[SOLVED] Initramfs-less System, Kernel Modules = M

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

Hi all, here's hoping Neddy sees this.

Current stack I'm trying to achieve:

1. Bootload with GRUB
2. Minimal kernel, device drivers = M as per .config below
3. No initramfs
4. systemd

Issue:
I can get grub to begin loading the kernel, but this stack doesn't seem to load the amdgpu driver, and potentially others. I get the grub message "loading kernel 6.6.21-gentoo ..." then the message drops away, my screen stops receiving a signal and the lights on my GPU turn off, boot seems to hang?

Is this even possible? I'm not interested in having an initramfs, but I want granular control of the modules, for no other reason than that this is Gentoo.

I've been working on this install from a linux mint livecd for a couple days now, I can't for the life of me work out how to get a dmesg to try and work out the issue myself. I'm sure I've just got the wrong idea about how the boot process works and what systemd can do. I've tried to ssh into the box from my laptop, but I don't think that's possible since I can't get the correct IP address (do I even need this? I don't know if systemd is loading the sshd in this sequence).

Do I need to start a special service with systemd? Do actually need to add them to load.modules.d? Do I need to build the firmware blobs into the kernel? I have found no resources online to suggest these cases because udev(?) is supposed to detect and load all of this.

Anyways, obligatory dpaste links:

Kernel .config:

http://dpaste.com/6VGK2J68L

lspci -nnk:

http://dpaste.com/AFW593QBF

emerge --info installkernel

http://dpaste.com/GM6FDRCNU

emerge --info gentoo-sources

http://dpaste.com/6U78536LT

emerge --info linux-firmware

http://dpaste.com/BJ4B73BUC

grub.cfg:

http://dpaste.com/BMKH8XBL4

modules in /usr/lib/firmware:

http://dpaste.com/GUE99QQ8J

fstab

http://dpaste.com/HKRRP9FUW

grknight · Retired Dev Joined: 20 Feb 2015 Posts: 1663

pietinger · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2024 2:53 pm Post subject:

MajorJalepino,

you have two problems: You have an invisible kernel panic !

It is invisible because you miss:

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

Hey mate,

Thanks for reply, my boot device is a PCIE nvme and I have no SATA devices at all. The xhci and scsi modules will be for my USB devices.

I'll add in the console framebuffer and retry for more output, that won't stop the kernel panic though does it?

Do you know if I can have modules loaded without an initramfs?

pietinger · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2024 3:13 pm Post subject:

You will need SCSI ALWAYS (even with a M.2 nvme) ;-)

_________________
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pietinger

pietinger · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2024 3:16 pm Post subject:

grknight · Retired Dev Joined: 20 Feb 2015 Posts: 1663

pietinger · Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2024 3:19 pm Post subject:

P.S.: Please do not confuse XHCI (-> USB 3.0) with AHCI (Advance Host Controller Interface) ... :lol:

_________________
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pietinger

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

Booted! Did not change anything to do with SATA, fbdev support was set to no.

As you can see from below, AHCI and SCSI are built as modules here, I honestly can't recall what I specifically I changed.

grknight, I believe all I need to do for the kernel is make the rootfs accesible by telling it how to access it and showing it where it is. An initramfs is not necessary in my opinion, I've built in fs support and an NVME driver. Rest is being loaded by systemd here.

DMESG:

https://bpa.st/ND7A

Lsmod:

https://bpa.st/R7NQ

lspci -nnk:

https://bpa.st/6AQQ[/u]

Hu · Moderator Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 21650

The point posters were making above is that if you have no initramfs, then your kernel has no access to modules until after the rootfs is successfully mounted. From that, if the kernel does not have built-in support for the mass storage device holding your rootfs, the partition scheme of that device, and the filesystem you used for root, then it will not be able to mount the rootfs. It is very common for people to try to use a module for a core component like this, fail, and come to us for help. Therefore, one of the first things we check is whether the kernel can, without using any modules, mount rootfs.

grknight · Retired Dev Joined: 20 Feb 2015 Posts: 1663

As long as you don't want sound or wifi, this looks complete.

Sound is completely off:

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

Thanks for the pickup on the sound and wifi!

I don't know what causes it, but when I get to the prompt, I keep getting boot messages posting to the screen, as in writing over the top of the prompt.

I had this issue on an earlier base install, I've mananged to somewhat fix it by setting printk console loglevel to 1 for quiet mode in the kernel, but I feel like this isn't a rigorous fix.

Thoughts here?

pietinger · Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:55 am Post subject:

figueroa

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

I set the quiet printk loglevel in the kernel to 1, and I'm using grub to pass it to ther kernel currently.

It's remedied the log messages error but it feels like thats not the correct solution

What would be causing that error in the first place?

pietinger · Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 2:27 pm Post subject:

MajorJalepino · n00b Joined: 26 Jul 2022 Posts: 25

Makes sense to me, correct there are no error messages, just journalctl and some other services just spilling into the screen.

I enabled the performance governor as per your wiki article Pete which probably turbos the boot time.

I'm happy with my boot setup now, case closed.