Re: 2.6 compilation woes...

[Joris Huizer <jorishuizer@planet.nl>]

Doofus wrote:
> Colin wrote:
>
> > 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).
>
> Colin,
>
> You're right of course, and I think I'm there now.
> Even though I'd compiled reiserfs and ext2fs into the kernel, all the 
> IDE drivers were still modularised, so linking these into the kernel got 
> the machine booted ok.
>
> My question now is: which is the better kernel build method, initrd 
> where everything can be just modularised and there's not much else to 
> worry about, or compiling the necessary core drivers into the kernel and 
> loading other modules on-the-fly as needed (which is what I've always 
> done with 2.4 kernels)? The first of these seems clearly the easier path 
> to take, but isn't the second methos using kmod a better/more optimum 
> method?

Without using initrd the kernel will boot faster;
The reason distribution kernels always use initrd is, that way they can 
have just all modules and only those needed for the used hardware will 
stay in memory; having all builtin would take more memory after the boot
As someone else noted, ensure support for your hard disk is also builtin

You're almost there probably (note that it's probably just as hard to 
use the config file of the distribution 2.4.x kernels, those use initrd too)

HTH,

Joris