Re: Cannot boot 2.6.8 kernel from ext3 root partition on Ultra5
Sorry for the re-post, I left the subject blank the first time I sent this
message...
Perhaps his /boot was simply full? There were an awful lot of modules
listed. But....wouldn't it be simpler to just compile the stuff in and
be done with it? I mean, I understand why the installation kernel relays
on initrd, but for a tuned, self compiled kernel, this isn't necessary.
'df -h' reports that /boot is only 26% full (22M out of 90M used).
I was also wondering about the possibility of using an "initrd-less"
kernel. Somewhere in the Xconfig/Kconfig option sequence, I remember
reading in one of the help screens about initrd support that it's not
really necessary in many cases. I guess this is a little beyond this
message, but why does Linux need an initrd at all? Does it speed up the
boot process? Or does it have something to do with compressing the kernel
to fit onto a floppy (in which case, one would only need an initrd on a
boot floppy, not the HD)? Or maybe it's got to do with having all the
modules needed to boot in one handy place, in which case if one were to
compile everything monolithically for a specific machine it shouldn't be
needed?
A URL explaining "why linux uses initrds" would be great...
Daniel, could you attach "ls -l /boot" from your machine?
www2# cd /boot
www2# ls -l
total 18223
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 2004-11-12 10:41 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 18958 2004-12-16 10:07 config-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23847 2004-08-24 02:50 config-2.4.27-1-sparc64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 20236 2004-12-27 17:52 config-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29705 2004-11-28 00:08 config-2.6.8-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 1 2004-11-12 10:41 etc -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1024 2004-07-14 10:38 fd.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2004-07-14 10:38 first.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1024 2004-07-14 10:38 generic.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 784 2004-07-14 10:38 ieee32.b
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 31 2004-12-28 14:58 initrd-268 ->
boot/initrd.img-2.6.8-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33 2004-12-28 09:39 initrd-268usb ->
boot/initrd.img-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 33 2004-12-28 09:36 initrd.img ->
boot/initrd.img-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1802240 2004-12-16 11:35 initrd.img-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3358720 2004-11-12 10:40 initrd.img-2.4.27-1-sparc64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2007040 2004-12-28 09:36 initrd.img-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3620864 2004-12-28 14:55 initrd.img-2.6.8-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 2004-12-28 09:42 initrd-sun ->
boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 35 2004-12-28 09:42 initrd-usb ->
boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7184 2004-07-14 10:38 isofs.b
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 12288 2004-11-12 10:29 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 7680 2004-11-12 10:41 old.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 64000 2004-11-12 10:41 second.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 315 2004-12-28 18:13 silo.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 420 2004-12-28 15:02 silo.conf~
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 61405 2004-07-14 10:38 silotftp.b
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 478536 2004-12-16 11:31 System.map-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 495144 2004-08-24 04:46 System.map-2.4.27-1-sparc64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 798041 2004-12-27 19:38 System.map-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 801887 2004-11-28 01:18 System.map-2.6.8-1-sparc64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 512 2004-07-14 10:38 ultra.b
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 2004-12-28 09:36 vmlinuz ->
boot/vmlinuz-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1294079 2004-12-16 11:31 vmlinuz-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1109207 2004-08-24 04:46 vmlinuz-2.4.27-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 2004-12-28 15:00 vmlinuz-268 ->
vmlinuz-2.6.8-1-sparc64
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1274753 2004-12-27 19:38 vmlinuz-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1265285 2004-11-28 01:17 vmlinuz-2.6.8-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 30 2004-12-28 09:53 vmlinuz-268usb ->
boot/vmlinuz-2.6.810.1-dej-usb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 29 2004-12-28 09:44 vmlinuz-sun ->
boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-1-sparc64
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 2004-12-28 09:45 vmlinuz-usb ->
boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-10.1-dej-usb
www2#
Thanks again.
-Dan
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