to see if one likes your hardware better than slackware? I suggest that because I've access to one computer (a Shuttle brand) that simply refuses to boot any linux distro if you leave Linux's USB enabled. Booting simply hangs. Perhaps some laptop-specific drive-interface electronics is simply failing to respond well to Linux? -- The email address, above, is most certainly munged. Perhaps you might reply to the newsgroup, instead? Thanks!
From: Robby Workman on 1 Feb 2008 11:56 On 2008-01-31, Arun Dev <nospam(a)pleaz.xy> wrote: > I reinstalled with ext2. During boot-up the filesystem check fails. > I booted from the cd and tried "e2fsck -v -y /dev/hda2" and get > this story (manually typed): > --- > BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address > 00005e40 > printing eip: > *pde = 00000000 > Oops: 0002 [#1] > CPU: 0 > EIP: 00c0:[<00003c65>] Not tainted VLI > EFLAGS: 00010003 (2.6.21.5 #2) > .... stack trace follows ... > Call Trace: > ========================= > Code: Bad EIP value > EIP: [<00003c65>] 0x3c65 SS:ESP 0068:c3b45e3e > Segmentation fault > --- > > This laptop was not used for years. The CMOS battery had "feathers" > around the edges :-( We replaced it. Sounds like a memory problem is the most likely culprit. I'll admit to not having read anything before this post, so if you've already ruled that out, mea culpa. There are quite a few other things that could potentially cause this, but faulty memory is the most common IME. Check to be sure it's seated properly in the sockets. I had a very similar problem on a brand new box a few weeks ago. All of the memory tested fine *most* of the time. It would usually boot up just fine, but occasionally init would even segfault. When it booted fine, it would sometimes run for days with no problem; other times, I'd come back after leaving it idle and all I'd see on the console was a "panic party" that started with a kernel OOPS. I *thought* I had it traced back to a bad driver (snd_hda_intel), and after blacklisting it, we went for several days with no problem until suddenly the gremlin returned. Anyway, it turned out to be... Yeah, something I should have investigated very early - the BIOS. I flashed it with a newer BIOS and all is well. Now, with all that said, I doubt a newer BIOS is what you need, and since it's an older laptop, I seriously doubt you'll even be able to find one. However, maybe that gives you some ideas to consider. I strongly suspect hardware problems, or possibly even cooling issues. Good luck! -RW
From: Ray on 1 Feb 2008 12:38
Arun Dev wrote: > Could it be a hardware problem after all? > try downloading and running memtest, and letting it run for 72 hours. My old fileserver ran fine for years, and then popped a cap on the mobo AND blew a stick of ram at the same time, and went from 100% uptime to crashing every 15 minutes, which made getting the data off a real pain. (and before you ask why I didn't pull the disks, I only had one other machine that could read disks that big and that was the NEW server, which is full.) Ray |