Raspberry Pi OS • Problem with custom kernel initramfs_2712 on trixie

I have been able in the past to create a custom kernel with bookworm, and have my kernel load the initramfs file.
I have moved to trixie and kernel 6.12.47 on a pi5. Note this is a fresh install of trixie, not an update from bookworm.
My custom kernel loads, works, and my config matches the "factory" 6.12.47 kernel.
Problem is, my kernel is NOT loading the initramfs_2712 as it did before with bookworm.
To prevent pollution and overwriting the factory kernel, I install my kernel in /boot/firmware/6.12.47-custom and set os_prefix=6.12.47-custom/ in config.txt.

Under /boot/firmware/6.12.47-custom I have:
bcm*.dtb files
initramfs_2712
kernel_2712.img
overlays/

My pi5 eeprom version is 2025/11/05 17:37:18

I did an experiment and backed up the factory kernel and then placed all my custom kernel files in /boot/firmware (not in a sub-directory), and I commented out the os_prefix line in config.txt. After reboot, this WORKS to load my initramfs file.

I am suspecting that something is no longer working in loading the initramfs file when os_prefix is being used.

For reference, when I am running my custom kernel, uname -a is:
Linux rpi-nvme 6.12.47-2712-custom #1 SMP PREEMPT Sun Nov 30 22:39:17 PST 2025 aarch64 GNU/Linux

Statistics: Posted by bitbasher — Mon Dec 01, 2025 9:14 am — Replies 1 — Views 35

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