[Gllug] Debugging kernel loading initrd

[Richard Jones]

On Sat, Apr 26, 2008 at 09:32:52AM +0100, John Edwards wrote:
> Is there anyway that I can get a kernel to print debugging messages
> to the console on what it is doing, especially when loading an
> initrd/initramfs?
[...]
> I have an old Pentium system where the initrd (gzip'ed cpio initramfs)
> is not being run by the kernel. No error messages are being displayed
> and the system stops booting but responds to the keyboard
> Ctrl-Alt-Del. So the kernel has not crashed.
> 
> The same kernel and initrd can boot on Pentium II and above CPUs, but
> fails on four different Pentium I machines. The kernel can boot other
[..]

Do you see any kernel messages?  Possibly an issue with the kernel or
some userspace program being compiled with some Pentium-II specific
instructions, although I'm not quite sure what they would be.

Anyhow, unpack the initrd, edit /etc/init file (IIRC), add some echo
commands to it, repack it against and reboot. You should be able to
see how far the init script gets, or whether it gets started at all.

Rich.

-- 
Richard Jones
Red Hat
-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug