Comments on: Kernel Panic Unable To Mount root fs

By: abel

abel — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 14:48:27 +0000

Hi,
thank you for the –initrd parameter information. You’ve saved my day, man.

By: Harry

Harry — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 21:39:49 +0000

You can definitely get a CD drive for an Omnibok 4150. The best place to check out for this sort of stuff is ebay.
Or if you are in the UK there are normally computer fairs all over the country at the weekends and some sell second hand stuff. Take it along and try it.
Unfortunately getting a single part is harder than finding the whole thing so you are in for a bit of searching.
Alternatively if you are willing to put the work in and learn Debian then I would recommend installing a base Debian install using the floppies (there are about 15 of them). From there you can connect to the internet and download everything else using
apt-get install “package-name”
or use aptitude and install lots of packages at once. There is a learning curve with Debian but once you have it installed and working it works like a dream and handles upgrades etc flawlessly, so no more re-installing.
To install Debian on it have a look at.
http://www.nixu.fi/~tsilven/linux/hp4150.html
Where they have used the CD you will need to use floppies.

By: Drew

Drew — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 06:12:41 +0000

Thanks much for responding–
Yes, problem happens when booting
I will install an OS–only problem is that
I dont have a CD Drive–its floppy–can I get a CD drive for HP omnibook 4150?
Is it even worth the $$$?
Thanks again,
by the way-u rock
Drew

By: Harry

Harry — Sun, 10 Oct 2004 17:43:46 +0000

This is such a common problem I would be hard pushed to guess the cause of it.
Normally the root causes of this sort of thing are.
1. Bad lilo.conf setup.
2. Partition table that you created are incorrect.
3. Bad install.
Where you given the omni book and have just tried to boot it. If so then the person who owned it before you has probably wiped it clean. This is normal and a good precaution, you will need to re-install your OS of choice.
You can reinstall anything you want on it. Redhat, Debian, Windows, Any of the Linux dists should go onto it, just insert the CD and away you go.

By: Drew

Drew — Sun, 10 Oct 2004 07:50:54 +0000

Hi, Im a bit of a newbie to Linux–
Have a HP Omnibook 4150–given to me
When I try to boot, I get the following message:
Ext2-fs:unable to read superblock
attempt to access beyond end of device
03:02: “””””””””bread failed
kernel panic: VFS:
Unable to mount root fs on 3:02
Can you help?
Can I just install another OS?
What are my options…
I’d be forever indebted if you could help, Thanks
Drew