Making an initrd for suspend2?

[ttuttle]

The latest version of Software Suspend 2 has removed the text-mode user interface. It has been replaced/ported to the UserUI system, which uses a usermode binary to show a user interface. Unfortunately, because the code for the interface is on disk in a binary instead of in the kernel, it is impossible to get a "pretty" interface for most of the resume process. The only way to do it is with an initrd.

Currently I don't have an initrd, since I run vanilla-sources (patched with suspend2, of course) and have a relatively normal (no encryption, loopback, RAID, LVM2, EVMS, etc... although I might eventually try LVM2) disk/partition setup. I know genkernel can make one, but I presume it is tailored to the genkernel/livecd approach to hardware detection, which would be redundant with a hand-built kernel.

So my question is, what are the responsibilities of an initrd? If I have one, is it enough just to do the suspend2 things I need to do (set up the interface, echo > /proc/software_suspend/do_resume, etc...), or does it become responsible for mounting disks as well?

Sorry to ask this, because I know it should be clear, but every tutorial/HOWTO on initrd's is about how to update/enhance one distro's initrd to add a feature. I just want to know what the minimum required to make one is. Alternatively, is there a Gentoo Official Developer-Sanctioned Policy (TM) [1] about how to make an initrd and what it should contain?

[1] Note the subtle hint of sarcasm here. This is mostly due to the fact that gentoo-sources, an otherwise wonderful patchset, doesn't include suspend2. I know why, and it's a good reason, but I wish it included it, because it includes tons of other great stuff and would make my life easier and less deviant from how Gentoo does things.

[alkan]

I don't know what suspend2 should do in initrd, but if you have one, it does what ever you want it do. It can be just suspend2 stuff. You can tailor it to your needs. distributions usally use initrd to detect hardware, to load modules, etc. There is a nice documentation about how to make one and how it works in the kernel source tree.

Basically there is this /linuxrc script that executes the tasks you want, You should only put binaries and libraries that you use in the linuxrc into initrd to keep it small.

[dadodrake]

I'm looking for a good initrd for suspend2 too. I'm too lazy to write my own, cause I can live without userui.