hanks for the people who helped... I have solved the problem (again more by luck than judgement)... I had installed WinXP first and created three partitions... two NTFS (C:, D:) and one small Vfat to allow simple transfers between Linux and Windows (E:). I left 10 Gb unllallocated to the 8.2 install. I installed 8.2 using the automatic settings (boot and root partitions). After installation it would not boot i.e. Kernal panic (as described below.) Eventually I guessed that Grub had somehow got itself in a mess and was loaded in the 'incorrect' places. So I went into Windows and deleted the Vfat partition. This should not have affected Grub in any way... it was only a simple Windows partition...except the next reboot caused a total boot failure with Grub unable to load. This was not just a Kernel Panic but person panic aswell! Used the installation DVD to do a clean install of root and boot partitions in all the non-windows space (i.e. the original 10Gb plus the space freed up by deleting the Vfat partition). AND..... a) Grub recovered its boot menu.... b) I got my Windows XP boot option back (pheww...) c) 8.2 booted perfectly this time d) both the sound and the X server worked without problems (which had not been the case on the problem install.) So that was it... Grub had somehow got hold of the Vfat partition when it should not have done. Thanks for the Help Pieter, Budapest Coffee Time schrieb:

On a freshly installed WinXP notebook I left space on the disk for a Linux installation. After a good deal of trouble I installed Suse 8.2 to two partitions (boot and root). Grub of course took over the boot process. The first boot after the install I got a Kernel Panic because linux could not moint root fs. Tried any number of things (e.g. changing reifferfs to ext switching off acpi etc..) but always the same problem.

By luck I did the following. I rebooted from the installation DVD which gave the installation DVD Grub list. The first option was the detault... boot from the hard disk. This then went into my Grub boot menu for the actual installed system... AND THIS TIME IT BOOTED WITH NO PROBLEM... of course this is not convenient... and is frustrating.

Can anybody explain and provide a solution...

Thanks, Pieter Bruinsma Budapest