[Buildroot] initial ram filesystem with pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig

[Buildroot] initial ram filesystem with pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig

[Peter Morici]

    I'm trying to get a buildroot system that runs entirely from ram once
booted so that the boot device (ie: a usb drive) can be removed without
causing a problem.

    I tried starting with the pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig and making changes to
enable building initramfs and modifying the post image generation script
but the resulting image caused the machine to crash on boot w/o any useful
feedback.  Is there an existing def config that maybe better suited as a
starting point or some other approach I can take to get the desired result?

Thanks,
-Pete
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[Buildroot] initial ram filesystem with pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig

[Christian Stewart]

Hi Peter, all,

I am also working on an initramfs based system for x86_64 and have had
some initial difficulty (although I haven't had much time to delve
into it completely) getting a straightforward pipeline for Buildroot
build -> install on a x86_64 machine -> boot.

I have managed to get qemu + even VirtualBox working somewhat with an
initramfs based system:

https://github.com/paralin/SkiffOS/tree/master/configs/intel/x64

Getting it to work on a machine should involve flashing grub and/or
isolinux (does isolinux work reliably for a "production-grade" boot or
is grub needed?) and copying in the initramfs + kernel + boot config
(??).

Unfortunately I have limited experience with grub, most of my
bootloader experience is with either Refind on my laptop (an efi based
bootup for macs) or u-boot.

On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 6:00 PM Peter Morici <pmorici@dev295.com> wrote:
>
>
>     I'm trying to get a buildroot system that runs entirely from ram once booted so that the boot device (ie: a usb drive) can be removed without causing a problem.
>
>     I tried starting with the pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig and making changes to enable building initramfs and modifying the post image generation script but the resulting image caused the machine to crash on boot w/o any useful feedback.  Is there an existing def config that maybe better suited as a starting point or some other approach I can take to get the desired result?


Can you detail how you installed the image on the machine and at what
point in the boot you got the crash?

Thanks,
Christian Stewart

[Buildroot] Fwd: initial ram filesystem with pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig

[Peter Morici]

    I figured it out.  The crash I was seeing was immediately after Grub
but before any messages got printed to the screen.  It came down to the
value specified for the console= kernel parameter.  Certain values that
worked for a regular filesystem cause the initram fs file system to lock up
in my case I was trying to suppress console output and was using
console=null but many other values seem to cause the same issue.  It
probably has something to do with the extra /init script that gets
installed as part of initramfs and redirects it's standard
input/output/error to the /dev/console device.

-Pete

On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 9:16 PM Christian Stewart <christian@paral.in> wrote:

> Hi Peter, all,
>
> I am also working on an initramfs based system for x86_64 and have had
> some initial difficulty (although I haven't had much time to delve
> into it completely) getting a straightforward pipeline for Buildroot
> build -> install on a x86_64 machine -> boot.
>
> I have managed to get qemu + even VirtualBox working somewhat with an
> initramfs based system:
>
> https://github.com/paralin/SkiffOS/tree/master/configs/intel/x64
>
> Getting it to work on a machine should involve flashing grub and/or
> isolinux (does isolinux work reliably for a "production-grade" boot or
> is grub needed?) and copying in the initramfs + kernel + boot config
> (??).
>
> Unfortunately I have limited experience with grub, most of my
> bootloader experience is with either Refind on my laptop (an efi based
> bootup for macs) or u-boot.
>
> On Thu, May 9, 2019 at 6:00 PM Peter Morici <pmorici@dev295.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >     I'm trying to get a buildroot system that runs entirely from ram
> once booted so that the boot device (ie: a usb drive) can be removed
> without causing a problem.
> >
> >     I tried starting with the pc_x86_64_efi_defconfig and making changes
> to enable building initramfs and modifying the post image generation script
> but the resulting image caused the machine to crash on boot w/o any useful
> feedback.  Is there an existing def config that maybe better suited as a
> starting point or some other approach I can take to get the desired result?
>
>
> Can you detail how you installed the image on the machine and at what
> point in the boot you got the crash?
>
> Thanks,
> Christian Stewart
>
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