--- Begin Message ---
Package: initrd-tools
Version: 0.1.70
Description:
apt-get installed kernel-images fail to find IDE devices on boot
What I did:
1. installed debian/testing via net installer, everything works fine,
system boots and reboots normally
2. upgraded to debian/unstable, everything still works find, system
boots and reboots normally
3. apt-get install kernel-image-x.x.x-x-xxx
4. reboot and choose the new kernel image from the grub menu, IDE
devices not found
What happens:
-system A (upgrade from 2.6.6-1-686-smp to 2.6.6-2-686-smp)
-P4P800 Deluxe MB
-Pentium 4 2.8Ghz HT, 512k L2 cache
-2 x SAMSUNG SP1213C 120GB S-ATA hard drives
-1 SAMSUNG DVD R/W SH-W08A dvd /rw drive
In this case the system boots normally since the root device is on a
S-ATA hard drive which uses libata. The DVD drive, however, does not
appear, no /dev/hd* nodes are present. rmmod/modprobe cycling the ide-*
and cd modules doesn't help.
-system B (upgrade from 2.6.5-1-386 2.6.6-1-686)
-FS51 MB (from ShuttlX system)
-Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, 512k L2 cache
-1 SAMSUNG SP0802N 80GB IDE hard drive
-1 SAMSUNG DVD R/W SH-W08A dvd r/w drive
This system won't even boot since the root device points to an IDE hard
drive.
Workaround:
Mounting and investigating the initrd image from the non-bootable,
recently installed kernel (on system 1) I found that the 'loadmodules'
file contained something like this:
modprobe -k ata_piix
modprobe -k sg
modprobe -k sd_mod
whereas the old, bootable kernel's initrd had a 'loadmodules' file that
looked like so:
modprobe -k vesafb > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k fbcon 2> /dev/null
modprobe -k unix 2> /dev/null
modprobe -k pdc202xx_new > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k aec62xx > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k alim15x3 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k amd74xx > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k atiixp > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k cmd64x > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k cs5520 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k cs5530 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k cy82c693 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k generic > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k hpt34x > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k hpt366 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k ns87415 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k opti621 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k pdc202xx_old > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k piix > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k rz1000 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k sc1200 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k serverworks > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k siimage > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k sis5513 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k slc90e66 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k triflex > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k trm290 > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k via82cxxx > /dev/null 2>&1
modprobe -k ide-generic
modprobe -k ide-disk
modprobe -k ata_piix
modprobe -k sg
modprobe -k sd_mod
Eventually I figured how to add things to this file, namely by adding
lines to /etc/mkinitrd/modules (which in my install had no un-commented
lines). Adding the lines
ide_generic
ide_disk
ata_piix
sg
sd_mod
and re-installing the new kernel allowed the system to boot up and
detect all IDE drives on both systems 1 and 2.
I think this counts as a bug since the kernel installed from the cd
generates a proper initrd, but the one installed via apt-get fails to
generate an appropriate initrd image. Perhaps it has to do with upgrade
from testing to unstable but it seems like the /etc/mkinitrd/modules
file might always want to contain those lines about ide devices to
prevent this from happening. Anyway, hopefully this will save someone
else a day or two of frustration.
Thanks,
Charles
--
The loneliest goat sees the last sunset last...
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Version: 0.1.84.2+rm
The initrd-tools package has been removed from Debian testing, unstable and
experimental, so I am now closing the bugs that were still opened
against it.
For more information about this package's removal, read
http://bugs.debian.org/393092 . That bug might give the reasons why
this package was removed, and suggestions of possible replacements.
Don't hesitate to reply to this mail if you have any question.
Thank you for your contribution to Debian.
--
Lucas
--- End Message ---