Bug#564812: readlink: no such file or directory

[jidanni@jidanni.org]

Package: initramfs-tools
Version: 0.93.4
Severity: minor
File: /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions

On one of my systems, here are the very first things one sees upon boot.
I copied them down on paper, as fast as I could, as of course no thought
has been given to logging messages at this point here in Debian.

Loading, please wait...
readlink: no such file or directory
INIT version 2.86...

What is bothering me is the readlink: no such file or directory
It says something is wrong.

So I tried to find where these messages are coming from,
$ grep Loading.*wait /usr/share/initramfs-tools/*
/usr/share/initramfs-tools/init:echo "Loading, please wait..."
$ grep -l readlink /usr/share/initramfs-tools/*
/usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions
$ strings /sbin/init|grep INIT.*2\\.86
INIT_VERSION=sysvinit-2.86

Actually, some of these messages are more likely coming from
/boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-trunk-686

Anyway, perhaps /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions "just assumes"
readlink is available, despite the settings below. Or maybe I have
little idea of what I am talking about.

-- Package-specific info:
-- /proc/cmdline
BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-trunk-686 root=/dev/hda5 ro quiet panic=15

-- /etc/kernel-img.conf
# Kernel image management overrides
# See kernel-img.conf(5) for details
do_symlinks = yes
relative_links = yes
do_bootloader = no
do_bootfloppy = no
do_initrd = yes
link_in_boot = no
postinst_hook = update-grub
postrm_hook   = update-grub

-- /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf
MODULES=most
BUSYBOX=y
KEYMAP=n
BOOT=local
DEVICE=eth0
NFSROOT=auto

-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers experimental
  APT policy: (990, 'experimental'), (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.32-trunk-686 (SMP w/1 CPU core)
Locale: LANG=zh_TW.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=zh_TW.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages initramfs-tools depends on:
ii  cpio                          2.10-1     GNU cpio -- a program to manage ar
ii  findutils                     4.4.2-1    utilities for finding files--find,
ii  klibc-utils                   1.5.15-1   small utilities built with klibc f
ii  module-init-tools             3.11-1     tools for managing Linux kernel mo
ii  udev                          150-2      /dev/ and hotplug management daemo

Versions of packages initramfs-tools recommends:
pn  busybox | busybox-initramfs   <none>     (no description available)

initramfs-tools suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information