Here is a list of things to check when nothing is working. Unfortunately, it is not very complete listing. If you've got suggestions for things to add, please mailto:ralphs@netwinder.org.
etc/fstab
Be sure to check the etc/fstab
file in your new disk image before
shutting down and trying to boot it for the first time. The default file
might not be applicable to the way you've partitioned your disk. Make sure
that there are entries for only those partitions you actually use. Comment
out any /dev/hdXY
lines if you don't need them.
Also, make sure that the root device is properly specified. The root device
is the line whose mountpoint (second column) is simply `/'. Make sure that
the device name immediately to the left of it actually is the partition
where you've installed the disk image. This should be the same value that
you put into the rootdev
parameter in the firmware.
etc/mtab
If there is a file called etc/mtab
in your newly installed image,
delete it. This is used to cache the actual mounted filesystems (it looks
much like /etc/fstab
). The system will re-create a proper file
when it needs one. Having an old version of mtab around can prevent the
machine from booting.
/proc
, /mnt
Sometimes the mountpoints don't get included in a disk image. Fix this by going to the root directory of the new image and running the following commands.
mkdir proc mkdir mnt mkdir mnt/hda1 mkdir mnt/hda2 mkdir mnt/hda3
When booting a 2.2.x kernel on a disk image designed for 2.0, you may
encounter the message `Unable to open initial console
' shortly
afteer the kernel boots. The solution is pretty simple, you have to create
a /dev/console
entry in your NFS disk image. Either of the
following two command can be used; the first one is preferred:
mknod /dev/console c 5 1 ln -s tty0 /dev/console
Keep in mind you want to create the node in the NFS image that's exported to
your NetWinder for booting, as opposed to the root filesystem of your NFS
server. So you should really say /path_to_nfs/dev/console
instead
of /dev/console
.
If you're getting this error whey you try to boot your newly installed
system, then the problem is that you used a new version of mke2fs
and it has turned on some new features, which the NetWinder firmware does
not understand. Until the firmware is fixed, the solution is to use
mke2fs -O sparse_super /dev/hdaX
when you format your filesystem.
It may also be possibly to change this after-the-fact with the tune2fs
program, but I've not tried it.