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+<!DOCTYPE issue SYSTEM "/dtd/kbase.dtd">
+
+<issue id="2">
+<title>Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(X,Y)</title>
+<maintainers>
+  <dev>swift</dev>
+</maintainers>
+<keywords>
+  <key>boot</key>
+  <key>kernel</key>
+  <key>kernel panic</key>
+</keywords>
+<synopsis>
+
+<p>
+When you boot up your Gentoo system, you receive the following error before you
+receive the Gentoo-specific start-up:
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+VFS: Cannot open root device "hda3" or unknow-block(8,3)
+Please append a correct "root=" boot option
+Kernel Panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(8,3)
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+The numbers in the unknown-block(X,Y) can be different; the X-value is non-zero.
+</p>
+
+</synopsis>
+<environment>
+
+<p>
+This occurs when booting a new kernel or after a change in the bootloader
+configuration.
+</p>
+
+</environment>
+<analysis>
+
+<p>
+When the Linux kernel has been booted and finished all its initial
+configuration, it tries to mount the root filesystem. It uses the root boot
+parameter to find out what the root filesystem is:
+</p>
+
+<pre>
+(Example from a grub.conf):
+kernel /kernel-2.6.10-gentoo-r5 root=/dev/hda3
+</pre>
+
+<p>
+As the Linux kernel doesn't understand a string like "/dev/hda3" it translates
+it to a set of numbers, called a major and minor number. In this error, the
+major and minor are known. This occurs when the kernel has succesfully detected
+the hardware but is not able to understand the file system that it found on it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In other words, the kernel does not have support for the file system on it
+built-in.
+</p>
+
+</analysis>
+<solution>
+
+<p>
+There are four possible reasons for this issue to occur: you did not select the
+correct file system support when configuring the kernel, the support for the
+file system is built as a module and you are not using an initial root device, 
+the file system is corrupted and does not identify itself as that particular
+file system anymore, or there is no file system on it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Make sure that your kernel configuration has support for the correct file
+system and that it is built in the kernel, not as a module.
+Otherwise your kernel would need to be able to mount the disk to find the module
+to ... mount the disk. 
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Also, verify if the root parameter you've set is indeed pointing to the right
+partition. If that fails too, see if you can mount this partition from a rescue
+CD. 
+</p>
+
+</solution>
+</issue>