Can't re-create initrd

[CLOSE Dave]

Roger Heflin wrote:

> it is failing to find the root device.
>
> If the root device is initrd then that should be found, since you
> are modifing the initrd you may add a few more commands to it.
> ...
> if the root device is elsewhere it is not finding that.

Eventually, I want to modify the initrd. But first I want to find a 
working procedure to create the revised version. So, without changing 
anything, I'm trying to recreate the initrd. If I can't get an 
unmodified version to work, I probably have no hope for a modified one.

My current command sequence is,

   # mkdir newrd; cd newrd
   # unxz <../initrd.img | cpio -im
   # unxz <../initrd.img | cpio -it | cpio -oc | xz >../initrd2.img

The result is slightly smaller than the original. lsinitrd shows both 
images to have exactly the same content in the same sequence but with 
different timestamps on directories and links.

Without changing the PXE instructions, either the kernel or the append 
lines, I move the new file on top of the original and try to PXE boot. 
That's when it fails. It does appear to find the root as several screens 
worth of messages fly by. The last few I see make reference to sda and 
sdb (the target has two disks). But I can't read fast enough to see the 
last messages before the kernel panic (which fills the screen).
-- 
Dave Close