[SOLVED] (Another) mkinird question

3rensho · 06-19-2021, 07:07 AM

I have been building generic kernels on 64-current for a while now and all runs just fine when I build my initrd.gz using "mkinitrd -c -R -k $kerno -m ext4"(no quotes) in a short script where I prompt for the kernel version. If I use the mkinitrd shell script in /usr/share to generate a mkinitrd.conf in /etc and then generate my initrd.gz using mkinitrd -c -F at a command prompt from the /boot directory it generated the initrd.gz but the system won't boot, stopping shortly after the boot starts saying that it can't find /mnt. The mkinitrd.conf file is -

Code:

cat mkinitrd.conf
#
# mkinitrd_command_generator.sh revision 1.45
#
# This script will now make a recommendation about the command to use
# in case you require an initrd image to boot a kernel that does not
# have support for your storage or root filesystem built in
# (such as the Slackware 'generic' kernels').
# A suitable 'mkinitrd' command will be:

mkinitrd -c -k 5.12.12 -f ext4 -r /dev/md126 -m xhci-pci:ohci-pci:ehci-pci:xhci-hcd:uhci-hcd:ehci-hcd:hid:usbhid:i2c-hid:hid_generic:hid-asus:hid-cherry:hid-logitech:hid-logitech-dj:hid-logitech-hidpp:hid-lenovo:hid-microsoft:hid_multitouch:jbd2:mbcache:crc32c_intel:crc32c_generic:ext4 -R -u -o /boot/initrd.gz

This is exactly what happened some time ago when I tried to boot a generic kernel and had not read the man page thoroughly for mkinitrd and had neglected to add the -R command line parameter to reflect that it is a raid system. The mkinitrd.conf file does however include a -R so that should not be the problem.

I'm Probably missing something obvious but can't see forrest for trees at this point. Thanks in advance.

GazL · 06-19-2021, 07:33 AM

That's not a mkinitrd.conf file you've generated. It's a script containing a mkinitrd command.

A mkinitrd.conf will look something like this:

Code:

# mkinitrd.conf.sample
# See "man mkinitrd.conf" for details on the syntax of this file
#
#SOURCE_TREE="/boot/initrd-tree"
CLEAR_TREE="1"
#OUTPUT_IMAGE="/boot/initrd.gz"
#KERNEL_VERSION="$(uname -r)"
KEYMAP="uk"
# MODULE_LIST="xhci-pci:ohci-pci:ehci-pci:xhci-hcd:uhci-hcd:ehci-hcd:hid:usbhid:i2c-hid:hid_generic:hid-asus:hid-cherry:hid-logitech:hid-logitech-dj:hid-logitech-hidpp:hid-lenovo:hid-microsoft:hid_multitouch"
MODULE_LIST="ext4:xhci-pci:xhci-hcd:usbhid:hid-generic"
LUKSDEV="/dev/sda4"
ROOTDEV="/dev/sysvg/lvslack"
ROOTFS="ext4"
LVM="1"
MICROCODE_ARCH='/boot/intel-ucode-local.cpio'

chrisretusn · 06-19-2021, 07:49 AM

To add to what GazL said, use this command to generate a proper mkinitrd.conf file. This is what is generated on this computer.

Code:

/usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh -c
SOURCE_TREE="/boot/initrd-tree"
CLEAR_TREE="1"
OUTPUT_IMAGE="/boot/initrd.gz"
KERNEL_VERSION="5.12.12"
KEYMAP="us"
MODULE_LIST="jbd2:mbcache:crc32c_intel:crc32c_generic:ext4"
LUKSDEV=""
ROOTDEV="/dev/sda1"
ROOTFS="ext4"
RESUMEDEV=""
RAID=""
LVM=""
UDEV="1"
WAIT="1"

This is what I use on this computer.

Code:

cat /etc/mkinitrd.conf
SOURCE_TREE="/boot/initrd-tree"
CLEAR_TREE="1"
OUTPUT_IMAGE="/boot/initrd.gz"
KEYMAP="us"
MODULE_LIST="jbd2:mbcache:ext4"
LUKSDEV=""
ROOTDEV="/dev/sda1"
ROOTFS="ext4"
RESUMEDEV=""
RAID=""
LVM=""
UDEV="1"
WAIT="1"

My laptop has a very long line for the MODULE_LIST entry similar to GazL's

GazL · 06-19-2021, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisretusn

My laptop has a very long line for the MODULE_LIST entry similar to GazL's

Yes, mkinitrd_command_generation does go overboard with included modules, as can be seen by the commented out line in my example, compared to what I actually need below it.

3rensho · 06-19-2021, 08:06 AM

Oh, OK. Thanks for your responses. Will give it a shot. Knew I had somehow totally messed up.

3rensho · 06-19-2021, 08:29 AM

Can't believe I could be so DOOF (German for dumb ass)! Thank you gentlemen. Major dumb shit here. Did as you described and of course it worked like a charm. Thank you again. Will have RTFM tatooed on the inside of my eyelids.

chrisretusn · 06-19-2021, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rensho

Can't believe I could be so DOOF (German for dumb ass)! Thank you gentlemen. Major dumb shit here. Did as you described and of course it worked like a charm. Thank you again. Will have RTFM tatooed on the inside of my eyelids.

Hey we all do DOOF things every now and then. Glad it all sorted out.

Paulo2 · 06-19-2021, 10:03 AM

Are you booting from a usb disk? I'm asking because of the presence of usb modules in your modules list.
I think you missed the -w option, usb needs some time to be recognized.
In the chrisretusn's config file it is 'WAIT=1'

3rensho · 06-19-2021, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

Are you booting from a usb disk? I'm asking because of the presence of usb modules in your modules list.
I think you missed the -w option, usb needs some time to be recognized.
In the chrisretusn's config file it is 'WAIT=1'

No, booting from regular hard disk raid. Will refine the config script in the future to remove some of the unnecessary modules. This was just a first go to get it running with a .conf file.

philanc · 06-19-2021, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3rensho

Will have RTFM tatooed on the inside of my eyelids.

Of course I get the joke, but still, the idea of tattooing something inside eyelids just made me cringe!

chrisretusn · 06-20-2021, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

Yes, mkinitrd_command_generation does go overboard with included modules, as can be seen by the commented out line in my example, compared to what I actually need below it.

Yes indeed, I edit out mine as well.

eduardr · 06-21-2021, 10:54 AM

I like to reformat my sections to make it easier to follow, for example

Code:

# mkinitrd.conf

#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#
# Basic settings #
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#

#SOURCE_TREE="/boot/initrd-tree"
CLEAR_TREE="1"
#OUTPUT_IMAGE="/boot/initrd.gz"
#KERNEL_VERSION="$(uname -r)"
#KEYMAP="us"
#MODULE_LIST="ext4"
#LUKSDEV="/dev/sda2"
#LUKSTRIM="/dev/sda2" # verify support with 'hdparm -I $dev | grep TRIM'
#LUKSKEY="LABEL=TRAVELSTICK:/keys/alienbob.luks"
ROOTDEV="/dev/disk/by-label/root"
ROOTFS="ext4"
#RESUMEDEV="/dev/sda2"
RAID="1"
#LVM="0"
UDEV="1"
#MODCONF="0"
#MICROCODE_ARCH="/boot/intel-ucode.cpio"
#WAIT="1"


#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#
# Kernel modules #
#~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~#

# Initialize empty module list
MODULE_LIST=""

# CRC32C perf on CPU's with SSE4.2
MODULE_LIST+="crc32c-intel:"

# USB support
MODULE_LIST+="ehci-pci:"
MODULE_LIST+="ohci-pci:"
MODULE_LIST+="uhci-hcd:"
MODULE_LIST+="xhci-pci:"

# USB HID support
MODULE_LIST+="hid:"
MODULE_LIST+="usbhid:"
MODULE_LIST+="i2c-hid:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid_generic:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-asus:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-cherry:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-lenovo:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-logitech:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-logitech-dj:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-logitech-hidpp:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid-microsoft:"
MODULE_LIST+="hid_multitouch:"

# USB mass storage support
MODULE_LIST+="usb-storage:"

# LSI MegaRAID SAS support
MODULE_LIST+="megaraid_sas:"

# LSI Fusion MPT parallel SCSI support
MODULE_LIST+="mptspi:"

# LSI Fusion MPT SAS 1.0 support
MODULE_LIST+="mptsas:"

# LSI Fusion MPT SAS 2.0/3.0 support
MODULE_LIST+="mpt3sas:"

# Linux Ext4 file system support
MODULE_LIST+="ext4:"