Venkat Venkataraju wrote:
> I used to compile my kernels manually. But genkernel creates initrd
> which i dont know how to make one manually.

I had the same problem until someone explained to me that for the most
part you don't need an initrd. initrd "is a RAM disk that is initialized
(e.g. loaded) by the boot loader before the kernel is started." Unless
you're booting to a scsi drive then initrd isn't needed.

Genkernel 3.x is still new and has some problems. Once you manually
build a kernel (which is very simple) you'll never look back again.
Here's a simplified step by step guide:

Make sure /boot is mounted. running 'mount /boot' if it isn't.

cd /usr/src/linux
This of course drops you into your source directory.

make menuconfig
This will open the kernel configuration utility and select whatever
options you had selected previously. Go through the menus and see if you
want to make some changes. When done hit esc until you're asked if you
want to save your changes. Say yes.

make dep && make bzImage modules modules_install
The build begins.

cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel-2.4.22-test
Insert your kernel version.

cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.4.22-test
Again, insert your kernel version.

cp .config /boot/config-2.4.22-test
Once again, your kernel version. This just backs up you kernel
configuration file (/usr/src/linux/.config).

modules-update
Updates /etc/modules.conf.

nano -w /boot/grub/grub.conf
Add the following:

title=Gentoo Linux 2.4.22-test
# Partition where the kernel image (or operating system) is located
root (hd0,0)
kernel (hd0,0)/kernel-2.4.22-test root=/dev/hda3

Notice the lack of an initrd? Unless you need a driver loaded _before_
the kernel, initrd isn't needed. Save and exit.

That's it. Reboot and enjoy. If your new kernel fails (because of the
options selected) just reboot, go back to the last working one and
change some options. The first one is the toughest but after a little
while you'll be building custom kernels for different things (like
gaming or video compression).

Good luck and please post your results to the tread.