Based on feedback, I've changed step 6, to get a modified ebuild for
virtual/dev-manager to properly check for busybox with the mdev USE
flag. Steps 1-through-5 are unchanged.
The usual warnings apply...
* this is a beta
* use a spare test machine
* if you don't follow the instructions correctly, the result might be
an unbootable linux
* even if you do follow instructions, the result might be an unbootable
linux
1) Set up your kernel to support and automount a devtmpfs filesystem at
/dev
* If you prefer to edit .config directly, set
CONFIG_DEVTMPFS=y and CONFIG_DEVTMPFS_MOUNT=y
* If you prefer make menuconfig, the route is as shown below. Note
that the Autount devtmpfs... option won't appear until you enable
Maintain a devtmpf... option.
make menuconfig
Device Drivers ---
Generic Driver Options ---
[*] Maintain a devtmpfs filesystem to mount at /dev
[*] Automount devtmpfs at /dev, after the kernel mounted the rootfs
Once you've made the changes, rebuild the kernel.
2) Set up for emerging busybox, there are 2 items to change
A) It appears that there may be an mdev bug in older versions of
busybox. To avoid that bug, keyword busybox-1.19.2 in
/etc/portage/package.keywords E.g. if you're using 32-bit Gentoo on
Intel, the incantation is...
=sys-apps/busybox-1.19.2 ~x86
Change the ~x86 to reflect your architecture, etc.
B) busybox requires the mdev flag in this situation. The static
flag is probably also a good idea. In file /etc/portage/package.use
add the line
sys-apps/busybox static mdev
Now, emerge busybox
3) In the bootloader append line, include init=/sbin/linuxrc where
the file /sbin/linuxrc consists of *AT LEAST*...
#!/sbin/busybox ash
mount -t proc proc /proc
mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys
exec /sbin/init
This should be enough for most users. If you have an unusual setup,
you may need additional stuff in there. If you're using lilo remember
to re-run lilo to implement the changes.
4) Remove udev from the services list, and replace it with mdev. Type
the following 2 commands at the command line
rc-update del udev sysinit
rc-update add mdev sysinit
5) reboot to your new kernel. You're now running without using udev.
6) ***THIS STEP IS OPTIONAL*** This is only to alay any suspicion that
udev is still in use. udev is pulled in by virtual/dev-manager,
which in turn is pulled in by the kernel.
* If you don't already have an overlay, create one, and implement it in
/etc/make.conf. In the following example, I'll use my setup, which has
the overlay in /usr/local/portage
* copy the contents of /usr/portage/virtual/dev-manager/ to
/usr/local/portage/virtual/dev-manager/
* cd /usr/local/portage/virtual/dev-manager/
* Edit the dev-manager-0.ebuild in the overlay to include
sys-apps/busybox[mdev] as one option in RDEPEND. And also include
EAPI=2 at the top of the ebuild, which is required for this syntax.
The revised ebuild is shown below.
EAPI=2
DESCRIPTION=Virtual for the device filesystem manager
HOMEPAGE=
SRC_URI=
LICENSE=
SLOT=0
KEYWORDS=alpha amd64 arm hppa ia64 m68k ~mips ppc ppc64 s390 sh sparc x86 ~spar
c-fbsd ~x86-fbsd
IUSE=
DEPEND=
RDEPEND=|| ( sys-fs/udev
sys-apps/busybox[mdev]
sys-fs/devfsd
sys-fs/static-dev
sys-freebsd/freebsd-sbin )
* execute the following 3 commands at the commandline
ebuild dev-manager-0.ebuild digest
emerge -1 dev-manager
emerge --unmerge sys-fs/udev
* In file /atc/portage/package.mask, append the line
sys-fs/udev
Create the file if it doesn't already exist. You now have a totally
udev-free machine
--
Walter Dnes waltd...@waltdnes.org
