What are the needed files for booting Linux? All that I know is that I need the kernel, the fstab setup right, and lilo configured. but when i'm tryin to build linux myself, it doesnt start up right. so i need to find out some more information, but i can't seem to find a good spot to find this info. i'm really shootin for a linux os thats real small, and just very very basic. and i'd rather do it myself.

The booting files, once built, are all integrated with the Linux. You only need to learn how to use them.

Some typical commands are available in the last link of my signature.

If the Linux is complete you only need a boot loader, a correct /etc/fstab and a kernel to fire up a Linux. The boot loader itself can be just a bootable Grub floppy.

You can boot up a Linux without Lilo or Grub installed inside.

i suppose my question is then, how do i make linux complete. say if i was making linux from scratch, (not with the LFS stuff) and i needed to boot up, what do i need to have? how do i get the console started, and all, cause it just fails there.

My response would be

(1) Make a Grub bootable floppy.

(2) follow Stage 2 of Task G2.

You should know the partition where the kernel is held. Use the "kernel" command to load the kernel and "initrd" command to boot randisk file if used. Last line is to give green light to Grub by the "boot" command.

It seems you are a candidate for Linux from Scratch (LFS).
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/

Booting, in this context, is ambiguous. I common usage, booting includes initialization, which occurs after the kernel has taken control. I think booting was originally intended to describe the process of getting the kernel loaded and running.

Watch what happens in normal startup: You will see grub messages and then something like: "OK, booting the kernel" At this point the kernel is in charge. The next thing you see is the kernel calling init, which in turn uses inittab to tell it what it needs to do next. (When the kernel takes over, it has already mounted the filesystem--other wise it could not find init..)

You can trace thru all the init routines to see what else is called. You can also peruse the system logs of a system that has just started up.