[SWLUG] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(3, 8)

[Julian Hall]

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Gerald Davies wrote:

>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?K282354EC
>
> http://makeashorterlink.com/?G5A2124EC
>
> start reading as i don't have time today ;)

I'll have a look thanks :)

> no offence, but a bad workman always blames his tools :) if you're
> routinely powering off your box then i'm not surprised when thinks
> go pear shaped.

No offence taken, and to be fair it's *Windows* requiring the power
off not Linux.  Windows being the tool in question getting the blame
for that.  However it does always say "Windows is shutting down" and
then shuts off, so it's not like I'm yanking the battery out or
anything.  Happily I don't *routinely* shut the system down that way,
it was simply because I had occasion to boot it into Windows and it
wouldn't play.  Unfortunately without keyboard or touchpad access the
*only* option available is the power button.

I don't (well didn't - now I have to every time it kernel panics) have
to power off Linux in the middle of a boot, which is why this problem
annoys me.  It wasn't anything to do with Linux that I had to shut
down.  What I'm unhappy with Linux for is that in the three years or
so I've been using it, I've been forced by obscure errors to reinstall
about half dozen to a dozen times, in the same space of time I've
reinstalled Windows about half as much, and those were upgrade driven,
not errors.  On each occasion I've Googled and/or asked for help, but
usually ended up reinstalling because a) it's quicker, b) it's an
irrecoverable error, c) I can't find the answer anywhere, or d) I was
advised to, or a combination of the above.

One simple example:  /usr or /home - I forget which, got filled up
(don't remember how).  Linux refused to boot at all.  To my mind
that's like Windows refusing to boot because My Documents is full (or
possibly the Windows swap file didn't have enough space), which
Windows doesn't do.  I know it's not a perfect analogy, but that's the
kind of frustration a relative newbie to Linux faces, and *that* is
what makes people go back to Windows.

>
> btw, why xandros?

I had Mandrake (9.0, 9.1, 10.0, 10.1) initially.  That had to be
*cough* reinstalled and a friend of mine suggested I try Xandros since
I was reinstalling anyway, because as a long time Windows user it has
a more familiar interface, but it has the power of Debian behind it so
updates etc are much easier to accomplish.  By that time I'd learned
my lesson about /home and /usr and now I mount them on separate
partitions.  I've found it to be a great distro, notwithstanding the
current hiccup.

Kind regards,

Julian
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