Package: flash-kernel
Severity: critical
Justification: breaks the whole system
Dear Maintainer,
*** Please consider answering these questions, where appropriate ***
Steps which led to the problem:
1. Installed a new kernel package on a functioning system.
2. Generated a new uImage and uInitrd using mkimage.
3. Rebooted system.
Result: System shutdown but didn't become available on network.
Steps to diagnose:
1. Obtained access to a serial console.
2. Discovered that boot was interrupted because it timed out when trying to
mount the root filesystem, which was reported to be /dev/root.
3. Restored the previous uImage and uInitrd and successfully rebooted.
4. Adjusted rootdelay=60 and tried rebooting again with the problematic
uImage and uInitrd again. Rootfs still unavailable.
5. Other stuff that didn't help.
6. Found that the root= kernel param was being ignored by the initrams init
scripts, even though other parameters, like rootdelay were being honored.
7. Read through startup scripts and found that the incorrect value for root
seemed to originate in conf/param.con
8. Read through mkinitramfs scripts and found that a hook installed by the
flash-kernel package was responsible for the hook script that was setting
root=/dev/root in conf/param.con.
Steps to correct:
1. Uninstalled flash-kernel.
2. Updated problematic initramfs.
3. Confirmed that conf/param.conf wasn't in the updated initramfs.
4. Updated uInitrd image.
5. Rebooted.
6. Success!
Expected behavior:
I expect my machine to (re)boot successfully and without intervention after the
installation of a new kernel.
If flash-kernel isn't necessary/required on my device, I would expect it to
detect that fact rather than rendering my system in an unbootable state.
I realize that my system (a ZyXel NSA320 modified to boot debian) isn't
particularly common, but I also know that there is a community of people
running debain on Kirkwood devices using the same technique, and I doubt I am
the only one to think that flash-kernel might be a useful package to have
installed.
Unfortunately, I don't have enough knowledge to suggest a remedy. Perhaps the
logic needs to be more sophisticated, or perhaps people porting debian to these
devices should be doing something so the scripts know that the bootloader
provided value is trustworthy.
Thanks.
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 7.1
APT prefers stable
APT policy: (990, 'stable')
Architecture: armel (armv5tel)
Kernel: Linux 3.9.11-kirkwood-tld-1 (PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Versions of packages flash-kernel depends on:
pn devionone
ii initramfs-tools 0.112~bpo70+1
ii linux-base 3.5
flash-kernel recommends no packages.
Versions of packages flash-kernel suggests:
ii u-boot-tools 2012.04.01-2
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