SUSE LINUX Desktop (SLD) 1.0 kernel panic error when using driver update disk to update the driver for your hard disk drive - Servers and IntelliStation

Resolving The Problem

Source
RETAIN tip: H182512

Symptom
If you are using a driver update disk to update the driver for your hard disk drive, SUSE LINUX Desktop 1.0 will not write a correct /etc/fstab or /boot/grub/menu.lst. The installation will proceed, however you will receive a kernel panic upon reboot.

Affected configurations
The following operating systems are affected:

• SUSE LINUX Desktop 1.0
  
  NOTE: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software. Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/

Solution
We are working with SUSE to get this issue resolved in a future release of SUSE LINUX Desktop.

Workaround
Follow one of these two procedures to alleviate this problem:

Procedure 1:

1. During installation at the 'Language Selection' menu, press Ctrl+Alt+F2.
2. At the command prompt, type the following commands in order:
   
   # modprobe usb-storage ; mount /dev/sda /media/floppy
   # cp /media/floppy/linux/suse/i386-slec1/modules/aarich.o
   /tmp ; umount /media/floppy
   # rmmod aarich ; rmmod usb-storage ; insmod /tmp/aarich.o
   
   
3. Press Alt+F7 if you are installing via graphical mode or Alt+F1 if you are installing via text mode to continue the installation normally.

Procedure 2:

1. Upon reboot of the system, at the grub screen, edit the boot options, changing sdbX to sdaX, where X is the partition number and 'a' is the drive letter.
2. When you are done editing this line, press the Enter key.
3. At this point you will enter Maintenance Mode. Enter the following command: 'mount -n -o remount,rw /'.
4. Edit the /etc/fstab file, changing all references of sdbX to sdaX, where X is the partition number and 'a' is the drive letter.
5. Edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst file, changing all references of sdbX to sdaX, where X is the partition number and 'a' is the driver letter.
6. Reboot the system to continue the installation.

Additional information
The usb modules are loading before the updated driver, therefore the floppy disk drive will get assigned to /dev/sda and the hard disk drive will get assigned to /dev/sdb during install. Upon reboot the updated driver will get loaded first and will be incorrectly assigned to /dev/sdb, causing a kernel panic. The kernel panic is just a result of an incorrect /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu.lst.