pcinitrd

PCINITRD(8)                                                        PCINITRD(8)



NAME
       pcinitrd - create a PCMCIA initrd ram disk image

SYNOPSIS
       pcinitrd  [-v]  [-a] [--all] [-d alternate-root] [--dir=alternate-root]
       [-r kernel-release]     [--release=kernel-release]      [-s image-size]
       [--size=image-size] [-u] [--update] initrd-image [modules ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The  pcinitrd  script creates an initrd ram disk image for booting with
       the root filesystem on a PCMCIA device.  If the target is a block  spe-
       cial  device (i.e., /dev/fd0), then the initrd image is created on that
       device.  If the target does not already exist or if it is  an  ordinary
       file,  then  pcinitrd will create the image file using the ``loopback''
       device.

       Modules are specified  with  paths  relative  to  /lib/modules/[kernel-
       release].   The  core PCMCIA modules (pcmcia/pcmcia_core and pcmcia/ds)
       will automatically be installed in the target image.  All other device-
       specific  modules need to be listed on the command line, along with the
       appropriate socket driver (pcmcia/i82365.o or pcmcia/tcic.o).  Alterna-
       tively,  if  -a  is specified, then all available PCMCIA socket drivers
       and block device drivers will be included  in  the  image.   Additional
       files  to  be copied to the initrd image may also be listed on the com-
       mand line.  Executable programs  will  be  installed  in  /bin,  shared
       libraries  will be installed in /lib, device files will be installed in
       /dev, and any other files will be placed in /etc.

       The startup script in the resulting image, linuxrc, may need to be cus-
       tomized for a particular system.  It contains the same variable defini-
       tions as the normal PCMCIA startup scripts  (i.e.,  PCIC=,  PCIC_OPTS=,
       and  CORE_OPTS= variables).  The /etc/config.opts file may also need to
       be edited.  Any changes to linuxrc or config.opts will be preserved  if
       pcinitrd is executed in ``update'' mode.

       Another  feature of the generated linuxrc is that if the DEBUG variable
       is set to a non-blank string at the boot prompt, then cardmgr will echo
       all  its status messages to the console, and after linuxrc executes, it
       will fire up a shell on the console.  This can be helpful for debugging
       initrd  problems.   However,  few  commands are available in the normal
       initrd environment.

OPTIONS
       -v     Verbose mode.  Identify files as they are copied.

       -a, --all
              Install  all  socket  drivers  and  block-style  PCMCIA   device
              drivers,  including  memory  card,  SCSI  card,  and  fixed-disk
              drivers.  This is mainly intended for use by  package  maintain-
              ers.

       -d alternate-root, --dir=alternate-root
              Specifies  an  alternate  directory  tree  to search for all the
              files used to put together the initrd image.  This may be  help-
              ful  for  running pcinitrd after booting from an installation or
              rescue diskette.

       -r kernel-release, --release=kernel-release
              Specifies the kernel release number (i.e., 2.0.28) to  use  when
              looking for modules in /lib/modules.  The default is the release
              of the running kernel.

       -s image-size, --size=image-size
              Specifies the filesystem size to create on the  target  file  or
              device, in 1k blocks.  The default is 2400.

       -u, --update
              Update  mode:  updates  cardmgr and all the kernel modules in an
              existing initrd image, but does not modify other files.

AUTHOR
       David Hinds - dahinds@users.sourceforge.net

SEE ALSO
       pcmcia(5), cardmgr(8), lilo(8).



pcmcia-cs                            $Date                         PCINITRD(8)