John Summerfield wrote:
For completeness for the ignorant, whether that option is available depends on the boot loader, not on Linux. Since the choice of bootloader depends on the platform, translating Mark's reply to other platform is risky.
Excusez moi ? understanding the 'init=' boot kernel parameter *IS* dependent on the kernel understanding this particular parameter and NOT the bootloader understanding what it means! The bootloader is responsible to pass the kernel parameters to the kernel... *NOT* to understand their semantics ! And the 'init=' is relevant to the kernel since it is the kernel that will spawn the 1st user mode process (aka : init).. And being able to indicate which binary executable to run (instead of the default.. which has evolved over time - but was originally - believe it or not - /etc/init !) for this user mode process *IS* the responsibility of the kernel (and not the boot loader - which only responsibility - for a linux bootloader - is to 1) load the kernel, 2) invoke the kernel 3) with indications of what the initialization parameters are) And if the kernel shipped with SLES 7.2 doesn't understand 'init=', then it can't be used (regardless of the boot loader).. Of course, it should *ALWAYS* understand 'root=' !.. So just prop in a custom made root filesystem (with it's own init - which may allow the person in control of the console to use a shell) - a kernel that knows how to mount the root filesystem of the broken system.. do whatever needs to be done then.. and you're done ! --Ivan ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390
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