The Wanderer composed on 2022-11-13 06:54 (UTC-0500):
> On 2022-11-12 Felix Miata wrote:
>> # grep MODULES= /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf
>> MODULES=dep
>> # ls -Ggh /boot/initrd.img-[5,6]*
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 6.8M May 8 2022 /boot/initrd.img-5.17.0-1-686
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 31M Aug 2 03:06 /boot/initrd.img-5.18.0-3-686
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 31M Sep 30 15:43 /boot/initrd.img-5.19.0-2-686
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 36M Nov 12 01:36 /boot/initrd.img-6.0.0-3-686
>> Does anyone here have an explanation for the mega-change in size of initrds
>> after
>> kernel 5.17? My initramfs.conf has had MODULES=dep since before
>> testing/bullseye
>> became testing/bookworm.
> Just a stab in the dark, but:
> The changelog history for linux-image-5.18.0-4-amd64, on my system,
> gives the change from 5.17 to 5.18 as having happened in May of 2022.
> The changelog for initramfs-tools, on my system, shows exactly one
> version newer than May of 2022, released in July of 2022.
> The changelog for that version of initramfs-tools (0.142) includes the
> entry:
> [ Dimitri John Ledkov ]
> * [d8c5864] mkinitramfs: decompress compressed kernel modules
> with no reason or other information given. (There are a few other
> changes listed, which could also be relevant, but seem less obviously so
> from the brief descriptions - although it is of course hard to judge.)
> Just at first blush, it looks like something like that could produce an
> increase in size, potentially a notable one.
> (The previous version's changelog entry also switches compression to
> zstd, but that version came out in April, so it's unlikely to be the
> culprit.)
Size Date Version Host LinesModsz
Graphics/extras
# ls -Gg initrd*4 # gx78b PCIe aHD6450 0-nvme-ssd 1-ata-ssd
7649297 May 15 2022 initrd.img-5.17.0-1-amd64 gx78b 445 434M Gati
34289103 Jun 20 2022 initrd.img-5.18.0-1-amd64 gx78b 1132 459M Gati
34788924 Aug 6 22:15 initrd.img-5.18.0-3-amd64 gx78b 1135 470M Gati
23754843 Oct 21 03:16 initrd.img-5.19.0-2-amd64 gx78b 1133 474M Gati
26414992 Dec 24 02:14 initrd.img-6.0.0-6-amd64 gx78b 1196 457M Gati
Apt* history on this box only goes back to October. Oldest involving zstd is:
# zgrep zstd dpkg.log.2.gz
2022-10-21 01:40:37 install zstd:amd64 <none> 1.5.2+dfsg-1
2022-10-21 01:40:37 status half-installed zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1
2022-10-21 01:40:37 status unpacked zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1
2022-10-21 01:40:37 configure zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1 <none>
2022-10-21 01:40:37 status unpacked zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1
2022-10-21 01:40:37 status half-configured zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1
2022-10-21 01:40:37 status installed zstd:amd64 1.5.2+dfsg-1
# ls -gG /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 1582 Aug 6 22:15 /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf
# grep zstd /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf
# COMPRESS: [ gzip | bzip2 | lz4 | lzma | lzop | xz | zstd ]
COMPRESS=zstd
# 0 - 19 for zstd
It's apparent in 5.19.0-2 that it was the first to have utilized zstd
in its creation.
I don't see any indication that module compression is directly involved in the
massive initrd size increase last June. In the response to David I haven't
finished is the bottom line that the egregious increase is inexplicable
inclusion
of firmware for AMD/ATI GPUs.
--
Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion,
based on faith, not based on science.
Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!
Felix Miata
