[Novalug] WTF: How to get a working initrd image (How does mkinitrd work??)

Jay Hart jhart@kevla.org
Mon Jan 14 15:24:30 EST 2008


Clif,

Ok, using the suggested command below, and corrected for my kernel version, it
basically didn't work.  I mean, the command completed and all, but no output
(such as the initrd file) produced.

I've pasted below two outputs from ls -l, one before I ran the mkinitrd
command, and one after, they are identical.  Does your notes say that the
initrd file is created in another location, and needs to be moved to the /boot
directory?


--listing of files in /boot prior to the mkinitrd command
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843367 Jan 13 20:26 System.map-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843367 Jan 13 20:26 System.map-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843618 Jan 13 12:36 System.map-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
-rw------- 1 root root     512 Sep  1 23:08 backup_mbr
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       1 Sep  1 21:43 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   80502 Nov 26 10:49 config-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   80530 Jan 13 12:36 config-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    1024 Jan 13 18:59 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4152421 Jan 13 12:36 initrd-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
drwx------ 2 root root   12288 Sep  1 21:09 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  389120 Sep  1 23:08 message
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  138270 Nov 26 10:50 symsets-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   99234 Jan 13 12:36 symsets-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  400716 Nov 26 10:50 symtypes-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  400687 Jan 13 12:36 symtypes-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  116315 Nov 26 10:50 symvers-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  116317 Jan 13 12:36 symvers-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2165404 Nov 26 10:48 vmlinux-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2165804 Jan 13 12:36 vmlinux-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      28 Jan 13 19:04 vmlinuz ->
vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1605824 Jan 13 20:26 vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1605824 Jan 13 20:26 vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1611260 Jan 13 12:36 vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp

--listing of files in /boot after issuing the mkinitrd command
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843367 Jan 13 20:26 System.map-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843367 Jan 13 20:26 System.map-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  843618 Jan 13 12:36 System.map-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
-rw------- 1 root root     512 Sep  1 23:08 backup_mbr
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root       1 Sep  1 21:43 boot -> .
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   80502 Nov 26 10:49 config-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   80530 Jan 13 12:36 config-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    1024 Jan 13 18:59 grub
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4152421 Jan 13 12:36 initrd-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp
drwx------ 2 root root   12288 Sep  1 21:09 lost+found
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  389120 Sep  1 23:08 message
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  138270 Nov 26 10:50 symsets-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   99234 Jan 13 12:36 symsets-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  400716 Nov 26 10:50 symtypes-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  400687 Jan 13 12:36 symtypes-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  116315 Nov 26 10:50 symvers-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  116317 Jan 13 12:36 symvers-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2165404 Nov 26 10:48 vmlinux-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.gz
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2165804 Jan 13 12:36 vmlinux-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp.gz
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      28 Jan 13 19:04 vmlinuz ->
vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1605824 Jan 13 20:26 vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1605824 Jan 13 20:26 vmlinuz-2.6.22.13-0.3-bigsmp.old
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1611260 Jan 13 12:36 vmlinuz-2.6.22.5-31-bigsmp


>>From my notes on setting up some systems, the command I used was:
>
> mkinitrd -k /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17.6-smp -i /boot/initrd-2.6.17.6-smp
>
>   Obviously, you'll need to change the numbers, but this might work.
>
>    Clif




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