Symptom(s):

Red Hat* Linux Advanced Server 2.1 was installed on an internal hard drive and was working well. But after an external storage is attached to the external SCSI port, Red Hat* Linux Advanced Server 2.1 can no longer boot. Following error message may appear:

Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

Cause:

The integrated LSI53C1030 SCSI controller supports two SCSI channels. SCSI port B controls the internal SCSI channel, while SCSI port A controls the external SCSI channel. When the server boots, external SCSI channel A is scanned first. Linux system recognizes the first SCSI drive as sda, the second drive as sdb, and so on. Thus, after an external storage is connected to the external SCSI port, the drive order is changed. So the boot loader (elilo) can't find boot image and the OS fails to boot.

Solution:

Follow these steps to boot the system:

1. Boot the server. Make sure that nothing is in the CDROM drive.
   
2. From EFI Boot Manager, select EFI Shell [Built-in].
   
3. Type map -r and locate the EFI service partition. This should be fs0:.
   
4. Change to fs0 by typing fs0: and <ENTER>, then ls and <ENTER>. You should see the directory of EFI. If you don't then try the next fs# listed by the map command in step 3.
   
5. Edit the \EFI\redhat\elilo.conf file using EFI Editor:
   edit \efi\redhat\elilo.conf
   
6. Determine the device name of you internal hard drive. For example, if your internal hard drive originally was sda, and you have two logical drives on your external storage, then your internal hard drive becomes sdc.
   
7. Press <F8> and type sda and <ENTER>. Then type sd# and <ENTER> where # is the device name of your internal hard drive. Type a to replace all. Press <F3> and y to save the file and exit EFI Editor.
   
8. Exit from the EFI Shell by typing in exit and <ENTER>.
   
9. Boot to Red Hat* Linux Advanced Server 2.1.
   
10. Edit /etc/fstab using your favorite text editor. Replace all sda with sd# where # is the device name of your internal hard drive.
    
11. Save the file and reboot the server.
    

Please take note that if you add or remove logical drives to your external storage, you might need to repeat these steps again.

Operating System:

Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.x*

This applies to:

Intel® Server System SR870BH2