Re: custom debian install cd

[Andreas Janssen <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com>]

Hello

jack (<lists@qnorth.net>) wrote:

> I need to create a custom install cd using a 2.6 kernel that has
> support for extra sata raid drivers. I've found a few sites on how to
> tackle the issue:
> 
> (for example:
> http://public.www.planetmirror.com/pub/debian-netinst/kveton/)

I once built a mini iso using a recent 2.4 kernel. Problems: IDE chipset
detection does not work, and of course you only use your custom kernel
during installation. When the base system is installed, d-i will copy
the kernel that is distributed with the base system, and that is
missing the modules you need. You can also alter the base system, but
this is quite complicated. Alternatives are:

- build the SATA drivers as modules for the installation kernel and copy
them to a flotty disk. You can load the modules during installation.

- use debootstrap to install debian from a running system, e.g. a
Knoppix CD or some other Linux system that does support your chipset.

> ...though all HOWTO's i've found are using the same technique.
> (downloading and uncompressing the 2.8m rescue floppy .bin, and
> copying your vmlinuz (etc etc) to the .bin, then re-creating the iso
> with mini-iso.sh.
> 
> The only problem is, my 2.6 kernel is a quite a bit bigger then the
> available space left on the 2.8m image.
> 
> Is it possible to resize a .bin image to do what I need? Or is there
> any easier way to do what i'm doing?

There is a way to build your own d-i mini iso. I build by own kernel
package using make-kpkg, installed it, used linux-kernel-di-i386 and
kernel-wegde to create kernel udebs for the installer (these contained
the kernel and the modules), and rebuilt the debian installer from
source. A quick explanation can be found here:

http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/svn/debian-installer/installer/doc/custom-kernel.txt

Please note that the Sarge installer depends on devfs support in your
kernel, which means you must use kernel 2.4 or 2.6 < 2.6.12.

best regards
        Andreas Janssen

-- 
Andreas Janssen <andreas.janssen@bigfoot.com>
PGP-Key-ID: 0xDC801674 ICQ #17079270
Registered Linux User #267976
http://www.andreas-janssen.de/debian-tipps-sarge.html