Manual Kernel Compilation fails with "Error: not a valid kernel..."

Question

I wanted to try out the Zen kernel to compile my own custom kernel. The basic steps that I did were:
1. $ make localmodconfig
2. $ make -j3
3. # make modules_install
4. # cp -v ~/<build directory>/arch/x86_64/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen-3.1.4.img
5. # mkinitcpio -k vmlinuz-linux-zen-3.1.4 -g /boot/initramfs-linux-zen-3.1.4
and I get the error:
==> ERROR: '/lib/modules/vmlinuz-linux-zen-3.1.4' is not a valid kernel module directory
Inside of /lib/modules I have a new files called "3.1.4-zen-ARCH-g30db333 (and the original files that were there from the stock kernel).
Inside of /boot/ I have the stock image and the stock initram as well as "vmlinuz-linux-zen-3.1.4.img"
Which step am I missing? Also, I was thinking it was possible to NOT use an initram if I just compiled the ext2 and ext4 (root is ext4) into the kernel instead of building them as modules. Is my thinking correct? Also, if anyone needs a reason why I'm using the zen sources instead of the nice Liquorix binary, the answer is simply that I wanted to mess around with it to satisfy my curiosity. Thanks.

Answer 1

As per the man page:
-k kernelversion
Use kernelversion, instead of the current running kernel. This may be a path to a kernel image or a
specific kernel version. If specified as a path to an image, this will always be prefixed by the basedir.
You've picked... neither? I guess you want "/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen-3.1.4.img" or "3.1.4-zen-ARCH-g30db333".
Compiling the filesystem module into the kernel alone is not sufficient to avoid using an initramfs. You also need, at a minimum, drivers for the disk controller and a block device driver.
Last edited by falconindy (2011-12-08 04:43:21)