[lug] Flakey Hardware?

[D. Stimits]

...
> modprobe loop
> 
> then
> 
> losetup /dev/loop0 new_initrd_file
> 
> then
> 
> mkfs.ext3 /dev/loop0
> 
> then mount it
> 
> mount /dev/loop0 new_initrd_dir
> 
> Expand your initrd.img into it and modify it

I'd put my bet on the initrd, because obviously if it installed there is 
a driver...there will be a kernel panic if init can't find a filesystem, 
and there won't be a filesystem if the initrd does not have the right 
module. But, here's a twist I ran into at one time, early in the XFS 
filesystem history: There is a kernel option during compile for the size 
of an initrd. I forget the details now, but I think the default size 
resulted in the drivers passing over the boundary of the initrd, and 
ending in a panic. Increasing the size to something like 8 MB in the 
kernel setting caused it to work. Perhaps it is an initrd size? But then 
again, if compiling your own, I often just compile all scsi and related 
drivers directly in and don't bother with a module...why use a module if 
it is mandatory and you aren't trying to fit the kernel onto a floppy?

D. Stimits, stimits AT comcast DOT net