Hello,
I have recently installed DirectAdmin on my Contabo VPS and completed the CustomBuild process successfully. The installation finished without errors, and I rebooted the VPS as instructed.
However, after reboot, the VPS failed to boot properly and I encountered a kernel panic.
Error message shown in VNC:
Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
I am accessing the VPS via VNC (RealVNC Viewer on macOS) since SSH is no longer available after the crash.
I can not access the VPS Server via root.
Any guidance or recommended steps would be greatly appreciated
.
Please check attached file.
Thank you,
I have recently installed DirectAdmin on my Contabo VPS and completed the CustomBuild process successfully. The installation finished without errors, and I rebooted the VPS as instructed.
However, after reboot, the VPS failed to boot properly and I encountered a kernel panic.
Error message shown in VNC:
Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
I am accessing the VPS via VNC (RealVNC Viewer on macOS) since SSH is no longer available after the crash.
What I did before the issue
- Fresh install of DirectAdmin on a Contabo VPS
- Web server: Apache + PHP-FPM + PHP 8.3
- Database: MariaDB
- FTP: PureFTPd
- CustomBuild installation completed successfully
- Rebooted the VPS → immediately hit kernel panic
My Questions
- Is this a known issue related to kernel parameters modified during DirectAdmin’s CustomBuild?
- How can I fix the kernel panic from VNC (e.g., boot into recovery, reinstall grub, or mount root properly)?
- If needed, is there a safe way to reinstall the kernel without wiping the VPS?
I can not access the VPS Server via root.
Any guidance or recommended steps would be greatly appreciated

Please check attached file.
Thank you,