On Mon, Nov 06, 2000 at 09:25:35PM -0600, phil@ipal.net wrote:
> Bill Swingle wrote:
> > On Mon, Nov 06, 2000 at 08:14:24PM -0600, phil@ipal.net wrote:
> > > This points to where the kernel is for the CD. It may be /.boot in the
> > > case of an earlier ISO.
> >
> > The CD is not the issue. The CD works (mostly) fine.
> >
> > The things I'm trying to work out are:
> >
> > 1) Why can't I boot off the new kernel I built
>
> That's to be diagnosed. Some combination of analyzing any error messages,
> plus trying alternatives during compile, could lead to answers.
There are no error messages. Trying different compile options will do no
good. *I can't get any other kernerl to boot*
> > 2) Where the heck is the kernel I'm booting off now?
>
> On the CD itself at /boot/vmlinux.sun4u or /boot/vmlinux.sun4cdm depending
> on your architecture type.
It is *NOT* booting off the CD. I have an (almost) complete install on
the hard disk and have booted the system MANY times WITHOUT the cd in
the drive.
> > 3) Why won't silo read my /etc/silo.conf (which didn't previously exist
> > at all)
>
> I don't know the answer to that, yet. For good measure, put a copy of it
> in the /boot directory, too, just to be sure.
I'll try that. Hopefully that will make a difference.
> > 4) How can I convince my system to boot /vmlinux instead of the mystery
> > kernel?
>
> At the silo boot, instead of the labeled system (e.g. "linux") type in the
> full kernel path. Boot from HD (not CD) and when you get the silo boot
> prompt, try typing:
>
> /vmlinux root=/dev/hda1
This does not work. It bitches about "improper syntax" or something if I
use anythying but "linux" as a kernel name.
> > > What you need to do is boot the harddrive based system with the CD kernel
> > > to get back in and try fixing things.
> >
> > I can get into the system just (mostly) fine.
>
> That means you won't have to start all over and install again.
Hopefully :)
> > > Very possibly, the installed kernel
> > > was at /vmlinuz so your recompile may have replaced it.
> >
> > I'm 100% positive there was no kernel in / before or after I compiled my
> > new kernel. The new kernel was copied to / by hand.
>
> It might be in /boot or /.boot ... look there and see what's there.
The hard disk does not contain a /boot and /boot only contains a few
*.db executables.
> > > But by booting
> > > from the CD kernel, you are back up and working to the extent that kernel
> > > lets you do so. The CD won't be mounted so you could eject it once the
> > > kernel is loaded. Or you can mount it and reinstall packages, or copy
> > > files.
> > >
> > > To fix things, you'd need to check the silo config and the compilation to
> > > see what might be wrong.
> >
> > The silo.conf is fine. Hitting <TAB> at the SILO prompt reveals that it
> > has only one option and has not read any of the other options that are
> > in the new silo.conf.
>
> SILO is smarter than LILO, and can find and read files from ext2 format
> without the kernel being present. Offhand I don't remember how it lets
> you specify which device.
>
>
> > > You might also try to manually load the network
> > > driver module you need to temporarily get networking working so you can
> > > transfer files in and out, such as getting a compile log and a copy of
> > > your silo.conf for us.
> >
> > After the install I ended up without a /lib/modules directory making it
> > impossible to config the ethernet interface. I now have modules that I
> > compiled from the src in /usr/src/linux but of course they're from newer
> > source than the mystery kernel, which is the only one I can boot.
>
> If you compiled every driver directly into your new kernel, it won't need
> any modules. The the issue will be making sure we get it loaded instead of
> whatever kernel SILO thinks it should load.
Right. That was the point behind compiling a new kernel.
> When you "rescue boot" using the kernel from the CD, that lets you in enough
> to see what /etc/silo.conf and/or /boot/silo.conf has in it, and to look
> around for some other kernel that might be getting loaded.
I KNOW what /etc/silo.conf has in it! I made it! After the install
/etc/silo.conf did not exist. I made the /etc/silo.conf out of the
/etc/silo.conf.sample that came with the install.
-Bill
-- -=| --- B i l l S w i n g l e --- http://www.dub.net/ -=| unfurl@dub.net - unfurl@freebsd.org - unfurl@bsdi.com -=| Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball(tm)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Sep 19 2002 - 11:00:02 PDT