kernel 2.4.22 boot/root disks

[Dave]

Hi,

I'm having trouble getting my 2.4.22 lilo boot disk to load a
compressed root disk. Are there certain options that need to be specified
when compiling a kernel to allow it to decompress a compressed root disk or
is this problem a kernel parameter problem ? I currently get as far as the
kernel asking to insert the root disk and then press any key. Upon inserting
the compressed root disk however... the kernel soon panics indicating that
it is unable to mount the root partition. I read the Bootdisk How-To but
still am unable to create a working boot/root disk set. Like the How-To
stated I compiled ramdisk and ext2 fs support into the kernel. I also
compiled zlib decompression as I though this might be needed to decompress
the root disk. Any information on how to create a working boot/root disk set
would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dave

[emilio lazardo]

Here's a list of things to check:

- Use 'make bzImage' for smallest kernel size. If the resulting kernel is
close to being too big, it will warn you about fitting on a single floppy
- /etc/lilo.conf (or GRUB) must have the correct root partition specified.
For example, my boot disk is /dev/sda and my /boot partition is on
/dev/sda1, so lilo.conf has the lines:

boot=/dev/sda
root=/dev/sda1

or you can pass them at the boot prompt:

"boot: linux boot=/dev/sda root=/dev/sda1"

If this doesn't help, post your GRUB or LILO config info.

rgds,
tim.