Subj : Re: Fedora Core 2 CD won't boot
To   : comp.os.linux
From : Thomas D. Shepard
Date : Sun Aug 01 2004 10:52 pm

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 19:48:01 -0700, myk wrote:

> At first I could get the CD to boot and begin the install. But whether
> I chose graphic or text, the installer would load aix777.o(?) for my
> ancient scsi card and the hang at a blue screen with "Welcome to
> Fedora Core" at the top and the move/select/continue instructions at
> the bottom.
> 
> I removed the scsi card and I got to "running /sbin/loader" and it
> hangs
> Then I tried the noprobe option to the kernel and now I get:
> 
> VFS:Cannot open root device "<NULL>" or unknown-block(72,3)
> Please append a correct "root=" boot option
> Kernel panic: VFS: Unable tomount root fs on unknown-block(72,3)
> 
> OK, I've installed Redhat, Mandrake, Fedora and Gentoo, but I've never
> run into this...
> 
> HELP!

I am not sure what is going on, but here are a few comments that I think
are correct.

First, did you verify the integrity of the CD before trying to install
from it?

The error message was issued by the linux Virtual File System (VFS), so
the kernel did get loaded and is running. It is complaining because it
cannot find the root file system. My wild guess is that the BIOS loaded a
valid boot image from the CDROM but then could not make sense out of the
file system on the CD due to not having support for whatever hardware,
firmware, or filesystem is on the CD. (The stuff that boots the OS is not
part of the file system on the CD. It is just raw byte code at the
beginning of the CD.)

Is this a scsi CD drive by any chance?

You might try booting from a grub floppy and seeing if you can find the
root partition on the CD ROM drive. With grub, you can poke around in the
file systems on the various drives even before anything is booted. I've
never tried this with a CD ROM though, so I don't know if it will work.

I do know that Fedora has a nasty reputation for being bug-ridden. I don't
use it anymore. The problems you are seeing are probably the tip of the
iceberg.

-- 
Thomas D. Shepard
Sorry, you can't email me.
(Email address is fake.)

.