Contents
What is initramfs fallback?
the “normal” initramfs contains only the stuff that you configured to be there (/etc/mkinitcpio.conf) and the “fallback” contains the default selection of drivers (eg all filesystem drivers, etc…)
What is Initcpio?
mkinitcpio is a Bash script used to create an initial ramdisk environment. The initial ramdisk is in essence a very small environment (early userspace) which loads various kernel modules and sets up necessary things before handing over control to init .
What is a fallback mechanism?
Fallback mechanisms. A fallback mechanism is supported to allow to overcome failures to do a direct filesystem lookup on the root filesystem or when the firmware simply cannot be installed for practical reasons on the root filesystem.
What’s the purpose of the fallback kernel in arch?
One thing that I’ve never really understood is the purpose of the “Fallback” kernel. I know Arch is not the only distro to utilize it, so I’m assuming its function is pretty universal. I’ve of course had my fair share of issues, misconfiguration, etc, but never had I ran into a problem which I couldn’t fix with the “normal” kernel.
What is the boot process for Arch Linux?
Arch boot process In order to boot Arch Linux, a Linux-capable boot loader must be set up. The boot loader is responsible for loading the kernel and initial ramdisk before initiating the boot process. The procedure is quite different for BIOS and UEFI systems, the detailed description is given on this or linked pages.
Which is the default image for Arch Linux?
Arch Linux official kernels use an empty archive for the builtin initramfs (which is the default when building Linux). External initramfs images can be generated with mkinitcpio, dracut or booster. The purpose of the initramfs is to bootstrap the system to the point where it can access the root filesystem (see FHS for details).
Which is firmware emulates the arch boot process?
Feature comparison Name Firmware Firmware Partition table File systems BIOS UEFI MBR GPT EFISTUB – Yes Yes – Clover Emulates UEFI Yes Yes No GRUB Yes Yes Yes Yes