WTF? Debian Live i386 = i486/i686 kernel/initrd inside? whats the diff?

linus72 · 12-23-2009, 07:15 AM

OK
I'm confused again

I got a debian Live i386 standard iso
cracked open the squashfs
and found

vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-486

and

vmlinuz-2.6.26-2-686

so, if its i386
why does it have 486/686 inside?

is it all the same o what??
thanks

repo · 12-23-2009, 07:47 AM

The main difference is that the -486 kernels are the only Debian kernels without support for SMP. If you have more than one core, then a -486 kernel won't see all your RAM.
If you have a 486 or 586 (Pentium) system, you should use the 486 kernel. If you have a Pentium II or newer processor up to the 64bit systems, use 686.

linus72 · 12-23-2009, 07:49 AM

Your the Man Repo!

OK, so I guess thats cool it come with both

Note that I'm not messing with them
the iso will/is a real debian live standard iso with stuff added
its not a remastersys build.

OH
whats the diff between

update-initramfs

and

mkinitramfs-kpkg

?

repo · 12-23-2009, 07:55 AM

The update-initramfs script manages your initramfs images on your local box. It keeps track of the existing initramfs archives in /boot. There are three modes of operation create, update or delete
mkinitramfs-kpkg - generates an initramfs image for kernel-package

see
man update-initramfs
man mkinitramfs-kpkg

linus72 · 12-23-2009, 08:14 AM

OK
thanks Repo

Because, when in chroot, I think its using the 686..

However, after upgrading/updating/adding pkgs
it only mkinitramfs's the 686 image

so, I did

Code:

update-initramfs -u -v -t -k all

which updates all initrds right

should I be doing mkinitramfs instaead?

thanks