Installing to SCSI

What is the error message that you get when you try to boot?

How do you boot, do you select the drive from BIOS (that's relevant if you have 2 drives)

Do you have Windows installed? You could try to boot from Windows boot loader: www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Windows_boot_loader (let me know if something is not clear there)

Some other options: www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Alternative_boot_methods

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Post on MEPISLovers, that's where MEPIS users help each other.

MEPIS fails to boot after installation on an SCSI drive. Other flavors of Linux do successfully boot on the SCSI drives (both before and after MEPIS boot failure). Thus it isn't the BIOS setting.

The MEPIS boot failure occurs even after a controller full reformat (not a Windows quickie) of the SCSI HD (i.e. it is now a very clean HD).

I'm trying to install MEPIS as the sole OS - that's why I disconnected the IDE drive w/Windows. I could (and have) installed MEPIS on an IDE drive, but that's not what I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to do.

It makes no difference whether I have one or two SCSI drives.

The problem is on my PC at home. I'll have to wait until this evening to reproduce the precise error message. GRUB starts but reports either that it cannot find the MEPIS boot string or "kernel panic."

I thought there had been an earlier thread addressing this problem, but I couldn't find a successful conclusion. I thought or hoped the problem had been solved and that's why it was no longer an issue.

Thanks
Joe

It is relevant how you boot if GRUB sees your disk as disk number one when you install it and then when you reboot sees it as disk number two you get a "kernel panic" error.

So, what I need: your /boot/grub/menu.lst file and your detailed harddisk configuration: meaning on which disk and which partition you installed MEPIS.

To understand why I asked about BIOS see for example this entry in Wiki:
www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/Installing_GRUB_on_the_MBR_of_a_second_drive

A quick way to find if you point to the right disk number is to drop to GRUB command line www.mepis.org/docs/en/index.php/GRUB_from_command_line and try to find the correct number by hitting TAB (for autocompletion) as discribed in that page.
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Check out MEPIS Wiki: www.mepis.org/docs
Post on MEPISLovers, that's where MEPIS users help each other.

Sorry for the delay.

Here's the error message:

kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: unable to mount root fs on unknown block (0,0)

Only one SCSI HD, no IDE drive, GRUB mounted on MBR of sda, no other OS on the drive.

This is the message I consistently get after installing MEPIS from CD. Not a new phenomenon, has happened with earlier versions (non-Ubuntu).

As noted, I have no problem installing then booting Ubuntu on an SCSI drive, nor installing then successfully booting MEPIS on IDE drives, even notebooks.

Thanks
Joe

Oh, you probably need to install with initrd. Boot to CD -> Start "MEPIS System Assistant" -> Repaire System boot tab -> Check the "Enable initrd" checkbox and click Apply

Sorry for sending you for wild goose chase before but w/o the error message is difficult to imagine what goes on.
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Check out MEPIS Wiki: www.mepis.org/docs
Post on MEPISLovers, that's where MEPIS users help each other.

Worked great! Too easy!

You might consider a bit more of an explanation of initrd on the GRUB install screen. IIRC, all it says is "for advanced (or expert) users."

"Check this box if MEPIS won't boot after installation on your SCSI [or other] drive" would have been more helpful.

Thanks

Can't wait for the non-Ubuntu version of MEPIS to be resurrected.

Joe