Richard J N Barrass writes:
 > hi,
 > 
 > I therefore, when following the installation manaul, replaced /dev/rd0a for
 > the ROOT device, to by /dev/md0a, and manually set the size of the ramdisc
 > to be 1440k. I saved the settings.

Looking at your messages it looks like the kernel you are using is a
new one (memorydisk), but the booter is old.

Try instead:

o don't set the ramdisc size...
o add " memorydisc=1440K" to the extra options field

 > I did check the mailing list, and found a similar problem from another user,
 > and I believe Scott Stevens suggested entering ramdisk=1440k in the 'Extra
 > options' spot. Alas, this did not fix the problem.

I think this user had an old kernel (ramdisk) but a new booter...

 > I would also appreciate some suggestions for deciding the sizes of root and
 > swap since the suggested ones in the manual seem a little small. (I do
 > intend to install X and hopefully use the system to develop X apps - and
 > dial-in to work using PPP).

There are various rules of thumb... I tend to use:

/	32MB
swap	> 2xPhysMem
/usr	rest of device

I then have /var linked to /usr/var and (for your example) /home
linked to /usr/home. This should be fine for a single user system...

 > Many thanks for any help/advice in advance

Hope it works...

 > Richard

Scott

-- 
Scott Stevens, Network Services Group, Computer Centre, Imperial College
Joey: "You're a monkey. You're loose in the city. Where would you go?"
Chandler: "Well, it's his first time out, so he's probably going to want
to do the touristy things. You go to Cats, we'll go to the Russian Tea
Room."                                                          - Friends