On Fri, Jan 28, 2005 at 07:15:00AM +0200, Shachar Shemesh wrote: > Tzafrir Cohen wrote: > > >>Once you've compiled the kernel, how do you put right modules on the CD? > >>I tried putting everything in, and the installer wouldn't mount the > >>ramdisk. > >> > >> > > > >What exactly did you try? > > > > > Thing is, the driver I was looking for was on the CD, but it didn't > work. I have every reason to believe that using a newer driver will > solve this particular problem. > > I tried to replace the "vmlinuz" file on the CD with a different one, as > well as extract the initrd (in ext2 format), replace the "modules" > directory with what I have, and recreate an ISO.
I believe that updating the initrd is not the right thing to do. The initrd is only used for the basic system. Only the components required for loading the kernel and mounting the CD. Almost all of the rest is in packages (micro-debs, .udeb files). The have their own Packages file under dists/sarge/debian-installer/main . The relevant kernel modules udeb probably reside at pool/main/l/linux-kernel-di-i386 or pool/main/l/linux-kernel-di-i386-26 , depending on your version. > > Only problem is that I didn't want to manually filter through the > modules, finding the ones that need to be on the CD. I just put them all > in. As a result, my initrd's size got up from 10MB to 60. > > I'm not sure whether that's the reason, but I did not manage to boot > into this image. The kernel loads, and then complains about mounting the > initrd. > > Now, what I would REALLY like to do is be able to manually install the > system. As I can access the disks (on software raid) from 64bit debian, > I would like to get the tgz that is extracted there to bootstrap the > machine. Once there, I believe I'll manage to install everything else. I > couldn't find that file, however. It uses debotstrap for that part, so no more large tarball. Anyway, considering that the shell of the debian installer is actually very usable and that you can even install ssh client and/or ssh server (available as separate udebs), I don't see the need for that. > > >You should make sure that your kernel is compatible with the one on the > >CD, because it loads many modules at install time from other udebs on > >the CD. > > > > > It won't be. How can it. The version on the CD doesn't work. > > >If your kernel is compatible enough then just modify the initrd in > >install/ or install26/ : extract it (gunzip, mount) and add your modules > >under /lib/modules/* (IIRC. I don't remember those earlier stages of > >the initrd). Once you're done (umount, gzip) copy it back, > > > > > It's the mkisofs command line that I think I got wrong. I put the files in the directory cd/ and create new.iso: Here's what I use: mkisofs -quiet -o new.iso -r -J -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 \ -boot-info-table -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat ./cd Also note the md5sums file. I don't remember when it is changed, though. If you create a udeb you'll need to fix its apt source. I use apt-ftparchive . Let me know if you want our complete makefile. -- Tzafrir Cohen | New signature for new address and | VIM is http://tzafrir.org.il | new homepage | a Mutt's [EMAIL PROTECTED] | | best ICQ# 16849755 | Space reserved for other protocols | friend ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
