Re: Kernel panic (customizing kernel 2.6.6)

[Greg Madden <gomadtroll@gci.net>]

On Sunday 15 August 2004 01:13 pm, Marvin Gerardo Aguero Salazar wrote:
> Guys,
>
> I am trying to customize my kernel 2.6.6 but it fails to boot. I have
> a theory of why it is not booting, but I don't know how to fix it.
>
> Let's see, I first downloaded and installed kernel-2.6.6-1-386 and
> installed it just fine. I have a directory called
> /lib/modules/2.6.6-1-386.
>
> Then I downloaded the kernel source for kernel version "2.6.6", check
> out the difference in the version as compared to "2.6.6-1-386".
>
> I then issued the following commands:
>
>    make menuconfig
>    make
>    make modules_install
>    make install
>
> This created a directory called "/lib/modules/2.6.6". So far, so
> good.
>
> Then I customized grub's menu.lst to include an option for the new
> kernel.
>
> While booting with the new kernel it fails because the directory
> /lib/modules/2.6.6 does not exist.
>
> My theory is that the problem relies in the file called
> initrd.img-2.6.6-1-386. Since the make process didn't create a
> initrd.img-2.6.6 I kept the same one.
>
> Last night I realized that this file is a "ram disk" and there is a
> directory called /lib/modules/2.6.6-1-386.
>
> So, when the kernel says that it doesn't find the directory
> /lib/modules/2.6.6 means that it doesn't find it the ram disk, not in
> my hard drive.
>
> Am I on the right track here?
>
> Now, I created a copy of it and mounted it. My idea was to rename the
> directory /lib/modules/2.6.6-1-386 to /lib/modules/3.6.6 in the ram
> disk, but it says that it is a readonly device.
>
> The mount command clearly displays it as "rw". I mounted it with the
> "-o loop" option.
>
> I also tried to create a ram drive myself. I tried different sizes.
> The last one I tried was twice in size, but when I was copying
> everything from one ram drive to the other, it was running out of
> space.
>
> So, any ideas about how to rename the directory in the ram disk?
>
> TIA,
>
> -Marvin

Compiling a kernel for your own box doesn't require a initrd image. You 
do have to compile the file system drivers into the kernel though, or 
any driver you need available to boot. Initrd images are used by Debian 
for compatibility over a large unknown hardware install base. If you 
still want to use one, check out mkinitrd as posted above.
-- 
Greg C. Madden