[SOLVED] Systemd-235 and mkinitramfs in BLFS

plasmonics · 12-14-2017, 07:02 PM

It appears that systemd has been radically changed upstream. Version 235 now uses a meson build environment instead of the traditional autotools. Using the BLFS svn book, it compiles and installs without problems.

However, if you boot a RAM disk in addition to vmlinuz and employ the mkinitramfs script in the book to make it, the result is a broken initrd that boots straight into a crash.

A clue that there is a problem is the following error from the script

Code:

mkinitramfs 4.14.6
Creating initrd.img-4.14.6... cp: missing destination file operand after '/tmp/initrd-work.juxEpfeXN0/lib'
Try 'cp --help' for more information.

Maybe the mkinitramfs script is incompatible with systemd-235.

Anyway, I got around the problem for now by hard coding kernel support for some of my hardware elements, mainly pata, sata, and network cards, eliminating the need for initrd.

hazel · 12-15-2017, 02:23 AM

That's another good reason for not using systemd then! But I always thought that the whole point of building your own kernel was to simplify the boot by removing the need for an initramfs. I've never used one with a homemade kernel.

plasmonics · 12-15-2017, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hazel

But I always thought that the whole point of building your own kernel was to simplify the boot by removing the need for an initramfs. I've never used one with a homemade kernel.

I boot by UUID, not by kernel name descriptor. Usually, that only works if there is a ramdisk.

plasmonics · 12-15-2017, 02:12 PM

I replaced mkinitramfs with dracut. I am marking this thread as solved.