Re: using linux as domU. Error: initializing devices...

[Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>]

On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 08:43:41PM +0200, Cem Kayali wrote:
> It is not xvda... nor hda... I didn't see any hd* sd* and xvd* entries 
> in ~linux/dev. I also installed grub and tried using ubuntu way: 
> kernel+initrd as module.

Not surprising as /dev is probably a kernfs-like filesystem. What do you
see on console when the linux kernel boots ?
> 
> 
> I think im just unlucky... I need to play more or maybe better to ask 
> someone how he/she installed xen enabled a favorite distribution as 
> domU; ie; ubuntu, opensuse, fedora... from their CDs/DVDs.
> 

For scientific linux 5 (clone of RHEL5), I boot:
kernel = "/usr/pkg/etc/xen/kernels/vmlinuz-2.6.18-92.el5xen"
ramdisk = "/usr/pkg/etc/xen/kernels/initrd-2.6.18-92.el5xen.img"

both kernel and initrd being provided by the distribution in
scientific/52/{i386,x86_64}/images/xen/
this start the usual SL5 installed in the domU. Once installed, I change the
config to
bootloader = "/usr/pkg/bin/pygrub"
(removing the kernel and ramdisk lines), and the domU loads the SL5
kernel/initrd using pygrub from the domU's root.

Now if I understood you properly you want to boot from an already-installed
linux partition. I've not tried this for a long time, and I don't know
how to build the initial ramdisk (required if your xen kernel has
disk driver build as module).


-- 
Manuel Bouyer <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>
     NetBSD: 26 ans d'experience feront toujours la difference
--