How do you clear a botched kernel on a PPC system?

[Bill Davidsen]

Joel Rees wrote:
> 
> On Sep 27, 2009, at 3:20 AM,  a helpful person wrote me off-list:
> 
> (Leaving out the name in case the off-list was intentional. Or maybe it 
> was because it was a reply to my mis-post to the -test-list.)
> 
>> On Sat, Sep 26, 2009 at 07:19:45PM +0900, Joel Rees wrote:
>>>
>>> it tells me that I should try passing in the init= parameter. I tried
>>> several permutations of what I thought was the probable syntax,
>>>
>>> boot: hd:3,/vmlinuz-2.6.29.5-191.fc11.ppc init=/
>>> initrd-2.6.29.5-191.fc11.ppc.img
>> yh
>> Err..., init is a program you are running first.  If everything
>> else failed try 'init=/bin/bash'
> 
> Okay, [...] init=/bin/bash
> ...
> VFS: mounted root [and something I missed as it rebooted.]
> Freeing unused kernel memory: 332k init
> Warning: unable to open an initial console.
> Failed to execute /bin/bash. Attempting defaults. . .
> Kernel panic. - not syncing: No init found.  Try passing init= option to 
> kernel.
> Rebooting in 180 seconds.
> 
>> Don't you have some earlier kernel which still boots?  If that fails
>> too then maybe indeed your /sbin/init is messed up but that would
>> have nothing to do with kernels.
> 
> 
> The previous kernel did work, as I mentioned in another post, but only 
> when I went in, renamed it (and the three other files) and so forth, as 
> I described in the other post. I've yum remove-d 
> kernel-2.6.30.5-43.fc11.ppc, and so it boots the old kernel and seems to 
> run okay.
> 
> So if the init= parameter is not supposed to be the initrd file, the bug 
> in yaboot (under this ibook's openfirmware) might be that it's trying to 
> pass an init= parameter when none is specified on the boot line. Hmm.
> 
> I got a message back from the developers, from a comment I left where 
> someone else reported this bug. Getting a fixed kernel is going to take 
> a little time, they say.
> 
> In the meantime, I'm avoiding updating, to keep the kernel at the 
> previous level, and hoping the kernel/userland level mismatch will not 
> bomb me out of anything important.
> 
Just for grins, do you have space in your /boot? I saw something like this long 
ago, where the kernel went in but the initrd file sisn't, due to running out of 
space during update.

Just a thought.

-- 
Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
   "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked."  - from Slashdot