[ILUG] Re: etch and kernel modules

[martin f krafft]

Hi,

[please CC me on replies]

> However, investigating the initrd proves more curious. The Debian  
> supplied initrd.img file is a gzipped cpio, yet if you run the  
> mkinitrd script it produces an initrd which is a cramfs filesystem.  
> Why the disparity?

Well, Debian switched to initramfs since 2.6.12 or so. Initramfs is
a joint development by the Ubuntu and Debian folks and it's just
a gzipped cpio file; that's a lot easier to deal with than cramfs.

> 1) What determines what modules are loaded from the initrd?
> Clearly  NOT need.

/etc/initramfs-tools/modules will be an /etc/modules-style file that
determines what the initramfs loads.

/usr/share/initramfs-tools/hooks/* contains hooks
which installs any non-standard modules into te initramfs. The
scripts in /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/*/* load them during
startup.

> 2) How do I influence the above in a reasonable way?

I think it'll be on a case-by-case basis. To start, maybe you could
let me know which raid modules are loaded. I am the Debian RAID
maintainer and unless you use RAID, no modules should get loaded.

If you could list the modules you don't need, and also let me know
which hooks are being run, that would help,

> 3) Why is the initrd supplied with a Debian kernel-image package
> a  different file type to that produced by the mkinitrd script?

See above.

> I have consulted the Debian Bible (Kraft's book) but it is
> curiously  silent on the matter.

My book is based on Debian sarge. A lot has changed for Debian etch.
I am sorry. :)

(I am working on a new edition, but it's going to take substantially
longer than etch itself).

Please CC me on replies.

-- 
martin;              (greetings from the heart of the sun.)
  \____ echo mailto: !#^."<*>"|tr "<*> mailto:" net at madduck
 
it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool
than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.