Issue
according to https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt the parameter 'rootwait' should cause the kernel to wait indefinitely for the root device to show up.
This does not seem to work for me here - after a few seconds I get dropped to the shell instead.
I set up a fully encrypted dedicated server, and thus need to unlock it remotely. I configured cryptsetup to keep trying to read the device key from a file. When I want to unlock the server I just copy the keyfile to the server via SSH (dropbear) and the server continues to boot.
Problem here is that if I wait too long, the kernel will drop to a shell and will not automatically mount rootfs and continue booting anymore.
I'm using debian and the latest 3.2.0-4-rt-amd64 kernel from wheezy repository.
Any hints for me?
Solution
The rootwait kernel parameter only affects the first stage of boot, while the kernel is waiting for its initial root device. From what you're describing, the kernel has already mounted some sort of root device (either a stub root or an initramfs) and started executing startup scripts, so the rootwait parameter no longer applies -- whatever timeout is firing is specified somewhere else. You'll need to look at the startup scripts that are handling this and modify them appropriately.
Answered By - user149341 Answer Checked By - David Marino (WPSolving Volunteer)