Debian Kernel intramfs cannot mount ntfs (in the FristRib style)? (Solved)

[miltonx]

I was trying to put FirstRib init file (extracted from KLV-Airedale-sr8's initrd) in Debian 11 kernel (5.10.0-8-amd64) initrd, to boot my debian 11 based sfs, only to find that the Debian11 kernel/initrd cannot mount ntfs (since my sfs frugal system is located in an ntfs drive). I modified the FirstRib init file to try different mount options, including "-t ntfs", "-t ntfs3", "-t ntfs-3g" and no-option. None worked. Does is mean I have to use another kernel (such as KLV-Airedale-sr8's kernel)? Or is there any workaround, say, would including another mount program (with dependencies) in the debian initrd work?

[wiak]

I was trying to put FirstRib init file (extracted from KLV-Airedale-sr8's initrd) in Debian 11 kernel (5.10.0-8-amd64) initrd, to boot my debian 11 based sfs, only to find that the Debian11 kernel/initrd cannot mount ntfs (since my sfs frugal system is located in an ntfs drive). I modified the FirstRib init file to try different mount options, including "-t ntfs", "-t ntfs3", "-t ntfs-3g" and no-option. None worked. Does is mean I have to use another kernel (such as KLV-Airedale-sr8's kernel)? Or is there any workaround, say, would including another mount program (with dependencies) in the debian initrd work?

You are using Debian's own initramfs, which I don't know about, so, though what you were doing was worth a try, I can't really answer your question sorry. Why don't you just boot your debian 11 based sfs using FirstRib initrd (rather than Debian's initramfs)? We have done that many times before (using old weedogit program for example). The end result is a KL-like frugal install system but running Debian official root filesystem. In weedogit constructions of that type the official distro kernel was always used by default.

[miltonx]

... Why don't you just boot your debian 11 based sfs using FirstRib initrd (rather than Debian's initramfs)? ...

Yes, I have tried the FirstRib initrd extracted from KLV sr8. It works. Since I was doing all this for experiment, I was wondering whether Debian's own kernel would work. Debian is known for its stability, so I guess maybe running Debian11 with its own selected kernel and modules could be optimum. Googling shows that other people had same problem with Debian's initrd when mounting ntfs. Now I think this is natural as ntfs is not something totally open (and reliable) to the linux world, and debian has always be conservative in its design.

[miltonx]

Sorry that I found it was my mistake. My init script did not mkdir /proc, /sys before mounting proc and sys. (The debian initrd does not have those folders).
Manually tested initramfs's 'busybox sh'. Mounting ntfs is fine, by any of these commands:

Code: Select all

mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1

"mount -t ntfs3" does not work because Debian prefers the ntfs-3g module which is more stable than ntfs3.