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View Full Version : [ubuntu] size of initrd



mobinskariya
September 6th, 2009, 09:44 AM
my problem is i've got only a /boot partition of 20mb (thought that 15mb is maximum for a /boot).. i compiled a new kernel 2.6.30.5 (tried compiling for the first time).. when i make an intrd image with the following command

mkinitramfs -o initrd.img-2.6.30.5 2.6.30.5
it gives

gzip: stdout: No space left on device

so i tried the following command

mkinitramfs -o /home/mobin/Desktop/initrd.img-2.6.30.5 2.6.30.5
but the initrd due to the above command gives a file of 47mb.. while the initrd currently in my /boot is only of 7.2mb. am i doing anything wrong??(sorry for my confusing description)

thanx in advance
mobin

Fafler
September 6th, 2009, 12:30 PM
There are not really any restraints as to how big /boot can be. Back in the day, some BIOS's had trouble booting from large drives and the solution was to put /boot in the first x cylinders of the drive and mount the rest of the drive after booting the kernel.

47 mb seems like a lot! Have you build initrd's that way before? Try

mkdir ~/initrd
cd ~/initrd
gzip -dc /path/to/initrd | cpio -id
This will extract the contents of the initrd and allow you to inspect them. Extract you current initrd and compare.