[pocket-linux] Re: no shell when booting pocket-linux

[David Horton]

> Hi David.
> Thanks for your pocket-linux guide.
> I have a problem with pocket-linux. When I try to boot with a compressed
> root-floppy and dynamically linked bash I do not get any prompt == no
shell
> (as in chapter 3.3-3.4)
> 
> I think I've tried everything that has come to my mind.
> 
> I've tried to copy the shared libraray with their corresponding links
exactly
> like it's in /lib, using both strip as you suggested and
> [a@bc]# objectcopy --strip-debug FROM TO
> as in boot-disk how-to.
> I've checked my lilo.conf and tried "read-write" option.
> I've tried with a very generic kernel (from a redhat8 boot floppy)
> in case I forgot to build in some important functionality when I
> compiled the kernel I used first.
> 
> I've succeeded with a compressed root floppy with statically linked bash.
> I've no trouble running bash from the temporary ram-disk used for
constructing
> the compressed ram-disk for the root-floppy.
> I've uncompressed the file (phase2-image.gz), mounted it as a loopback
> device (on the computer I use for building the floppy) and have run
the bash
> there with no problem.
> 
> But I don't get any shell/prompt when I use a compressed root-floppy with
> a dynamically linked bash.
> 
> I am running out of ideas here to solve the problem. I hope you can help
> me!!!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Anders Gronlund.
> 

Anders,

All I can think of off the top of my head is that it might be a problem
with linking the libraries or /dev/console.  But it looks like you've
tested that when mounting the loopback device.  Still you might want to
double-check these things:

* Are libraries flagged as executable?
* Do library names match the "ldd" output?  (example: libc.so.6 instead
of glibc-2.2.25.so or something like that.)
* Does /dev/console exist?
* Is /dev/console flagged read-write?

Otherwise I would highly recomend joining the mailing list and posting
the question there.  We have some very smart people out there who may
have seen this before.  Mailing list details are at:
http://my.core.com/~dhorton/linux/pocket/

You can also download the chapter 3 diskette image from the web site
mentioned above and compare to what you have built.  That might help
locate any differences.

Good Luck,
Dave

P.S. I'm going to cc: the mailing list on this in case anyone has a
quick solution for you.