Hi All,
I recently installed Linux 2.4.20-8 on my computer. Today, I ran a find command on one terminal and tried to run a 'mv' command on the other terminal. The 'mv' command failed because drive was busy. After that I CTRL+C the 'find' command. Then tried to run 'mv' on the other terminal but it won't recognize the command anymore. After that it won't recognize any commands. It won't open any programs and would come up with error messages. So I restarted the machine. now it gives me the following error.

Freeing unused kernel memory:132k freed
Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

It hangs at this point. I have restarted the machine several times. But no result.
Any ideas?
Please remember I am new at this so a detailed response will be much more helpful.

Thanks heaps for any help...
Aki,,,

How can I fix LILO without repeating the whole install?

If Linux was installed (root directory and all that) then you can "get back in" and set up LILO. There is nothing magic about the Linux install process as far as LILO is concerned. Don't waste your time by repeating it! In fact, in the Slackware distribution, the lilo installation step is simply the program 'liloconf' ! So, step one is to get your Linux system running:

* If you have made a boot diskette, use it!
* If you have access to a rescue diskette, use it!
* If you have the installation media (CD, etc.) you should be able to make a rescue diskette from it (using the rawrite program).
* If you can boot from your CD you may be able to use it directly as a linux boot disk.
* If you can boot up in DOS and read the CD you can use LOADLIN to start Linux. (And you may be able to get these files plus a DOS boot disk using another computer.)

In all the above cases, the key is to remember (or figure out by trial and error!) where the Linux root directory was installed and then specify it to the kernel when you boot up. At LILO's boot: prompt, you enter a line like:

boot: linux root=/dev/hda2

The key is to identify the correct disk partition and use it where you see hda2 in the above example. Then perform step two, which is to fix /etc/lilo.conf (now you know where your root partition is!) and install LILO using /sbin/lilo.

Search Engines Are Your Friends ☺
Morpheus: There is a difference between
knowing the path and walking the path. "The Matrix"

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Thanks Zenith, for such an elaborate response. I won't be able to try these until monday. But I will post whatever the outcome may be. Although, I did want to install the latest version of Red Hat which I have just downloaded. But at the same time I want to get my hands clean on troubleshooting LILO problems. So I will try my level best to first get the current version working again.
Thanks again.

Aki,,,

"...but it won't recognize the command anymore. After that it won't recognize any commands..."

What exactly did you move and where to? Sounds as though you may have accidently moved some stuff you shouldn't have (eg /bin, /boot etc)....logged in as root where you?!?

Try booting off a knoppix CD or similar and examine the files on your hard drive.