# mkinitrd creates unreadable initramfs

## rer

Hi guys,

mkinitrd 4.2.03 creates a for newer kernels unreadable initrd, because it creates a pre-SVR4 cpio, kernel complains about to use -H newc cpio-option. Can i solve this with USE-flags or kernel-options? or is this a bug in mkinitrd. All initrds in gentoo and other live-distro-cds are by default SVR4, so the pre-SVR4-format seems to be deprecated

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## Rexilion

Genkernel automatically creates an initrd for you. Besides, you can generate one yourself. Is there any reason to use mkinitrd? Last time I tried to emerge it, it didn't even compile  :Mr. Green:  .

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## rer

genkernel is an oversized tool for the simple process of initrd-creation. It makes many things behind the curtain, I don't understand, don't want and don't need, and I don't wanna learn about it. Every distro has a simple tool for initrd creation. I know that unmasked mkinitrd 3.7 is not even buildable, but masked 4.2 at least is   :Shocked:  , but doesn't seem to work satisfying . Nothing more to say about the "Quality" of the oh so praised stable gentoo-portage tree when such crapware finds in

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## Hu

If you want to roll your own initrd, the kernel build process has support for generating a properly formed initrd.  It even embeds the initrd in the kernel for you.  See Documentation/filesystems/ramfs-rootfs-initramfs.txt.

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