RHEL 4 Update problem

[Rick Stevens]

Scott Becker wrote:
> I just installed 4 ES on a server last Wednesday. I had to select 
> I2O_BLOCK driver to get it see my Adaptec raid array (on zero channel 
> controller). Two days later (friday) I installed the latest updates with 
> 'up2date -u -f' and an updated kernel installed along with other 
> packages. The machine now hangs on boot with a blank screen except for 
> 'GRUB _'.  I presume that after the kernel update, grub does not have 
> what it needs to have in order to access the I2O device, even though it 
> did after install. I think I can boot from install #1 and access the drive.
> 
> Does anybody know the specifics of what it takes for GRUB to access I2O?

You don't say if the Adaptec is used for the root device or not.  Note
that if it is, somewhere in your /etc/modprobe.conf there must be a
line that installs the i20 driver (probably via an "alias" command).  If
that's missing, the upgraded kernel didn't include the i20 driver in
your initrd image and yes, the boot will hang.

That being said, it sounds more like you use a controller OTHER than the
RAID card for the root filesystem and the kernel installation got
confused and set up the boot to try to talk to the RAID card as the root
filesystem instead of the other drive.  I say this because you're
hanging at the grub prompt and not at a "can't switchroot" message.

You need to boot off the rescue CD and look at the
/mnt/sysimage/boot/grub/grub.conf file and see what the NEW kernel
thinks is the root filesystem as opposed to the previous kernel thought.
Make the new one look like the old one and try a reboot.
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-   You possess a mind not merely twisted, but actually sprained.    -
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