# kernel panic - not syncing; attempted to kill init

**URL:** <https://forums.suse.com/t/kernel-panic-not-syncing-attempted-to-kill-init/33864>\
**Category:** SLES for POWER\
**Created:** [April 25, 2019, 11:19am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/kernel-panic-not-syncing-attempted-to-kill-init/33864 "2019-04-25T11:19:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sharfuddin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@sharfuddin](https://forums.suse.com/u/sharfuddin)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 11:19am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/kernel-panic-not-syncing-attempted-to-kill-init/33864/1 "2019-04-25T11:19:16Z")

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This is a lpar on Power8.  
We upgraded the SLES 11 SP 4 to SLES 12 SP 3 and got the following error:

kernel panic - not syncing; attempted to kill init

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**Author:** ![mfriesenegger](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/mfriesenegger/32/10891_2.png) [@mfriesenegger](https://forums.suse.com/u/mfriesenegger)\
**Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/kernel-panic-not-syncing-attempted-to-kill-init/33864/2 "2019-04-26T17:36:06Z")

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Hello sharfuddin,

The “Exec format error” leads me to think this problem is related to a cross-architecture upgrade. I will explain.

SLES11 for IBM Power is big endian whereas SLES12 and newer SLES versions for IBM Power are little endian. In-place upgrades from SLES11 on IBM Power to SLES12 on IBM Power are not supported. Please read the “Important: Cross-architecture Upgrades Are Not Supported” section in [https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/singlehtml/book\_sle\_deployment/book\_sle\_deployment.html#sec.update.sle.paths](https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles-12/singlehtml/book_sle_deployment/book_sle_deployment.html#sec.update.sle.paths).

Consider opening a support request with SUSE for more information.

Regards,

Mike