Modified initrd

lb_worm · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:59 am

I have posted my modified ramdisk here:

http://buffalo.nas-central.org/download/arm9-LS_Pro/Alternative%20Initrd/

It has no root password, telnet, modified linuxrc for Debian, modified linuxrc for alternative kernels etc. Give it a try and see what you think

lb_worm · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:21 pm

Any takers? You were keen at one point?

kuroguy · **Joined:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:11 pm **Posts:** 658

I would. but alas, I have no LS Pro. I'll try anything at least once. More if I like it.

jonli447 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:19 pm

@I'll give it a shot...I flashing the pro as we speak.

jonli447 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:26 pm

Very nice...I currently can't see any issues.

I'll have to play with it some though...many thanks lb_worm.

mindbender · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:49 pm

is there any simple way to boot to EM Mode on the LS Pro?

do you trigger that via serial?

or do you disconnect the hdd?

jonli447 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 11:45 pm

mindbender wrote:

is there any simple way to boot to EM Mode on the LS Pro?

I've gotten it into EM mode by:
1) mount sdx1, add a random txt file to sdx1, umount and reboot.
2) open a glibc file (I did not even edit the lib)
3) Disconnect the hdd -- like you said.

lb_worm: You removed the kernel date check right? I am trying to get my compiled kernel from buffalo source to boot. If I can do so successfully, next is trying to compile patches.

lb_worm · **Posted:** Fri Nov 17, 2006 2:05 pm

I did remove the date check. Will give a warning on boot up and inform you which file to amend if you wish; can ignore it though.

EM Mode is not too hot on this machine. With only 256KB of flash which is reserved for UBoot all you have is a couple of files that have to be on the drive: Uimage and initrd. If these are not available, then the unit defaults to trying tftp boot.

PS: I will upload my Debian build soon (next week). This is a full blown Freelink to replace the current file system and everything is working just fine. Testing it as much as possible and this is why it has been a very long time coming.

As viewed from the serial console once the kernel has booted:-

Code:

        _sudZUZ#Z#XZo=_         DDDD   EEEEEE BBBB   IIIIII  AAAA   NN   NN 
      _jmZZ2!!~---~!!X##wa       DD DD  EE     BB BB    II   AA  AA  NNN  NN 
   .<wdP~~            -!YZL,     DD  DD EEEEE  BBBBB    II   AAAAAA  NNNN NN 
  .mX2'       _%aaa__     XZ[.   DD DD  EE     BB  BB   II   AA  AA  NN NNNN 
  oZ[      _jdXY!~?S#wa   ]Xb;   DDDD   EEEEEE BBBBB  IIIIII AA  AA  NN   NN 
 _#e'     .]X2(     ~Xw|  )XXc 
.2Z`      ]X[.       xY|  ]oZ(   Linux Version 2.6.12.6-arm1 
.2#;      )3k;     _s!~   jXf`   Compiled #75 Sun Jun 11 14:33:24 JST 2006 
 1Z>      -]Xb/    ~    __#2(    One ARM ARM926EJ-Sid(wb) rev 0 (v5l) Processor, 128M RAM 
 -Zo;       +!4ZwaaaauZZXY'      266.24 Bogomips Total 
  *#[,        ~-?!!!!!!-~        LS-GL7D6 
   XUb;. 
    )YXL,, 
      +3#bc, 
        -)SSL,, 
           ~~~~~ 
 
Updating the linuxlogo... linuxlogo. 
 
Debian GNU/Linux 3.1 LS-GL7D6 ttyS0 
 
LS-GL7D6 login: 

kuroguy · **Joined:** Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:11 pm **Posts:** 658

Missing a space before the DDDD in the top line, but that splash screen is cool. Great work there lb_worm.

jonli447 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:28 pm

how did you compress the initrd filesystem? I need to manipulate a file inside, but I can't get yours to loop mount.

lb_worm wrote:

PS: I will upload my Debian build soon (next week). This is a full blown Freelink to replace the current file system and everything is working just fine. Testing it as much as possible and this is why it has been a very long time coming.

Looking forward to this. :up:

jonli447 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:16 pm

The new initrd really helps with experimenting with different kernels since I have the root access...Just wish I could get the kernels to boot correctly...can't even load the stock kernel anymore

spamman · **Joined:** Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:51 pm **Posts:** 35

lb_worm,

I will be giving this a go on Monday...left LS-Pro at office compiling apache,mysql,samba etc.. but have a few questions..

Does the updated initrd remove the requirement for the following files to even exist on the HDD?
/etc/hddrootmode
/etc/rootfs_ok
/etc/linkstation_release

Has the requirement for the partitions to be XFS been sorted so I can have the OS on ext3? (or is that not even enforced?)

Any chance you could deal with the watchdog in initrd to avoid some complexity? ( I have 'miconapl -a boot_end' working well but would rather the watchdog disabled earlier in the boot process)

Is it possible to boot the kernel directly and skip initrd altogether..seems like a waste of time if all I want is to boot gentoo completely always with no EM requirement.

Lastly, what process catches the button press and shuts down the Pro? .. How have you implemented in your debian build?

While I am asking...how could I edit initrd to have a poke around?

Thanks
Spamman

pippolippi · **Joined:** Sat Oct 28, 2006 3:00 pm **Posts:** 56

Remove the first 64 bytes from the file and the remainder is a gzipped ext2 image that you can gunzip and loop-mount.
e.g.

(this is very slow, there may be a more efficient method)

Code:

 
dd if=initrd.buffalo of=image.gz bs=1 skip=64 
gunzip image.gz 
mkdir tmp 
sudo mount -t ext2 -o loop image tmp 

spamman · **Joined:** Mon Aug 08, 2005 10:51 pm **Posts:** 35

Excellent, how do I save it back?

pippolippi · **Joined:** Sat Oct 28, 2006 3:00 pm **Posts:** 56

I don't know, I don't have an LS-PRO (yet

) so I just downloaded the initrd to take a look.
BTW, I'm not an expert in Linux booting, but I see that it isn't doing a pivot_root, how is it possible?

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Modified initrd

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