On Wed, 18 May 2016 21:11:47 +0200
Didier Kryn <kryn@???> wrote:

> Le 18/05/2016 20:38, Steve Litt a écrit :
> > On Wed, 18 May 2016 12:34:22 +0100
> > KatolaZ <katolaz@???> wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 12:21:11PM +0100, Rainer Weikusat wrote:
> >>> I have to build one of these things as part of packaging 'our'
> >>> kernel (for more streamlined installations, ie, without compiling
> >>> a dedicated kernel for each). I remember reading various
> >>> criticisms about the impenetrable obscurity of the mechanism/
> >>> arrangement here in the past but so far, it seems reasonably
> >>> straight-forward to me (the prereq arrangement is a bit weird but
> >>> that's about it).
> >>>
> >>> Is there some hidden booby-trap I'm missing?
> >> You are right Rainer. There is no trap at all, and no witchcraft
> >> involved. Building an initramfs has always been quite
> >> straigthforward. You just put on a directory (DIR) the filesystem
> >> you want to have available before mounting root,
> > I was the guy voicing the criticisms about impenetrable obscurity,
> > but I wasn't referring to the process of *making* an initramfs. I
> > was referring to the process of *troubleshooting* a system whose
> > initramfs does not complete.
> >
> > I know there are some periscope programs (I think the main one is
> > sponsored by Redhat and is part of systemd) with which you can pop
> > up in an incomplete initramfs and look around. But it's still a
> > real pain in the ass.
> >
> > SteveT
> >

>      Hack the initramfs to give the user the chance to escape to an 
> interactive shell. I did that to my hand-crafted versions of
> initramfs because it speeds up debugging by a HUGE factor. I imagine
> it could be done on the stock initramfs.

The preceding info is or will be probably vital to a large chunk of
Devuan users. So...

* Which interactive shell did you use, and how was it compiled, and
where was it located in the initramfs?

* From which place(s) did you invoke this interactive shell? Was it
just once early in the initramfs' /init script, or somewhere else?

SteveT

Steve Litt
May 2016 featured book: Rapid Learning for the 21st Century
http://www.troubleshooters.com/rl21