RH 7.3 on Compaq PL2500 installation

[Ted Kaczmarek]

On Wed, 2004-11-24 at 11:45 +0000, James Nunnerley wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
>  
> 
> I’m trying to install RedHat 7.3 on a Compaq Proliant 2500.
> 
>  
> 
> I’ve followed all the instructions on www.cpqlinux.com and what is
> with the Compaq Support pages, and everything seems fine….
> 
>  
> 
> I’ve booted from the RH cd, and install using:
> 
>             Linux mem=256M
> 
>  
> 
> (If I just used linux it would say there’s not enough memory)
> 
>  
> 
> It ticks away and gets to the following lines and stops
> 
> IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP
> 
> IP: routing cache has table of 512 buckets, 4Kbytes
> 
> TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024)
> 
> NET4: Unix domain sockets 1.0/SMP for Linux Net4.0
> 
> EXT2-fs: unable to read superblock
> 
> Cramfs: wrong magic
> 
> FAT: unable to read boot sector
> 
> Isofs_read_super: bread failed, dev=09:00, iso_blknum=16, block=32
> 
> Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 09:00
> 
>  
> 
> Am I correct by saying it’s something to do with the disk drives?
> 
>  
> 
> If so, how do I get around it?
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers
> 
> James
> 
Do you have 256 mb of memory?
Remember some quirks with certain compaqs where they use regular ram for
video, if that is indeed the case maybe your ramdisk is getting hosed on
bootup. ram=248 or something close to that may save you.

You could also try installing from text instead of graphical mode if you
haven't already?

3 things I know of that can be wrong.
Your scsi module did not load on boot
Your filesystem module did not load on boot
Your HD is trashed

Alternately after you get the machine up, you can eliminate the need for
the ramdisk(where the modules get loaded for boot) by compliling the
modules into your kernel. This is good and bad, good if the drivers are
all fine, bad if you need a patched driver.

Try booting from a floppy, and manually loading the modules. Google for
your mobo for right one if your are indeed using scsi.

Not for nothing, but do you have a specific requirement for RH 7.3?
Kind of odd at this stage in the game for a fresh 7.3 install otherwise.

FC1 is where I would send you if you want to stay on 2.4 series kernel.

Ted