[Ilugc] kernel 2.6.18 boot problem: error 6

[km]

Hi all,
I have compiled 2.6.18 kernel from source and I  get boot error mesg as follows:

########error#############
mount:  error 6 mounting ext3
mount: error 2 mounting none upto 200000000 at 8000-11000
switchroot: mount failed: 22
umount /initrd/dev failed: 2
##########error############

ext3.o module is compiled into the kernel and is visible with lsmmod.
then, thought it was coz of a corrupt initrd image, and did:
mkinitrd -f -v initrd-2.6.18.img 2.6.18 
and replaced the image in /boot dir with the newlty created one too , but in vain.

Am i missing something ? 

regards,
KM