initrd.gz and Grub2
 

Hi,

I've been told not to use 'huge' kernel but 'generic'. See:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...fs-4175489134/

I am using Grub2 as bootloader and now I would like that Grub2 automatically detects the 'generic' kernel. Is it possible? How do I have to rename initrd.gz?

Thanks for your help and 'Happy New Year'

As you define the kernel with the "linux" statement, likewise for the "initrd" statement.
Documentation here.

Hello, I had a similar issue, and got help here.

I could run 'initrd initrd.gz' modifing grub.cfg but I got the following error:

No kernel modules found for linux 3.10.17.
mount: mounting /dev/sda8 on /mnt failed: no such device
ERROR: No /sbin/init found on rootdev (or not mounted). Trouble ahead.
You can try to fix it. Type 'exit' when things are done.
/bin/sh: can't access tty; job control turned off.

How did you generate that initrd.gz?

I used

/usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh

and

mkinitrd -c -k 3.10.17-smp -m ext4 (README.initrd)

as well.

It's not recommended you use the Huge kernel, but honestly it works fine. I've found that Huge, for me when I used Slackware, was a better choice as dealing with the initrd.gz was just bothersome and a needless extra step that was only for someone wanting a kernel with a lighter memory footprint which, in my needs didn't matter.

Just take the safe option and stick with Huge. You can also remove the generic kernel package from pkgtools and grub2 will only detect huge.

What does show?

Which of those two commands did you run to create your initrd that was used to create that error message?

Could you also provide your /boot/grub/grub.cfg file contents?

The OP didn't ask "How do I not use the generic kernel?"

Also, Reaper, refer to your sig & remember that if you have all those drivers loaded in your kernel, you are primed to do many things, possibly poorly.
Regards,
Bill

True, but since I've been using a custom kernel with LFS, some of my drivers are located within the kernel minus several modularized drivers for certain hardware like video cards, sound cards, etc.

I've also used the Huge kernel as a basis to base my custom kernels off of also. In truth you could also recompile generic with the driver for your specific file system and not even need the initrd.gz as we'll and leave the rest to udev.

Sure, here it is:

menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-simple-2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-generic-3.10.17 root=/dev/sda8
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
}

I would like to state that huge kernel is fine for me too.

Thanks

What does running the command as root show?

You don't happen to have /boot on its own partition, do you?

bash-4.2# ls -l /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda*
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 0 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 1 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda1
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 10 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda10
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 11 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda11
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 12 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda12
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 13 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda13
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 14 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda14
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 2 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda2
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 3 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda3
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 4 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda4
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 5 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda5
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 6 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda6
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 7 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda7
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 8 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda8
brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 9 Jan 2 12:03 /boot/initrd-tree/dev/sda9
bash-4.2#

---------- Post added 01-04-14 at 04:35 PM ----------

No, I don't!

I believe that I see a kernel mismatch.

Your mkinitrd command uses ...while your grub.cfg is using You should decide if you're going to run SMP or not. If you are then you want the kernel-generic-smp and kernel-modules-smp packaged installed. If not, then have the kernel-generic and kernel-modules packages installed.

Thanks Richard, you got it!!!

Back to my post question...

Here is my grub2 automatic output for Slackware:

menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-simple-2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-generic-3.10.17 root=/dev/sda8
}
submenu 'Advanced options for Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-advanced-2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-generic-3.10.17--2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-generic-3.10.17 root=/dev/sda8
}
menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-3.10.17-smp--2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-3.10.17-smp root=/dev/sda8
}
menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17--2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-huge-3.10.17 root=/dev/sda8
}
menuentry 'Slackware Linux (Slackware 14.1) (on /dev/sda8)' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-gnulinux-/boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-3.10.17-smp--2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6' {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos8'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos8 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos8 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos8 --hint='hd0,msdos8' 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 2b64bf4d-d3b8-428d-81ce-516636141ac6
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-3.10.17-smp root=/dev/sda8
}
}


What I would like is the 'initrd initrd.gz' automatically inserted in the generic kernel output.

Is that from using my 09_slackware_linux script? Even so, the 10_linux script should pick up your initrd.gz image.

Try running the following command as root: You should see some messages printed out to stderr (your console) that would be hidden in all the other output. It should look somewhat like The stuff in bold indicates that the scripts found your initrd image. I'm using the 64 bit version of Slackware, so my kernel names are different.

No, I'm not using 09_slackware_linux script. I use another distro (Fedora) to boot from sda.So 10_linux script refers to Fedora.

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Fedora, with Linux 3.12.5-302.fc20.x86_64' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.12.5-302.fc20.x86_64-advanced-68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos2 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos2 --hint='hd0,msdos2' 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.12.5-302.fc20.x86_64 root=UUID=68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f ro vconsole.font=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-3.12.5-302.fc20.x86_64.img
}
menuentry 'Fedora, with Linux 3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64-advanced-68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f' {
load_video
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos2 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos2 --hint='hd0,msdos2' 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64 root=UUID=68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f ro vconsole.font=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-3.11.10-301.fc20.x86_64.img
}
menuentry 'Fedora, with Linux 0-rescue-d9c58866bd8a4401871fdc6b39693afb' --class fedora --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-0-rescue-d9c58866bd8a4401871fdc6b39693afb-advanced-68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f' {
load_video
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos2'
if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos2 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos2 --hint='hd0,msdos2' 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
else
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f
fi
linux /boot/vmlinuz-0-rescue-d9c58866bd8a4401871fdc6b39693afb root=UUID=68f1196f-abb5-4635-a848-faa252f4475f ro vconsole.font=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb quiet
initrd /boot/initramfs-0-rescue-d9c58866bd8a4401871fdc6b39693afb.img
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

I don't expect RedHat to support anything other than RedHat/Fedora and Windows. (I don't expect Slackware to support RedHat/Fedora, either.) I don't use RedHat other than at work (and we have our own custom installer), but it would not shock me to find that they've changed 10_linux to look only for the stuff that RedHat/Fedora uses.

So, just add the 09_slackware script given in the second link in post #3 of this thread to your Fedora installation and re-run grub-mkconfig. If you want the Fedora stuff to stay as the default boot, rename 09_slackware to 11_slackware. :)

Hi Richard,

I gave a try to your script but sadly grub.cfg is empty. See:

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/11_slackware_linux ###
### END /etc/grub.d/11_slackware_linux ###

Don't worry, as I stated above the 'huge kernel' is fine enough for me.

Thanks a lot for your professional help!!!

Well, you can be sneaky and rename or copy initrd.gz to initramfs.img and see if the RedHat version picks it up.