Newly compiled kernel gets error message at boot up

[morphir]

I googled for this, but I could not get a clear solution for my problem.
I have compiled a new kernel for my Slackware. Using 2.4.32 before I wanted to upgrade too 2.6.17.4

I did, and got following error when trying to boot the badboy:


VFS: Cannot open root device "301" or unknown-block(3,1)
Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3,1)


So, I use ext2 as my fileformat. And here are my output of cat /etc/lilo.conf:

boot="/dev/hda"
lba32
prompt
timeout="1200"
root="/dev/hda1"
vga="733"

image="/boot/bzImage-2.6.17.4"
label="Linux-2.6.17.4"
root="/dev/hda1"
read-only
optional

[je_fro]

Did you include ext2 support in your new kernel?

[mhacleth]

The move from the 2.4 to the 2.6 kernel needs some extra work. If you still have your Slack CD's, there is a directory there called 'testing.' Patrick gave a detailed instruction there on how to use the 2.6 kernel there. After you are able to boot off the stock Slackware 2.6 kernel, then go ahead and recompile the latest one using the config (or modified config) of the 2.6 tree.

And as je-fro mentioned, make sure that the fs of your root is supported either built-in or module (then using initrd to load it at boot).

Hope this helps!
:)