Kernel cannot find init in initramfs image

I'm trying to get my embedded system to run an initramfs. Right now 'init' in this initramfs does nothing but echo a message to test if it is being ran. My init script: #!/bin/sh echo "HELLO INITRAMFS" My initramfs cpio file contains busybox statically linked. 'init' is located at /init in the filesystem. I first create the cpio archive and then convert it for u-boot. (find initramfs-test |cpio -o -H newc --quiet) > initramfs.cpio mkimage -A arm -a 80008000 -e 80008000 -T ramdisk -C none -n uInitrd -d initramfs.cpio ./uInitrd Placing this uInitrd file with my kernel in a fat partition on an SD card and booting to the u-boot prompt I load both files into memory, set my bootargs and boot. RIM-U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x81000000 uImage reading uImage 4024775 bytes read in 415 ms (9.2 MiB/s) RIM-U-Boot# fatload mmc 0 0x85000000 uInitrd reading uInitrd 1410112 bytes read in 148 ms (9.1 MiB/s) RIM-U-Boot# setenv bootargs console=${console} root=/dev/ram0 rootfstype=ramfs initrd=0x85000000 RIM-U-Boot# bootm 0x81000000 0x85000000 ## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 81000000 ... Image Name: Linux 4.1 + Devicetree Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed) Data Size: 4024711 Bytes = 3.8 MiB Load Address: 80008000 Entry Point: 80008000 Verifying Checksum ... OK ## Loading init Ramdisk from Legacy Image at 85000000 ... Image Name: uInitrd Image Type: ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (uncompressed) Data Size: 1410048 Bytes = 1.3 MiB Load Address: 80008000 Entry Point: 80008000 Verifying Checksum ... OK Loading Kernel Image ... OK OK Starting kernel ... [ 0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0 [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuset [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpu [ 0.000000] Initializing cgroup subsys cpuacct [ 0.000000] Linux version 4.1.18-ts-armv7l-crown-1.0 (mjohn@vbox) (gcc version 4.8.3 (Timesys 20161024) ) #1 SMP Tue Nov 13 16:40:10 EST 2018 [ 0.000000] CPU: ARMv7 Processor [413fc082] revision 2 (ARMv7), cr=10c5387d [ 0.000000] CPU: PIPT / VIPT nonaliasing data cache, VIPT aliasing instruction cache [ 0.000000] Machine model: Crown RIM [ 0.000000] cma: Reserved 16 MiB at 0x86800000 [ 0.000000] Memory policy: Data cache writeback [ 0.000000] CPU: All CPU(s) started in SVC mode. [ 0.000000] AM335X ES2.1 (neon ) [ 0.000000] PERCPU: Embedded 13 pages/cpu @c7c77000 s23296 r8192 d21760 u53248 [ 0.000000] Built 1 zonelists in Zone order, mobility grouping on. Total pages: 31968 [ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyO3,115200n8 root=/dev/ram0 rootfstype=ramfs initrd=0x85000000 [ 0.000000] PID hash table entries: 512 (order: -1, 2048 bytes) [ 0.000000] Dentry cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes) [ 0.000000] Inode-cache hash table entries: 8192 (order: 3, 32768 bytes) [ 0.000000] Memory: 91580K/129024K available (7192K kernel code, 871K rwdata, 2580K rodata, 464K init, 8225K bss, 21060K reserved, 16384K cma-reserved, 0K highmem) [ 0.000000] Virtual kernel memory layout: [ 0.000000] vector : 0xffff0000 - 0xffff1000 ( 4 kB) [ 0.000000] fixmap : 0xffc00000 - 0xfff00000 (3072 kB) [ 0.000000] vmalloc : 0xc8800000 - 0xff000000 ( 872 MB) [ 0.000000] lowmem : 0xc0000000 - 0xc8000000 ( 128 MB) [ 0.000000] pkmap : 0xbfe00000 - 0xc0000000 ( 2 MB) [ 0.000000] modules : 0xbf000000 - 0xbfe00000 ( 14 MB) [ 0.000000] .text : 0xc0008000 - 0xc09935f0 (9774 kB) [ 0.000000] .init : 0xc0994000 - 0xc0a08000 ( 464 kB) [ 0.000000] .data : 0xc0a08000 - 0xc0ae1fd0 ( 872 kB) [ 0.000000] .bss : 0xc0ae4000 - 0xc12ec688 (8226 kB) [ 0.000000] Running RCU self tests [ 0.000000] Hierarchical RCU implementation. [ 0.000000] RCU lockdep checking is enabled. [ 0.000000] Additional per-CPU info printed with stalls. [ 0.000000] RCU restricting CPUs from NR_CPUS=2 to nr_cpu_ids=1. [ 0.000000] RCU: Adjusting geometry for rcu_fanout_leaf=16, nr_cpu_ids=1 [ 0.000000] NR_IRQS:16 nr_irqs:16 16 [ 0.000000] IRQ: Found an INTC at 0xfa200000 (revision 5.0) with 128 interrupts [ 0.000000] OMAP clockevent source: timer2 at 24000000 Hz [ 0.000021] sched_clock: 32 bits at 24MHz, resolution 41ns, wraps every 89478484971ns [ 0.000052] clocksource timer1: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 79635851949 ns [ 0.000118] OMAP clocksource: timer1 at 24000000 Hz [ 0.001261] Console: colour dummy device 80x30 [ 0.001339] Lock dependency validator: Copyright (c) 2006 Red Hat, Inc., Ingo Molnar [ 0.001352] ... MAX_LOCKDEP_SUBCLASSES: 8 [ 0.001363] ... MAX_LOCK_DEPTH: 48 [ 0.001373] ... MAX_LOCKDEP_KEYS: 8191 [ 0.001384] ... CLASSHASH_SIZE: 4096 [ 0.001393] ... MAX_LOCKDEP_ENTRIES: 32768 [ 0.001404] ... MAX_LOCKDEP_CHAINS: 65536 [ 0.001414] ... CHAINHASH_SIZE: 32768 [ 0.001424] memory used by lock dependency info: 5167 kB [ 0.001435] per task-struct memory footprint: 1152 bytes [ 0.001466] Calibrating delay loop... 718.02 BogoMIPS (lpj=3590144) [ 0.108307] pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301 [ 0.108753] Security Framework initialized [ 0.109015] Mount-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes) [ 0.109041] Mountpoint-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes) [ 0.113214] Initializing cgroup subsys blkio [ 0.113271] Initializing cgroup subsys memory [ 0.113392] Initializing cgroup subsys devices [ 0.113510] Initializing cgroup subsys freezer [ 0.113689] Initializing cgroup subsys perf_event [ 0.113771] CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok [ 0.115776] CPU0: thread -1, cpu 0, socket -1, mpidr 0 [ 0.115920] Setting up static identity map for 0x80008280 - 0x800082f0 [ 0.126396] Brought up 1 CPUs [ 0.126434] SMP: Total of 1 processors activated (718.02 BogoMIPS). [ 0.126448] CPU: All CPU(s) started in SVC mode. [ 0.131751] devtmpfs: initialized [ 0.178685] VFP support v0.3: implementor 41 architecture 3 part 30 variant c rev 3 [ 0.251639] omap_hwmod: debugss: _wait_target_disable failed [ 0.308946] clocksource jiffies: mask: 0xffffffff max_cycles: 0xffffffff, max_idle_ns: 19112604462750000 ns [ 0.312216] pinctrl core: initialized pinctrl subsystem [ 0.319501] NET: Registered protocol family 16 [ 0.327296] DMA: preallocated 256 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations [ 0.330401] cpuidle: using governor ladder [ 0.330444] cpuidle: using governor menu [ 0.347621] OMAP GPIO hardware version 0.1 [ 0.379407] omap-gpmc 50000000.gpmc: could not find pctldev for node /ocp/l4_wkup@44c00000/scm@210000/pinmux@800/pinmux_nandflash_pins, deferring probe [ 0.384981] No ATAGs? [ 0.385022] hw-breakpoint: debug architecture 0x4 unsupported. [ 0.385802] omap4_sram_init:Unable to allocate sram needed to handle errata I688 [ 0.385826] omap4_sram_init:Unable to get sram pool needed to handle errata I688 [ 0.446811] edma 49000000.edma: TI EDMA DMA engine driver [ 0.449438] reg-fixed-voltage fixedregulator@1: could not find pctldev for node /ocp/l4_wkup@44c00000/scm@210000/pinmux@800/pinmux_wl12xx_gpio, deferring probe [ 0.453649] SCSI subsystem initialized [ 0.455728] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs [ 0.455982] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub [ 0.456188] usbcore: registered new device driver usb [ 0.479540] tps65910 0-002d: No interrupt support, no core IRQ [ 0.614304] omap_i2c 44e0b000.i2c: bus 0 rev0.11 at 100 kHz [ 0.615013] pps_core: LinuxPPS API ver. 1 registered [ 0.615032] pps_core: Software ver. 5.3.6 - Copyright 2005-2007 Rodolfo Giometti [ 0.615109] PTP clock support registered [ 0.620004] Bluetooth: Core ver 2.20 [ 0.620170] NET: Registered protocol family 31 [ 0.620185] Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized [ 0.620332] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized [ 0.620370] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized [ 0.620592] Bluetooth: SCO socket layer initialized [ 0.624095] Switched to clocksource timer1 [ 0.820693] NET: Registered protocol family 2 [ 0.823356] TCP established hash table entries: 1024 (order: 0, 4096 bytes) [ 0.823542] TCP bind hash table entries: 1024 (order: 3, 36864 bytes) [ 0.824172] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 1024 bind 1024) [ 0.824497] UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 2, 20480 bytes) [ 0.824757] UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 2, 20480 bytes) [ 0.825968] NET: Registered protocol family 1 [ 0.828351] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module. [ 0.828381] RPC: Registered udp transport module. [ 0.828394] RPC: Registered tcp transport module. [ 0.828407] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module. [ 0.831337] CPU PMU: Failed to parse /pmu/interrupt-affinity [ 0.831463] hw perfevents: enabled with armv7_cortex_a8 PMU driver, 5 counters available [ 0.838002] futex hash table entries: 256 (order: 2, 16384 bytes) [ 0.838313] audit: initializing netlink subsys (disabled) [ 0.838639] audit: type=2000 audit(0.830:1): initialized [ 0.845262] VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.6.0 [ 0.845456] VFS: Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes) [ 0.847891] squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher [ 0.849171] NFS: Registering the id_resolver key type [ 0.849744] Key type id_resolver registered [ 0.849764] Key type id_legacy registered [ 0.860204] io scheduler noop registered [ 0.860252] io scheduler deadline registered [ 0.860327] io scheduler cfq registered (default) [ 0.863209] pinctrl-single 44e10800.pinmux: 142 pins at pa f9e10800 size 568 [ 0.867560] Serial: 8250/16550 driver, 4 ports, IRQ sharing enabled [ 0.876098] omap_uart 44e09000.serial: no wakeirq for uart0 [ 0.877001] 44e09000.serial: ttyO0 at MMIO 0x44e09000 (irq = 158, base_baud = 3000000) is a OMAP UART0 [ 0.879864] omap_uart 48022000.serial: no wakeirq for uart1 [ 0.880322] 48022000.serial: ttyO1 at MMIO 0x48022000 (irq = 159, base_baud = 3000000) is a OMAP UART1 [ 0.882065] omap_uart 481a6000.serial: no wakeirq for uart3 [ 0.882510] 481a6000.serial: ttyO3 at MMIO 0x481a6000 (irq = 160, base_baud = 3000000) is a OMAP UART3 [ 1.699898] console [ttyO3] enabled [ 1.705757] omap_uart 481aa000.serial: no wakeirq for uart5 [ 1.712068] 481aa000.serial: ttyO5 at MMIO 0x481aa000 (irq = 161, base_baud = 3000000) is a OMAP UART5 [ 1.760738] brd: module loaded [ 1.785830] loop: module loaded [ 1.789963] (stk) :sysfs entries created [ 1.800178] mtdoops: mtd device (mtddev=name/number) must be supplied [ 1.874092] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: davinci mdio revision 1.6 [ 1.880499] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: detected phy mask fffffff5 [ 1.894287] libphy: 4a101000.mdio: probed [ 1.898524] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: phy[1] : device 4a101000.mdio:01, driver unknown [ 1.906962] davinci_mdio 4a101000.mdio: phy: device 4a101000.mdio:03, driver unknown [ 1.917029] cpsw 4a100000.ethernet: Detected MACID = d0:ff:50:ab:2d:b7 [ 1.927796] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2 [ 1.933714] PPP BSD Compression module registered [ 1.938845] PPP Deflate Compression module registered [ 1.945366] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm [ 1.951296] cdc_acm: USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters [ 1.959997] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage [ 1.970707] 47401300.usb-phy supply vcc not found, using dummy regulator [ 1.983582] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.0.auto: Failed to request rx1. [ 1.990461] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.0.auto: musb_init_controller failed with status -517 [ 2.000788] 47401b00.usb-phy supply vcc not found, using dummy regulator [ 2.012019] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1.auto: Failed to request rx1. [ 2.018436] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1.auto: musb_init_controller failed with status -517 [ 2.055667] mousedev: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice [ 2.062865] i2c /dev entries driver [ 2.072753] omap_wdt: OMAP Watchdog Timer Rev 0x01: initial timeout 60 sec [ 2.082969] omap_hsmmc 48060000.mmc: Got CD GPIO [ 2.089408] vmmc: supplied by vbat [ 2.139221] ledtrig-cpu: registered to indicate activity on CPUs [ 2.147462] oprofile: using arm/armv7 [ 2.151464] Netfilter messages via NETLINK v0.30. [ 2.157069] nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (1686 buckets, 6744 max) [ 2.164144] ctnetlink v0.93: registering with nfnetlink. [ 2.170652] ipip: IPv4 over IPv4 tunneling driver [ 2.179323] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team [ 2.185436] arp_tables: (C) 2002 David S. Miller [ 2.190642] Initializing XFRM netlink socket [ 2.195447] NET: Registered protocol family 17 [ 2.200200] NET: Registered protocol family 15 [ 2.207048] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized [ 2.212284] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized [ 2.217831] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11 [ 2.221818] Bluetooth: BNEP (Ethernet Emulation) ver 1.3 [ 2.227427] Bluetooth: BNEP filters: protocol multicast [ 2.232927] Bluetooth: BNEP socket layer initialized [ 2.238179] Bluetooth: HIDP (Human Interface Emulation) ver 1.2 [ 2.244432] Bluetooth: HIDP socket layer initialized [ 2.249798] BT WLAN Gpio value is :10 [ 2.254432] WD Enable Gpio value is :114 [ 2.258976] WD Tick Gpio value is :115 [ 2.263340] BT_WLAN Gpio value is :10 [ 2.267239] WL1271: BT/WLAN Enable [ 2.284032] Voltage translator init complete [ 2.302427] mmc0: host does not support reading read-only switch, assuming write-enable [ 2.310942] WD: Enable [ 2.313464] WD: TICK [ 2.317180] Key type dns_resolver registered [ 2.322818] omap_voltage_late_init: Voltage driver support not added [ 2.329621] sr_dev_init: No voltage domain specified for smartreflex0. Cannot initialize [ 2.338138] sr_dev_init: No voltage domain specified for smartreflex1. Cannot initialize [ 2.348688] ThumbEE CPU extension supported. [ 2.353214] Registering SWP/SWPB emulation handler [ 2.358356] SmartReflex Class3 initialized [ 2.364460] mmc0: new high speed SDHC card at address 0001 [ 2.373404] mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 SD32G 29.3 GiB [ 2.384627] mmcblk0: p1 p2 [ 2.399807] omap-gpmc 50000000.gpmc: GPMC revision 6.0 [ 2.405715] gpmc_mem_init: disabling cs 0 mapped at 0x0-0x1000000 [ 2.416508] nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0x01, Chip ID: 0xf1 [ 2.423165] nand: AMD/Spansion S34ML01G2 [ 2.427383] nand: 128 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB size: 64 [ 2.435458] nand: using OMAP_ECC_BCH4_CODE_HW ECC scheme [ 2.441305] 8 ofpart partitions found on MTD device 8000000.nand [ 2.447640] Creating 8 MTD partitions on "8000000.nand": [ 2.453212] 0x000000000000-0x000000020000 : "SPL" [ 2.467798] 0x000000020000-0x000000040000 : "SPL.backup1" [ 2.478062] 0x000000040000-0x000000060000 : "SPL.backup2" [ 2.488203] 0x000000060000-0x000000080000 : "SPL.backup3" [ 2.498676] 0x000000080000-0x000000260000 : "U-Boot" [ 2.508970] 0x000000260000-0x000000280000 : "U-Boot Env" [ 2.518872] 0x000000280000-0x000000780000 : "Kernel" [ 2.531256] 0x000000780000-0x000008000000 : "File System" [ 2.610135] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.0.auto: MUSB HDRC host driver [ 2.617210] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.0.auto: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1 [ 2.628376] usb usb1: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002 [ 2.635588] usb usb1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1 [ 2.643149] usb usb1: Product: MUSB HDRC host driver [ 2.648380] usb usb1: Manufacturer: Linux 4.1.18-ts-armv7l-crown-1.0 musb-hcd [ 2.655881] usb usb1: SerialNumber: musb-hdrc.0.auto [ 2.667430] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found [ 2.672216] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected [ 2.692454] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1.auto: MUSB HDRC host driver [ 2.698661] musb-hdrc musb-hdrc.1.auto: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2 [ 2.708020] usb usb2: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002 [ 2.715198] usb usb2: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1 [ 2.722758] usb usb2: Product: MUSB HDRC host driver [ 2.727986] usb usb2: Manufacturer: Linux 4.1.18-ts-armv7l-crown-1.0 musb-hcd [ 2.735499] usb usb2: SerialNumber: musb-hdrc.1.auto [ 2.743553] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found [ 2.747851] hub 2-0:1.0: 1 port detected [ 2.877465] hctosys: unable to open rtc device (rtc0) [ 2.882786] sr_init: No PMIC hook to init smartreflex [ 2.888543] sr_init: platform driver register failed for SR [ 2.930249] VFS: Mounted root (ramfs filesystem) readonly on device 0:15. [ 2.937980] devtmpfs: error mounting -2 [ 2.943047] Freeing unused kernel memory: 464K (c0994000 - c0a08000) [ 2.950460] Kernel panic - not syncing: No working init found. Try passing init= option to kernel. See Linux Documentation/init.txt for guidance. [ 2.964386] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: No working init found. Try passing init= option to kernel. See Linux Documentation/init.txt for guidance. [ 79.333959] random: nonblocking pool is initialized As you can see the kernel can not find init in the initramfs. Any idea on why? Kernel is 4.1.18 and u-boot is 2013.09. Thanks **Edit:** **Reply to jc__ questions:** 1. No, no kernel switches in the device tree 2. I've tried setting initrd=/dev/ram0 and I get the same error. I've also tried specifying the init as init=/init and see the following error: [ 2.953050] Freeing unused kernel memory: 464K (c0994000 - c0a08000) [ 2.960261] Kernel panic - not syncing: Requested init /init failed (error -2). [ 2.968092] --- end Kernel panic - not syncing: Requested init /init failed (error -2). 3. I'm using a cpio file, so initramfs, but I'm trying to load it separately (not a part of the kernel image) and I'm not sure if an initramfs can work that way. [Something I found made it sound like this is possible. My initramfs.cpio filesystem contains a /dev. These modules are currently built into the kernel. 4. I'm not including a initramfs in the kernel image, so it should only include the default. CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE="" CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM=y CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_COUNT=16 CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM_SIZE=16384 5. I could include it in my kernel, but it would require addition work. The kernel is built by the Timesys Factory build system, and the initramfs.cpio is built later on. **Reply to sourcejedi** I tried changing it to this: # setenv bootargs console=${console} root=/dev/ram0 init=/init And get: [ 2.882766] sr_init: No PMIC hook to init smartreflex [ 2.888519] sr_init: platform driver register failed for SR [ 2.930847] omap_hsmmc 481d8000.mmc: card claims to support voltages below defined range [ 2.946830] List of all partitions: [ 2.950696] 0100 16384 ram0 (driver?) [ 2.955763] 0101 16384 ram1 (driver?) [ 2.960639] 0102 16384 ram2 (driver?) [ 2.965564] 0103 16384 ram3 (driver?) [ 2.970442] 0104 16384 ram4 (driver?) [ 2.975364] 0105 16384 ram5 (driver?) [ 2.980239] 0106 16384 ram6 (driver?) [ 2.985153] 0107 16384 ram7 (driver?) [ 2.990029] 0108 16384 ram8 (driver?) [ 2.994937] 0109 16384 ram9 (driver?) [ 2.999791] 010a 16384 ram10 (driver?) [ 3.004781] 010b 16384 ram11 (driver?) [ 3.009725] 010c 16384 ram12 (driver?) [ 3.014700] 010d 16384 ram13 (driver?) [ 3.019642] 010e 16384 ram14 (driver?) [ 3.024616] 010f 16384 ram15 (driver?) [ 3.029577] b300 30707712 mmcblk0 driver: mmcblk [ 3.035191] b301 9216 mmcblk0p1 00011b5e-01 [ 3.040769] b302 440320 mmcblk0p2 00011b5e-02 [ 3.046421] 1f00 128 mtdblock0 (driver?) [ 3.051727] 1f01 128 mtdblock1 (driver?) [ 3.057074] 1f02 128 mtdblock2 (driver?) [ 3.062380] 1f03 128 mtdblock3 (driver?) [ 3.067723] 1f04 1920 mtdblock4 (driver?) [ 3.073030] 1f05 128 mtdblock5 (driver?) [ 3.078369] 1f06 5120 mtdblock6 (driver?) [ 3.083676] 1f07 123392 mtdblock7 (driver?) [ 3.089006] No filesystem could mount root, tried: ext3 ext2 ext4 cramfs squashfs vfat msdos [ 3.098220] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(1,0) [ 3.107068] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(1,0) Same thing if I change it to: # setenv bootargs console=${console} root=/dev/ram0 initrd=/dev/ram0 init=/init **Edit2:** Tried: # setenv bootargs console=${console} root=/dev/ram0 initrd=0x85000000,2M And see the same error except I now get [ 2.978095] RAMDISK: Couldn't find valid RAM disk image starting at 0. [ 2.992086] List of all partitions: [ 2.996226] 0100 16384 ram0 (driver?) [ 3.001097] 0101 16384 ram1 (driver?) [ 3.006041] 0102 16384 ram2 (driver?) [ 3.010895] 0103 16384 ram3 (driver?) Seems like the kernel doesn't see the initramfs at /dev/ram0. Could this be wrong. When u-boot loads the uImage and uInitrd to memory how is /dev/ram0 tied to that address, 0x85000000? **Edit 3:** I've built my initramfs.cpio in my kernel and I'm able to see my echo message. So my initramfs is valid, just not sure what I have wrong while trying to load it externally.