VFS: Cannot open root device 03:05
      Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 03:05

MY CURRENT SYSTEM (WITH STATUS)
   This is going to be decomissioned and used for storage,
   but is still usable:
      sda   4.3 GB hard disk
      sda1   Windows 98
      sda2 <sda5 sda6 sda7 sda8 sda9>  Linux-Mandrake 7.1

   This contains the Linux I can't access:
      hda   30 GB hard disk
      hda1  Windows Me
      hda2  <hda5 hda6 hda7 hda8> Linux-Mandrake 7.1 where:
         hda5   /
         hda6   /usr
         hda7   /root
         hda8   swap

   Other hardware
      hdc    CD ReWriter
      hdd    LS-120 drive
      scd0   CD-ROM

BACKGROUND NOTES
The Linux distribution is from the downloaded Linux-Mandrake 7.1
ISO images (two CDs: Installation Disc and Extension Disc).
When I installed Linux-Mandrake from these, it gave an error
message when I tried to create a boot floppy.  The boot floppy
it did partially create is useless.

WHAT HAPPENED
I've just installed a CD rewriter (hdc). This worked fine in both Windows
Me and Linux, though X-CD-Roast was pretty frightening with its
insistence on specifiying a partition for the ripped files.  I may have
made a mistake when choosing a partition.

REMEDIAL ACTION I'VE ATTEMPTED
Using the Linux-Mandrake installation I was about to decomission
(on sda2), I tried to access my new Linux-Mandrake installation
on hda2 with the command:

   mount   /dev/hda6   /mnt/new

but I get the message "/dev/hda6 is not a block device" (or similar).

I tried each of the non-Windows LILO options (linux, failsafe,
windows, windows2, floppy) but none worked.

I do have a bootable disk from an old installation (1998, S.u.S.E.
5.2) which I used on sda2 to recover LILO by selecting the option
"boot from installed system" but if I type in hda2 it can't see
it, and probably wouldn't be much point if I could, anyway, as
I'd still get the same kernel panic.

CALL FOR HELP
Needless to say, I'd be extremely grateful for any assistance.  I'm having
to use Windows Me to send this :-(  I'm sure there's a relatively easy
way to ger around this - at least, I hope there is!

I'm sure all my data are still on my Linux partitions on hda2, I just
need to to find the door that will let me get to them.

I blame X-CD-Roast for this.

Martin

judging from what you describe, i suspect that you have written the
ISO image into the root device... if that was what happened, then you
can boot from some rescue media and try to mount the root device using
-t iso9660 flag. if that mounts sucessfully, it means that your entire
partition is gone. overwritten by xcdroast....

yet another example of why root previliged utilities should never be X
based.

On Sat, 25 Nov 2000 16:04:41 -0000, "Martin"

< /dev/hda2: Success
< mount: you must specify the file system type
< mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda2
< or too many mounted filesystems (aren't you trying to mount an
< extended partition instead of some logical partition inside?)
< warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 5 will be corrected
< by (w)rite
<
< Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 3737 cylinders
< Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
<
< Device      Boot   Start   End   Blocks     Id   System
< /dev/hda1   *          1   638   5124703+   b    Win95 FAT32
< /dev/hda2            639  3737  24892717+   85   Linux extended

One other thing, if X-CD-Roast had written to hda2, would I have been
able to continue working as normal during that login, as I did for
several hours after initially launching X-CD-Roast?

Martin

 What you have done is misinterpret the listing of partitions.
/dev/hda2 is a node for logical partitions those being.
/hda5 6 7 and 8. try and boot into /hda5 this seems to
be the root directory.
 Or mount it from a rescue system after letting the rescue system
come up and give you a login.
 In order to do this you have to create a mountpoint within the
rescue system ie mkdir /mnt/mpoint.
then mount -t ext2 /dev/hda5 /mnt/mpoint
From there you should be able to navigate with all the usual
console commands.
If the system looks intact and you have access to the chroot
command you can even transfer root (temporarily) to the
newly mounted partition.
chroot /mnt/mpoint

hope this helps.

--
Jim Broughton
(The Amiga OS! Now there was an OS)
If Sense were common everyone would have it!

< /dev/hda5: Success
< mount: you must specify the file system type
< mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda2
< or too many mounted filesystems (aren't you trying to mount an
< extended partition instead of some logical partition inside?)
< warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 5 will be corrected
< by (w)rite
<
< Disk /dev/hda: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 3737 cylinders
< Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
<
< Device      Boot   Start   End   Blocks     Id   System
< /dev/hda1   *          1   638   5124703+   b    Win95 FAT32
< /dev/hda2            639  3737  24892717+   85   Linux extended

One other thing, if X-CD-Roast had written to hda2, would I have been
able to continue working as normal during that login, as I did for
several hours after initially launching X-CD-Roast?

Martin

"Jim Broughton" <sparkeyja...@earthlink.net> wrote

... don't know what this could be but there are some things you can
try to shed some light on this:

I really can't see why the partition cannot be mounted. try use mount
with verbose(-v), and see if there's more info about that partition.

one thing is that, the disk seem rather big, so there is a chance that
the kernel image is out of lilo' bound. the latest lilo lets you set a
parameter to overcome the 1024 cylinder limit.. however, since you are
just using mount, not lilo, it shouldn't have been the cause...

when you boot from /dev/sda2, what is the kernel message that shows
your IDE hard disk? was it using the right device number?

as of the answer to your other post, i think you should've mounted
/dev/hda5 instead of /dev/hda2 because /dev/hda2 is only the extended
partition, not a logical partition. again, use -v when mounting. go
thru all the little partitions from  hda5 to hda7 and try to mount
them with -v and try with -t ext2 or -t iso9660, see what comes up.

On Sat, 25 Nov 2000 16:04:41 -0000, "Martin"