"Can't open kernel file" trying to use kicker floppy

[Fountainhead]

I'm desperatly trying to evaluate unRAID. None of my boneyard PC's support a USB boot. I've located and downloaded the kicker.rar images and created a boot disk. I added the line...

 

LINLD image=c:BZIMAGE initrd=c:BZROOT "cl=root=/dev/sda1"

 

...to the autoexec.bat (per another posting here).

 

When booting from the floppy, I get the message:

 

ID0 = SanDisk Cruzer Micro

Installed Successfully

 

So apparently it recognizes and loads the USB key.

 

However it simply finishes the boot process with:

 

LINLD v0.97

Can't open kernel file

A:\>

 

The root of the USB key contains the files:

 

bzimage

bzroot

ldlinux.sys

readme.txt

syslinux.cfg

copnfig (FOLDER with a half dozen files)

 

Any help? I really want to try unRAID.

 

 

 

[Joe L.]

I don't know anything your kicker floppy,  but I've read that the names of the files are case sensitive when using LINLD.

 

So... perhaps try image=bzimage initrd=bzroot 

 

I doubt the files are on your "C:" drive either, so you may need to add something else to the commands to point it to your flash drive.

I'm sure odds are  very high it is not  "C:bzimage" unless it finds the first disk  it thinks is  bootable annd calls it as  your  "C"  drive.

 

Joe L.

[Fountainhead]

Thanks. Looks to me as if the kicker floppy isn't actually assigning a drive letter. After the boot, I have access to A:, which is obviously the floppy, B:, which oddly shows the same file listing as the floppy, and c:, which shows 0 files and folders and 93,491,200 bytes free. I have no idea what that's reading, since no fixed disks would match that stat. No other letters are accessible.

 

I'm about ready to give up on UnRAID. The USB boot mandate (and seemingly fussy hardware compatibility requirements) is a killer and makes it pretty hard to evaluate without investing in specific hardware. NAS2Lite and Openfiler loaded on this old box with no trouble. Ditto WHS. None do what UnRAID does, but if I can't load it to try it out without dropping a couple hundred bucks, well...

 

I'm not meaning to complain, as it's not Lime Technology's fault I don't have specific hardware on hand. But they ought to know that if they'd design a floppy or CD boot option (like NAS2Lite) they'd likely be able to snag a few more customers like me who really want to try it but can't.

[Billped]

I'm not meaning to complain, as it's not Lime Technology's fault I don't have specific hardware on hand. But they ought to know that if they'd design a floppy or CD boot option (like NAS2Lite) they'd likely be able to snag a few more customers like me who really want to try it but can't.

 

Picking up a few extra customers at the risk of losing a lot of customers to piracy is the *likely* reason why this has not been done.

 

If Unraid doesn't work for you, move along - those of us who use it certainly aren't surprised that it doesn't work for everyone.  When I post on avsforum and elsewhere I am careful not to be a fanboi for that exact reason.

 

 

Bill

[Joe L.]

I'm not meaning to complain, as it's not Lime Technology's fault I don't have specific hardware on hand. But they ought to know that if they'd design a floppy or CD boot option (like NAS2Lite) they'd likely be able to snag a few more customers like me who really want to try it but can't.

 

Picking up a few extra customers at the risk of losing a lot of customers to piracy is the *likely* reason why this has not been done.

 

If Unraid doesn't work for you, move along - those of us who use it certainly aren't surprised that it doesn't work for everyone.  When I post on avsforum and elsewhere I am careful not to be a fanboi for that exact reason.

 

 

Bill

I doubt if piracy is the reason.  If you did manage to boot it from the floppy, he management utility would still look for the /boot drive, identified by the label "UNRAID" to find the encrypted key file.  Without it, you would be limited to three drives.  unRaid has successfully been booted from a CD. I see no reason why it would not boot from a floppy on older hardware.  A much bigger issue would be RAM.  I've got a very old Pentium 1 machine, but no way to put  512 Meg of ram in it, therefore, it is not a good candidate for a server.

 

However you configured your hardware, and regardless of how you boot, the primary "piracy" control is the key file supplied and how it is tied to the serial number of your USB flash drive.  You may not boot from it, but the GUID is still there for the key to match against.. 

 

The ability to use unRaid for free in a three drive configuration is intended to get people interested, on their hardware, at minimal cost.  The cost for the license to add additional drives is small compared to the value of your data.

 

Telling somebody to run along, just because they have older hardware, is, in my opinion, not very friendly.  After all, there are only two basic types of computers out there... the ones that are obsolete today, and the ones that will be obsolete in 6 to 12 months.  It is only a matter of time.

 

Joe L.

[Fountainhead]

The ability to use unRaid for free in a three drive configuration is intended to get people interested, on their hardware, at minimal cost.   The cost for the license to add additional drives is small compared to the value of your data.

 

Telling somebody to run along, just because they have older hardware, is, in my opinion, not very friendly.  After all, there are only two basic types of computers out there... the ones that are obsolete today, and the ones that will be obsolete in 6 to 12 months.  It is only a matter of time.

 

Joe L.

 

For what it's worth, I'm only trying to get it running on this particular box because it's the only spare one I have on hand to test it on. If I liked the functionality, I'd be buying new hardware to build an actual production box. I just don't want to have to buy specific hardware for a product that I've not been able to test. NAS2Lite, Openfiler, and Windows Home Server all loaded on this thing for testing. It'd be nice if UnRAID would too.

 

As far as being told to run along...aw heck, I'm on someone's forum dissing their practices in my 2nd post. I wouldn't expect to offered a spot 'o tea. 

[Billped]

As far as being told to run along...aw heck, I'm on someone's forum dissing their practices in my 2nd post. I wouldn't expect to offered a spot 'o tea. 

 

I think you both misquoted and misunderstood what I wrote.  I didn't write "run along", which connotes that we don't you, I wrote "move along", which I was intending to mean that you don't want us.  However, I can certainly understand why it was interpreted differently.  I will blame it on the cold medium that is electronic communication.

 

 

Bill

[industrialarts]

I agree with Joe L.  If the free version was available to boot from something other than the flash drive so I could test UNRAID on the system I have.  When the time came for me to upgrade I  would gladly spend the extra money and invest in a system that was hardware dependent.  Unfortunately, all I  have so far is a system that I have spent some time on that still doesn't work - that makes it kind of a science project.  Which is OK - UNRAID looks like a very cool product and if my litlle bit of "R & D" helps in any way, that's great.  I just wish I could get UNRAID up and running for a test;  I would be glad to support it by buying the upgraded software versions later or by donating money for the software that runs on the system I have.

 

That being said, I will invest a little more time to see if I can get it running on the hardware I have available; I really want to use UNRAID for it's feature set.  If not, then I will probably "move along" and support FreeNAS, which I got up and running fairly easily on the computer I have available.  Too bad I wasn't as lucky as Bill that my old hardware didn't run UNRAID right out of the gate.

 

 

industrial arts

[Joe L.]

Perhaps a message to the author of this thread http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=244.msg4407#msg4407

might provide a hint or two about how to use the kicker.rar file.  Apparently he needed to use a version that included a driver for his USB port.

 

 

 

[Fountainhead]

Perhaps a message to the author of this thread http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=244.msg4407#msg4407

might provide a hint or two about how to use the kicker.rar file.  Apparently he needed to use a version that included a driver for his USB port.

 

Thanks. That's where I got my information originally. I tried three different boot/driver disks, and one of them seems to recognize the device properly since it identifies it during boot and says "installed successfully." The other two didn't seem to recognize the drive at all. But it still doesn't allow UnRAID to load, erroring out as per the original post in the thread.

 

 

 

 

[Fountainhead]

In the interests of completeness for anyone looking at this thread in the future, I was able to boot to the Cruzer Micro by formatting it with the HP Tool from this web site, as opposed to simply formatting it with FAT32 via Windows.  When doing this, remember to go back and change the name to UNRAID as well.

 

Thanks all.