PCINITRD(8)						      System Manager's Manual						       PCINITRD(8)

NAME

       pcinitrd - create a PCMCIA initrd ram disk image

SYNOPSIS

       pcinitrd  [-v]  [-a]  [--all]  [-d alternate-root]  [--dir=alternate-root]  [-r kernel-release]	[--release=kernel-release] [-s image-size]
       [--size=image-size] [-u] [--update] initrd-image [modules ...]

DESCRIPTION

       The pcinitrd script creates an initrd ram disk image for booting with the root filesystem on a PCMCIA device.  If the  target  is  a  block
       special	device	(i.e.,	/dev/fd0),  then  the initrd image is created on that device.  If the target does not already exist or if it is an
       ordinary file, then pcinitrd will create the image file using the ``loopback'' device.

       Modules are specified with paths relative to /lib/modules/[kernel-release].  The core PCMCIA  modules  (pcmcia/pcmcia_core  and	pcmcia/ds)
       will  automatically  be installed in the target image.  All other device-specific modules need to be listed on the command line, along with
       the appropriate socket driver (pcmcia/i82365.o or pcmcia/tcic.o).  Alternatively, if -a is specified,  then  all  available  PCMCIA  socket
       drivers	and  block  device drivers will be included in the image.  Additional files to be copied to the initrd image may also be listed on
       the command line.  Executable programs will be installed in /bin, shared libraries  will  be  installed	in  /lib,  device  files  will	be
       installed in /dev, and any other files will be placed in /etc.

       The startup script in the resulting image, linuxrc, may need to be customized for a particular system.  It contains the same variable defi-
       nitions as the normal PCMCIA startup scripts (i.e., PCIC=, PCIC_OPTS=, and CORE_OPTS= variables).  The /etc/config.opts file may also  need
       to be edited.  Any changes to linuxrc or config.opts will be preserved if pcinitrd is executed in ``update'' mode.

       Another	feature  of the generated linuxrc is that if the DEBUG variable is set to a non-blank string at the boot prompt, then cardmgr will
       echo all its status messages to the console, and after linuxrc executes, it will fire up a shell on the console.  This can be  helpful  for
       debugging initrd problems.  However, few commands are available in the normal initrd environment.

OPTIONS

       -v     Verbose mode.  Identify files as they are copied.

       -a, --all
	      Install all socket drivers and block-style PCMCIA device drivers, including memory card, SCSI card, and fixed-disk drivers.  This is
	      mainly intended for use by package maintainers.

       -d alternate-root, --dir=alternate-root
	      Specifies an alternate directory tree to search for all the files used to put together the initrd image.	This may  be  helpful  for
	      running pcinitrd after booting from an installation or rescue diskette.

       -r kernel-release, --release=kernel-release
	      Specifies  the  kernel release number (i.e., 2.0.28) to use when looking for modules in /lib/modules.  The default is the release of
	      the running kernel.

       -s image-size, --size=image-size
	      Specifies the filesystem size to create on the target file or device, in 1k blocks.  The default is 2400.

       -u, --update
	      Update mode: updates cardmgr and all the kernel modules in an existing initrd image, but does not modify other files.

AUTHOR

       David Hinds - dahinds@users.sourceforge.net

SEE ALSO

       pcmcia(5), cardmgr(8), lilo(8).

pcmcia-cs							       $Date							       PCINITRD(8)