What is CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE ?
How can I use it to update my Debian GNU/Linux system kernel to 2.6.30 ?
You cannot "use it" to update your kernel. It is merely one kernel
configuration option among many.
The CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE option is for providing a text file (during
the kernel build procedure) which lists files and directories to be
included _inside_ the kernel binary image. This makes it possible to
provide files to the kernel before ordinary disk filesystems have been
mounted.
Ordinarily, that is the purpose of an initial ramdisk ("initrd") -- an
archive file loaded by the boot manager (grub, lilo, etc.) during the
boot process allowing access to files (usually kernel modules) needed to
complete the boot process. Packing an initramfs archive directly into
the kernel binary makes it possible to avoid using an initrd -- for
example, if you only have a small number of files that must be available
during boot and you didn't want the initrd baggage. I use an initramfs
archive for exactly this purpose: I compile my own kernels and normally
would not need an initrd, but I need a small userspace binary (v86d)
that a 64-bit kernel can use as a helper to set video modes through a
32-bit BIOS. I just let the kernel know about the list of files I want
packed with the kernel (CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE) and make sure that
those files are actually present and, bingo, no need for an initrd!
You can read about this in the documentation provided with the kernel
sources. Take a look at this file:
<path-to-kernel-source>/Documentation/filesystems/ramfs-rootfs-initramfs.txt
HTH,
Dave W.
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