Kernel Panic with gentoo boot (root partition not found)

gentookernelkernel-moduleskernel-panicrootfs

Kernel panic – not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(1,0)

grub.conf

default 0
timeout 30
splashimage=(hd0,0)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title Gentoo Linux 2.6.34-r6
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.34-gentoo-r6 root=/dev/ram0 real_root=/dev/sda3
vim:ft=conf:

fdisk -l

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 5 40131 83 Linux
/dev/sda2   6 71 530145 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3   72 1044 7815622+ 83 Linux

so im having trouble getting gentoo to boot, how can I change it from looking for root at block(1,0) to block(0,0) which is where my root partition is created? I though setting it to look to that hdd in grub is all I needed? that is my first guess to what might be causing the problem but not sure why it is giving this error. please advise…

Best Answer

Youre trying to boot up an init ram block device (initrd), but you havent provided an initrd to grub, so /dev/ram0 doesnt exist.

Additionally initrd is old school. If youre building a new server, you should be using initramfs not initrd, and you shouldnt specify root= at all, it is taken care of automatically.

If youre not using and initrd or initramfs, you should change the root= to be root=/dev/sda3 and remove the real_root=

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