[Clfs-support] Can't mount root at boot

[Stan Sander]

Arnie Stender wrote:
   So
> how do you get /dev/sdd1 out of "unknown-block(8,49)"? BTW, I can select
> the OpenSuSE and it boot up fine in this configuration. 

Well, I remember reading somewhere along the line, that the kernel at 
that stage of booting will print out only the major and minor numbers of 
the device in question.  I recognized the major number, 8, as SCSI, (so 
I knew we were dealing with /dev/sd??)  but the minor number was too 
much for my brain, so off to google I went to see if I could figure out 
what disk and partition minor number 49 maps to.  Didn't take too long 
to find that it was sdd1.

It took some
> pain to get it working after I switched the cables. I think you may ask
> why switch the cables and the answer is that when I go to mirror the two
> disks I want the disk to sync to, to be disk 0 to the BIOS. I'm not sure
> it is necessary but it makes things fit my logic and the mirroring
> process is one thing I don't want to screw up after I get it all
> finished. ;-)
> 
> Arnie

Hey, no problem there.  You saw in my last post how I chose to work the 
disk ordering and mapping.  I won't ask about your methodology if you 
don't ask why I don't just simply change the target ID of the disk I'm 
booting from.  ;)

So, obviously your Open Suse system sees the disks in question here as 
sdd1 and sde1.  I suspect that your new CLFS system may not be seeing 
these disks the same way.  (i.e. it may be mapping these to sda1 and 
sdb1 for example.)  However, I may be missing something since you stated:

> but when I get the OS
> up both the host and the CLFS see the data disks first.

How do you know the CLFS kernel is seeing the data disks as sda, sdb, 
and sdc if it won't boot up?  Only thing I can think of to prove this is 
to edit the command line (this can be done from the grub boot menu 
screen, but I can't remember the keystrokes without seeing the screens 
-- it's printed in the help or perhaps at the bottom of the menu screen 
IIRC) doing it from these screens will save booting to Open Suse, 
editing the menu.lst, rebooting, etc. etc.  I would try passing 
root=/dev/sda1 (then sdb1, etc) to the kernel of the CLFS system just to 
see what happens.

Outside of that, you may have to wait for a better expert to answer 
since I'm out of tricks.

Stan