I submitted it ro 90-days RH techsupport but since they
haven't replied after almost two weeks I assume it can't
be easily solved and may be a bug. If you need more details
about the system please let me know. Some of (hopefully
relevant) info is attached at the end of this message.

I have a problem upgrading a system from 5.1 to 5.2. So far,
it went from RH 2.0.?? (some old 1995 release, I still have
a CD laying around) through all releases to 5.1 without a
hitch but this time I get an error message:

[normal kernel messages about TTY's and partition checks]

RAMDISK: Compressed image found at block 0
invalid compressed format (err=2)VFS: Cannot open root
device 08:22 Kernel panic: VFS: unable to mount root fs on
08:22

First I thought the boot floppy disk supplied in the boxed
set was bad but I made a copy of it beforehand and made
another attempt with that floppy with the same error. Then I
booted the system normally and dd'ed another boot disk from
5.2 CD images directory and again, it came up with the same
error. I have three systems to upgrade and luckily two of
them will boot off the CD. Still, my questions is:

What does the error mean? As I mentioned before, this is a
very generic perfectly functioning PC and always upgraded
easily.

I would much appreciate any insights.

Vlad

=====================================================

vlad@borg 23:29:26
 /home/vlad>$ mount
/dev/hdb1 on / type ext2 (rw)
/proc on /proc type proc (rw)
/dev/hdb2 on /usr type ext2 (ro)
/dev/hda3 on /usr/src type ext2 (rw)
/dev/hda4 on /usr/X11R6 type ext2 (rw)
/dev/hda1 on /var type ext2 (rw,nosuid)
/dev/hdb4 on /home type ext2 (rw,usrquota)
/dev/hda2 on /dos type vfat (ro,noexec)
/dev/hdd on /cd type iso9660 (ro)
klingon:/ on /klingon type nfs
(rw,nosuid,nodev,rsize=1024,wsize=1024,addr=10.0.0.1)

vlad@borg 23:29:28
 /home/vlad>$ ifconfig
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Bcast:127.255.255.255
Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP BROADCAST LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:3584  Metric:1
          RX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
          TX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:4B:6F:48:A2
          inet addr:10.0.0.2  Bcast:10.255.255.255
Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1767404 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
          TX packets:1767601 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
          Interrupt:9 Base address:0x6000

vlad@borg 23:30:04
 /home/vlad>$ df
Filesystem         1024-blocks  Used Available Capacity
Mounted on
/dev/hdb1             396165  300678    75027     80%   /
/dev/hdb2             603000  479233    92620     84%   /usr
/dev/hda3             199079  199073        6    100%
/usr/src
/dev/hda4             151259  115698    35561     76%
/usr/X11R6
/dev/hda1              79994   31936    48058     40%   /var
/dev/hdb4             163967  114016    41484     73%
/home
/dev/hda2             102598   11168    91430     11%   /dos
/dev/hdd              311634  311634        0    100%   /cd
klingon:/            1095993  641025   398341     62%
/klingon
/dev/sda4              96703      13    96690      0%
/zdrive

(although /ds is a vfat partition it does not have any
real bootable DOS installed and is used only for DOSEMU)

root@borg 23:32:05
 /root>#  hdparm -i /dev/hda

/dev/hda:

 Model=SAMSUNG SHD-30560A (APRO-5) SSI, FwRev=BF103S,
SerialNo=SS302300
 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
 RawCHS=1086/16/63, TrkSize=37800, SectSize=600, ECCbytes=4
 BuffType=3(DualPortCache), BuffSize=126kB, MaxMultSect=16,
MultSect=off
 DblWordIO=no, maxPIO=1(medium), DMA=yes, maxDMA=2(fast)
 CurCHS=1087/16/63, CurSects=1095696, LBA=yes,
LBAsects=1096048
 tDMA={min:352,rec:352}, DMA modes: sword0 sword1 sword2
*mword0
 IORDY=yes, tPIO={min:352,w/IORDY:180}, PIO modes: mode3

root@borg 23:32:13
 /root>#  hdparm -i /dev/hdb

/dev/hdb:

 Model=QUANTUM FIREBALL1280A, FwRev=A63.0E00,
SerialNo=82260853
 Config={ HardSect NotMFM HdSw>15uSec Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
 RawCHS=2484/16/63, TrkSize=32256, SectSize=512, ECCbytes=4
 BuffType=3(DualPortCache), BuffSize=83kB, MaxMultSect=8,
MultSect=off
 DblWordIO=no, maxPIO=2(fast), DMA=yes, maxDMA=2(fast)
 CurCHS=2484/16/63, CurSects=2503872, LBA=yes,
LBAsects=2503872
 tDMA={min:120,rec:120}, DMA modes: sword0 sword1 sword2
mword0 mword1 *mword2
 IORDY=on/off, tPIO={min:333,w/IORDY:120}, PIO modes: mode3
mode4

root@borg 23:32:16
 /root># fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 32 heads, 63 sectors, 543 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2016 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot   Begin    Start      End   Blocks   Id
System
/dev/hda1            1        1       82    82624+  83
Linux native
/dev/hda2           83       83      184   102816    6  DOS
16-bit >=32M
/dev/hda3          185      185      388   205632   83
Linux native
/dev/hda4          389      389      543   156240   83
Linux native

Disk /dev/hdb: 64 heads, 63 sectors, 621 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4032 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot   Begin    Start      End   Blocks   Id
System
/dev/hdb1            1        1      203   409216+  83
Linux native
/dev/hdb2          204      204      512   622944   83
Linux native
/dev/hdb3          513      513      537    50400   82
Linux swap
/dev/hdb4          538      538      621   169344   83
Linux native

Disk /dev/sda: 64 heads, 32 sectors, 96 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 bytes

   Device Boot   Begin    Start      End   Blocks   Id
System
/dev/sda4   *        1        1       96    98288    83
Linux native

Please let me know if you need anything else.