pcinitrd.8

pcmcia source code

.\" Copyright (C) 1998 David A. Hinds -- [e-mail]
.\" pcinitrd.8 1.13 2000/07/25 18:31:33
.\"
.TH PCINITRD 8 "$Date" "pcmcia-cs"
.SH NAME
pcinitrd \- create a PCMCIA initrd ram disk image
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B pcinitrd
.RB [ -v ]
.RB [ -a ]
.RB [ --all ]
.RB [ "\-d\ "\c
.I alternate-root\c
]
.RB [ \-\-dir=\c
.I alternate-root\c
]
.RB [ "\-r\ "\c
.I kernel-release\c
]
.RB [ \-\-release=\c
.I kernel-release\c
]
.RB [ "\-s\ "\c
.I image-size\c
]
.RB [ \-\-size=\c
.I image-size\c
]
.RB [ -u ]
.RB [ --update ]
.I initrd-image
.RI [ "modules\ ..." ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B pcinitrd
script creates an initrd ram disk image for booting with the root
filesystem on a PCMCIA device.  If the target is a block special
device (i.e.,
.IR /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
.B pcinitrd
will create the image file using the ``loopback'' device.
.PP
Modules are specified with paths relative to
.IR /lib/modules/[kernel-release] .
The core PCMCIA modules
.RI ( pcmcia/pcmcia_core
and
.IR  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
.RI ( pcmcia/i82365.o
or
.IR pcmcia/tcic.o ).
Alternatively, if
.B -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 command line.
Executable programs will be installed in
.IR /bin ,
shared libraries will be installed in
.IR /lib ,
device files will be installed in
.IR /dev ,
and any other files will be placed in
.IR /etc .
.PP
The startup script in the resulting image,
.IR linuxrc ,
may need to be customized for a particular system.  It contains the
same variable definitions as the normal PCMCIA startup scripts (i.e.,
.BR PCIC= ,
.BR PCIC_OPTS= ,
and
.B CORE_OPTS=
variables).  The
.I /etc/config.opts
file may also need to be edited.  Any changes to
.I linuxrc
or
.I config.opts
will be preserved if
.B pcinitrd
is executed in ``update'' mode.
.PP
Another feature of the generated
.I linuxrc
is that if the
.B 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
.I 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.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-v
Verbose mode.  Identify files as they are copied.
.TP
\fB\-a\fR, \fB\-\-all\fR
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 maintainers.
.TP
\fB\-d\fI alternate-root\fR, \fB\-\-dir=\fIalternate-root\fR
Specifies an alternate directory tree to search for all the files used
to put together the initrd image.  This may be helpful for running 
.B pcinitrd
after booting from an installation or rescue diskette.
.TP
\fB\-r\fI kernel-release\fR, \fB\-\-release=\fIkernel-release\fR
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.
.TP
\fB\-s\fI image-size\fR, \fB\-\-size=\fIimage-size\fR
Specifies the filesystem size to create on the target file or device,
in 1k blocks.  The default is 2400.
.TP
\fB\-u\fR, \fB\-\-update\fR
Update mode: updates
.B cardmgr
and all the kernel modules in an existing initrd image, but does not
modify other files.
.SH AUTHOR
David Hinds \- [e-mail]
.SH "SEE ALSO"
pcmcia(5), cardmgr(8), lilo(8).