From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from fed1rmmtao101.cox.net (fed1rmmtao101.cox.net [68.230.241.45]) by speech.braille.uwo.ca (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7D44C10B0B for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:42:01 -0400 (EDT) Received: from fed1rmimpo01.cox.net ([70.169.32.71]) by fed1rmmtao101.cox.net (InterMail vM.7.08.02.01 201-2186-121-102-20070209) with ESMTP id <20081022084305.QUTZ6175.fed1rmmtao101.cox.net@fed1rmimpo01.cox.net> for ; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:43:05 -0400 Received: from lnx2.holmesgrown.com ([72.208.219.132]) by fed1rmimpo01.cox.net with bizsmtp id Vkj51a0062rzSAG03kj5Va; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:43:05 -0400 X-Authority-Analysis: v=1.0 c=1 a=QXGRI5KgfeR_-bXarXMA:9 a=hAoVgGG9xGInFGUsXmXalTf3CVwA:4 a=rPt6xJ-oxjAA:10 X-CM-Score: 0.00 Received: from lnx3.holmesgrown.com ([192.168.1.5] ident=Debian-exim) by lnx2.holmesgrown.com with esmtp (Exim 4.62) (envelope-from ) id 1KsZJ6-0004zv-Az for speakup@braille.uwo.ca; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:43:08 -0700 Received: from steve by lnx3.holmesgrown.com with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1KsZJ3-0000pm-7c for speakup@braille.uwo.ca; Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:43:05 -0700 Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:43:05 -0700 From: Steve Holmes To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca Subject: Re: Kernels in Debian Message-ID: <20081022084303.GA3184@lnx3.holmesgrown.com> Mail-Followup-To: speakup@braille.uwo.ca References: <20081021135906.GA22908@lnx3.holmesgrown.com> <0CC51DF8FA974FFEAD676AE1DC500C37@kazam> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-action=pgp-signed Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <0CC51DF8FA974FFEAD676AE1DC500C37@kazam> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.18 (2008-05-17) X-BeenThere: speakup@braille.uwo.ca X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.11 Precedence: list Reply-To: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Id: "Speakup is a screen review system for Linux." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:42:02 -0000 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: RIPEMD160 I suppose the resistance to initrd might be the lack of full understanding on how they work and how to manipulate them. At least that is my problem. I know in concept how they work but I haven't really figured out how to easily add to them; example would be adding speakup modules to the initrd. Perhaps the kernel-package does that? not sure now. Concerning the larger screens, yes I have been passing 'vga=791' or 'vga=extended' all along with no effect. I'm using lilo for now but I have always been able to do that with Slackware with no problems. With Slack, I was able to use 'vga=extended' flawlessly. I never could get 'vga=791' to work. After installing gnome on slackware, I got the larger screen at boot time but not otherwise. I probably have a problem with display modules. I have no fb devices show in /dev. Personally, I like the integration os speakup in Debian so far; I had no problems at all with getting started using my hardware speakout. I realize software speech is all the rage and that does not occur natively with a Debian install. That may improve over time. On Wed, Oct 22, 2008 at 09:40:30AM +0800, Kerry Hoath wrote: > > For reasons I am unclear on people seem to be alergic to initial ramdisks > in modern Linux distributions. > > The reason initial ramdisks are used in modern distributions is so that > you can load modules required for boot devices, allow time for USB > devices to settle before using them. > > An initrd allows boot from raid and lvm, it also gives you a recovery > environment in ram that does not rely on your disk systems. > It also allows partitions to be identified by uuid which will allow > drives to change ids without the system becoming unbootable. > > I seem to recall that kernel-package expects to build initial ram disks > and unless you bypass the build machinery it might not be easy to switch > off. > Once speakup integrates more seamlessly into Debian and it's getting > better all the time then kernel package will be something worth sticking > with for speakup. > > > I doubt it is the initrd that is preventing your large screens; you need > to pass the option to the kernel as part of grub configuration and then > run update-grub to copy it through the rest of the file. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEAREDAAYFAkj+55cACgkQWSjv55S0LfHNvQCfczzDbMkmWP2gyMwkTf3k5GVU 3sMAn1ilBye1b2LVI1HN9o4mYk4jfqXJ =CzEp -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----