🚀 go-pugleaf

It sounds a lot like Linux being unable to mount its root filesystem. 
If I am correct, the symptoms are:

When you boot Linux from the hard disk, the normal, kernel bootup
messages appear, but then you get "kernel panic" and can go no further.

When you boot from floppy, the exact same thing occurs.

My suspicions are that the NT installation has somehow altered the
partition table of the disk that Linux was on.  Try to check out what
the partition table currently looks like;  use the FDISK program under
DOS to display the partition info.  If ALL the partitions seem to be
"owned" by DOS or NT, you're in trouble.  If one partition seems to be
"unused" or unrecognised by FDISK, you may be able to recover.

You know, I would not put it past Microsoft to include some code in the
NT installation process that intentionally looks for a Linux partition,
then corrupts it if found.

Anyway, for my recovery scenario to work, it requires that Linux still
be intact, but somehow on a different partition to where LILO or LOADLIN
and the boot floppies think.

If you think it is still there, email back to me for the next step.  Are
you using LILO to boot Linux from the hard disk?

Regards.