Messages in this thread | | | From | David Garfield <> | Date | Tue, 15 Jan 2002 19:33:17 -0500 | Subject | Re: Query about initramfs and modules |
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Greg KH writes: > But how do you always know what is "needed"? Wouldn't it be nice to > just select "compile all SCSI PCI and IEEE1394 and USB drivers as > modules" and then have your "real" root partition's controller be > automatically found before you try to mount your "real" root partition?
One knows what is needed because one knows or determines what it takes to access ones real root partition.
> Say your SCSI PCI controller dies, and you buy a new one. Plop it in, > reboot, and everything works. No having to build a new initrd, or build > in _all possible_ SCSI PCI drivers.
Except that what you have just proposed requires that you "build in _all possible_ SCSI PCI drivers" as modules in the initramfs. Little gain, except that some things won't be retained.
Further, I don't thing I would expect a system with a changed SCSI PCI controller to boot on a kernel specifically built for the previous controller. I don't think I would even want it to boot. Better I think to get out a rescue disk of some sort, boot from that, reconfigure a built kernel for the new hardware (in the new case, simply reconstructing the initramfs), and reboot from that.
> Right now you can't have your "real" root partition on a USB drive, > without a horrible "let's wait forever" patch to your kernel. > > This also solves the "coldplug" problem, where you need to load > pci/usb/foobus drivers _after_ init has started. To do this you need to > rely on scanning the busses from userspace and loading the needed > drivers. Why reimplement this scanning logic, as the kernel already did > all of this (and usually did a much better job at it) during the boot > process before init started. > > And this allows lots of horrible "boot over NFS" and other network > code/hacks in the kernel to be moved out of kernel space, and into > userspace, where it really belongs.
Well, I agree that the new solution does solve some problems.
What I am worried about is not *allowing* user mode code in the initramfs, but *requiring* it.
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