On Sat, 2008-03-01 at 20:27 +0100, Thomas Bächler wrote:
Peter Feuerer schrieb:
I don't use the arch initcpio generated initramfs. I create a standalone "old" initrd containing the complete root filesystem of the arch installation myself. And due to the fact that the initrd is using ext2 as filesystem the kernel can't read it unless i compile ext2 in.
Just don't use a filesystem for your initrd. Create a cpio image and use it as an initramfs image. Apart from the fact that it is easier to create, there is also no unnecessary overhead like in case of a ramdisk.
Thanks for this answer, creating initramfs instead of initrd's was an option I already thought about. But the thing is, that I'm using the initrd-way already for many years. And it turned out to be a stable and deterministic solution. Switching to initramfs is not just creating the cpio archive. It is also about testing the target systems. It begins with testing the realtime behaviour of solutions like rtai or the rt-preempt patch and ends up with the testing of the daily usage of my thin clients. I mean, I could only switch for my recent projects. But then I have to take care about two solutions, what does not make much sense at all. That's why I want to stick to the old initrd way until I found time to do all the testing stuff with initramfs and I can completely switch. Anyway, my question was not about finding a way to replace the initrd. I asked if it would be possible to add ext2 into the standard kernel's config of archlinux again. Through many ppl use ext2 anyway, e.g. for their /boot partition. And the driver is not that big (the module is 74k). I do understand, you don't want to have every little driver in the kernel, but come on, ext2 is a very common filesystem... --peter