Mailing List Archive: EXTLINUX: Reading the extlinux.conf but can't find Kernel

EXTLINUX: Reading the extlinux.conf but can't find Kernel

Feb 5, 2008, 4:12 PM

Post #1 of 4 (4061 views)

Hi Folks,

OK - I'm not entirely new to Linux but I'm certainly not great on the
boot process. What I'm trying to achieve is to boot from an external USB
HDD (not flash drive) using EXTLINUX.

I've run an installation against the disk using a VM. The disk was
partitioned as follows:

/dev/sda1 = /boot (bootable)
/dev/sda2 =/swap
/dev/sda3=/ (i.e. root)
/dev/sda4=/dos

sda1 and 3 are formatted as EXT3 .. sda4 is FAT32.

As far as I can see, I've followed the instructions correctly and
initialised extlinux against the /boot/extlinux directory I've created.
MBR has been copied to /dev/sda
extlinux.conf has been created and I know that it's being read at boot
time (I left a SAY command in the file which appears at boot).

However - I always get the message returned "Could not find Kernel
Image" then the path I specify to my kernel.

My understanding is that this will be the vmlinuz entry in the /boot
directory (which in my case is vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server). So I've
specified /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server as the value for my
extlinux.conf kernel parameter but it doesn't seem to be recognised.

It's obvious that I'm missing something here - and it's probably a hole
in my understanding of how this should work - but if anyone can help
plug that gap then please help.

Regards
Dan

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Re: EXTLINUX: Reading the extlinux.conf but can't find Kernel [ In reply to ]

jalifrangis at authenticlick

Feb 5, 2008, 5:29 PM

Post #2 of 4 (3906 views)

Permalink

Please send your extlinux config file

I think it's something in your config file

On 2/5/08 4:12 PM, "Dan Keating" <dan@silverlotus.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi Folks,
>
> OK - I'm not entirely new to Linux but I'm certainly not great on the
> boot process. What I'm trying to achieve is to boot from an external USB
> HDD (not flash drive) using EXTLINUX.
>
> I've run an installation against the disk using a VM. The disk was
> partitioned as follows:
>
> /dev/sda1 = /boot (bootable)
> /dev/sda2 =/swap
> /dev/sda3=/ (i.e. root)
> /dev/sda4=/dos
>
> sda1 and 3 are formatted as EXT3 .. sda4 is FAT32.
>
> As far as I can see, I've followed the instructions correctly and
> initialised extlinux against the /boot/extlinux directory I've created.
> MBR has been copied to /dev/sda
> extlinux.conf has been created and I know that it's being read at boot
> time (I left a SAY command in the file which appears at boot).
>
> However - I always get the message returned "Could not find Kernel
> Image" then the path I specify to my kernel.
>
> My understanding is that this will be the vmlinuz entry in the /boot
> directory (which in my case is vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server). So I've
> specified /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server as the value for my
> extlinux.conf kernel parameter but it doesn't seem to be recognised.
>
> It's obvious that I'm missing something here - and it's probably a hole
> in my understanding of how this should work - but if anyone can help
> plug that gap then please help.
>
> Regards
> Dan
>
> _______________________________________________
> SYSLINUX mailing list
> Submissions to SYSLINUX@zytor.com
> Unsubscribe or set options at:
> http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
> Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic.
>

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Re: EXTLINUX: Reading the extlinux.conf but can't find Kernel [ In reply to ]

hpa at zytor

Feb 5, 2008, 5:41 PM

Post #3 of 4 (3900 views)

Permalink

Dan Keating wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> OK - I'm not entirely new to Linux but I'm certainly not great on the
> boot process. What I'm trying to achieve is to boot from an external USB
> HDD (not flash drive) using EXTLINUX.
>
> I've run an installation against the disk using a VM. The disk was
> partitioned as follows:
>
> /dev/sda1 = /boot (bootable)
> /dev/sda2 =/swap
> /dev/sda3=/ (i.e. root)
> /dev/sda4=/dos
>
> sda1 and 3 are formatted as EXT3 .. sda4 is FAT32.
>
> As far as I can see, I've followed the instructions correctly and
> initialised extlinux against the /boot/extlinux directory I've created.
> MBR has been copied to /dev/sda
> extlinux.conf has been created and I know that it's being read at boot
> time (I left a SAY command in the file which appears at boot).
>
> However - I always get the message returned "Could not find Kernel
> Image" then the path I specify to my kernel.
>
> My understanding is that this will be the vmlinuz entry in the /boot
> directory (which in my case is vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server). So I've
> specified /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server as the value for my
> extlinux.conf kernel parameter but it doesn't seem to be recognised.
>
> It's obvious that I'm missing something here - and it's probably a hole
> in my understanding of how this should work - but if anyone can help
> plug that gap then please help.
>

Yes, the problem is that /boot in your case is the root of a filesystem,
so the file that is called "/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" in your
filesystem is called "/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" as far as extlinux is
concerned.

If you make a relative filename it will be relative to /boot/extlinux,
so you could also specify it as "../vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" if you'd
prefer.

-hpa

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Re: EXTLINUX: Reading the extlinux.conf but can't find Kernel [ In reply to ]

jalifrangis at authenticlick

Feb 5, 2008, 6:33 PM

Post #4 of 4 (3892 views)

Permalink

Huh, didn't catch that, I must be slipping, thanks h

On 2/5/08 5:41 PM, "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@zytor.com> wrote:

> Dan Keating wrote:
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> OK - I'm not entirely new to Linux but I'm certainly not great on the
>> boot process. What I'm trying to achieve is to boot from an external USB
>> HDD (not flash drive) using EXTLINUX.
>>
>> I've run an installation against the disk using a VM. The disk was
>> partitioned as follows:
>>
>> /dev/sda1 = /boot (bootable)
>> /dev/sda2 =/swap
>> /dev/sda3=/ (i.e. root)
>> /dev/sda4=/dos
>>
>> sda1 and 3 are formatted as EXT3 .. sda4 is FAT32.
>>
>> As far as I can see, I've followed the instructions correctly and
>> initialised extlinux against the /boot/extlinux directory I've created.
>> MBR has been copied to /dev/sda
>> extlinux.conf has been created and I know that it's being read at boot
>> time (I left a SAY command in the file which appears at boot).
>>
>> However - I always get the message returned "Could not find Kernel
>> Image" then the path I specify to my kernel.
>>
>> My understanding is that this will be the vmlinuz entry in the /boot
>> directory (which in my case is vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server). So I've
>> specified /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server as the value for my
>> extlinux.conf kernel parameter but it doesn't seem to be recognised.
>>
>> It's obvious that I'm missing something here - and it's probably a hole
>> in my understanding of how this should work - but if anyone can help
>> plug that gap then please help.
>>
>
> Yes, the problem is that /boot in your case is the root of a filesystem,
> so the file that is called "/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" in your
> filesystem is called "/vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" as far as extlinux is
> concerned.
>
> If you make a relative filename it will be relative to /boot/extlinux,
> so you could also specify it as "../vmlinuz-2.6.20-15-server" if you'd
> prefer.
>
> -hpa
>
> _______________________________________________
> SYSLINUX mailing list
> Submissions to SYSLINUX@zytor.com
> Unsubscribe or set options at:
> http://www.zytor.com/mailman/listinfo/syslinux
> Please do not send private replies to mailing list traffic.
>

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