Re: 2.6 compilation woes...

[Colin <cwvca_SPAMNOT@hotmail.com>]

Doofus wrote:
> Now I'm bamboozled. If I compile a kernel using the identical .config
> file that was used to compile the working and running kernel and it
> won't boot properly, then my powers of fault finding dry up. I'd be
> mightily grateful if anyone can give me any ideas as to where the
> problem may lie, or other things to try.

If you're compiling the kernel The Debian Way(tm), then you're missing
one critical option:

--initrd

This option will create an initrd file which contains a whole lot of
kernel modules which may or may not be used on your system.  This file
is loaded when booting the system.  If the filesystem is specified as a
kernel module and you don't create a initrd file, then the kernel
modules are _not_ loaded on startup so the system does not know how to
read your filesystem.

In short, you have two options: create an initrd file with your kernel
or compile the options you want directly into the kernel (namely your
filesystem and IDE controller).