From: I1041301@dbstu1.rz.tu-bs.de (Mike Dowling)
Subject: 0.99pl? won't boot from the hard disk
Organization: Technical University Braunschweig, Germany
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 18:32:42 GMT

I have just searched the massive list of contributions to this list and
it would appear that there are one or two people with the same problem.
I certainly desparately need a solution.  The problem is this.
 
When I upgraded 0.98pl4 to 0.99pl3 on my now somewhat aging 386
computer, the kernl compiled well enough, but I had a kernel panic when
I tried to boot from the hard disk.  LILO started all right, and the
last correct boot message was that the partition tables are ok.  Then
Linux said that it could not mount the root disk, and paniced.
 
I had first updated the periferal stuff, so that I had the latest
gcc2.3.3, the 4.2 libs, lilo 8, and so on.  I did this before attempting
to install 0.99pl3.
 
After my initial failure, I then booted the system
from a floppy containing 0.99pl2, and it worked fine.  It follows that
0.99 could boot from the floppy and mount my two RLL hard disks, but not
if it was booting from a hard disk.
 
I then tried to re-install 0.99pl2 directly from the floppy.  This was
very troublesome as the lilo on the floppy was obviously using the older
libraries, so that the floppy software was not compatible with that on the  hd.
I also got strange messages from lilo to the effect that the boot sector
was version somthing, and it was execting some other version.  I
eventually succeeded in running lilo, but I still had the same message.
This time though, the message was a little different.  Apparently the
kernel could not access the superblock, and paniced.
 
Not to be beaten, I thought that it might have something to do with the
extended file system I was using.  I carefully copied everything of
value from the hda1 to hdb1, and ran fsck on the bootdisk hda1, or at
least I thought I did.  In fact, I was by this time very tired, and
wiped hdb1 instead.  With nothing to loose now, I reformatted hda1 with
minix, and reinstalled 0.99pl2 from the floppy.  No lilo problems this
time as there is nothing left to be incompatible with.  Same problem,
though; linux paciced when it could not access the superblock.
 
Defeated, I then installed 0.98pl5 without difficulty.  After a week of
hard work, I have now restored the system to its previous state.  I
tried using ftp and telnet from 0.98pl5, but it was very buggy.  The
worst thing that happened was that ftp caused a severe system crash
after which every block of the 80 MB hdb1 was marked as not in use when it
was.  As this disk was 99% full, efsck had to be run using the "-a"
option, which the auther himself warned against.  It worked fine; five
minutes later it had restored the entire hd; it is a great program.  I
now no longer trust ftp or telnet with 0.98pl5, yet it is precisely the
network facilities that is the reason why I have not junked this old
computer.  I desparately need a functioning 0.99pl?.
 
I also have a 486 at home and have had 0.99pl3 up and running for some
time without any problems.  This computer has AT bus hard disks.
 
Suggestions warmly received.
 
Mike Dowling
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux