Ext3 users - Dec 2001 - how to force ext2 root fs type at boot?

Hi guys'n'girls,

I think my question is :
How can I tell a redhat 2.4.x  kernel (via grub or LILO command-line
parameters) that the root filesystem is ext2 and not ext3 ?
I thought it would just look in /etc/fstab, but presumably it needs to know
what fstype the  root is before mounting it; the words 'chicken' and
egg'
spring to mind.

Or does some initrd jggerypokery go on?

My problem is the following:
After upgrading from RH 7.2 (kernel 2.4.7-10 with ext3 root fs  ) to a
vanilla (non-RH) 2.4.10 kernel (no ext3 support), the system wouldn't boot
since the new kernel had no ext3 support.

I had to do a 'tune2fs -O ^has_journal ' and edit fstab , in order to
get it
to boot.
(is this enough to convert back to ext2 ?)

Unfortunately before making a new boot floopy at this stage, I must have
made an error in my grub.conf, and so now I can't boot from grub.
my old boot floopy fails to boot : it loads the ext3 and journaling modules
, then the kernel panics since it can't mount the root fs, mentioning that
the root fs has no journal.

I am/was using the standard RH 2.4.7-10  initrd.img.

Any ideas or tips on what I did wrong anyone?
many thanks
Robin

PS Incidentally, grub shows the 'loading 2nd stage loader' and then
reboots
the PC. grub was working fine before I added a 4th kernel to grub.conf and I
omitted to add an initrd line, I'm not sure if that's what caused it to
stop
working (I'm new to grub)

On Dec 13, 2001  14:00 -0000, Robin Sinclair wrote:
> How can I tell a redhat 2.4.x  kernel (via grub or LILO command-line
> parameters) that the root filesystem is ext2 and not ext3 ?
> I thought it would just look in /etc/fstab, but presumably it needs to know
> what fstype the  root is before mounting it; the words 'chicken'
and egg'
> spring to mind.
The kernel should automatically detect the fs type from the available fses.
It ignores the /etc/fstab entry for /.
> Or does some initrd jggerypokery go on?
Always possible.
> My problem is the following:
> After upgrading from RH 7.2 (kernel 2.4.7-10 with ext3 root fs  ) to a
> vanilla (non-RH) 2.4.10 kernel (no ext3 support), the system wouldn't
boot
> since the new kernel had no ext3 support.
Should only happen if you didn't cleanly shut down the system before
starting
the new kernel.  If "wouldn't boot" really means "can't
mount other filesystems"
then try putting "auto" in /etc/fstab, and make sure you have a new
enough
mount program to handle this.

Also, 2.4.10 is a terrible kernel to run if you are using ext3, stay away.
> I had to do a 'tune2fs -O ^has_journal ' and edit fstab , in order
to get it
> to boot. (is this enough to convert back to ext2 ?)
Yes, if you have a new enough e2fsprogs, this is enough.  Otherwise, you also
need to run e2fsck -f on the device.

Cheers, Andreas
--
Andreas Dilger
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2resize/
http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/