LinuxQuestions.org - recompile 2.6 kernel without initrd

Does anyone know what configuration options are required to ensure that the 2.6 Kernel doesn't need an initrd? I just installed Debian sarge using the Test release 1 of the sarge installer. I chose the 2.6.6-1-386 kernel. I tried to upgrade to the 2.6.7 kernel by compiling from source and starting with the existing Debian configuration file. Here is what I did:

Code:

cp /boot/config-2.6.6-1-386 .config

make oldconfig

make menuconfig

make-kpkg clean

make-kpkg --append-to-version=-custom686 kernel_image

For "make oldconfig" I just hit enter to select defaults because I didn't see anything I needed. For "make menuconfig" I made sure reiserfs support was built in and IDE support was built in. I also changed to my processor type and removed some unneeded stuff like telephony support and the isdn subsystem. I though the resulting custom kernel would not need an initrd, but I get kernel panic. I can boot the custom kernel after creating an initrd, but does anyone know what options are needed to NOT require an initrd? I thought you just needed built in support for your disk and filesystem.