Let me put this concrete proposal on the table. The problem: With the current set of crashkernel= options we are asking the distribution installer to perform magic. Moving as much of this logic into a normal init script for better maintenance is desirable. My proposal: Implement crashkernel=max which reserves as much memory as is reasonable for a crash kernel, without seriously affecting stability, performance, and reliability. As an initial approximation I would use a 32nd of low memory. In addition implement: /sys/kernel/crash_size That can be written to (with enough privileges when no crash kernel is loaded) reduce the amount of memory reserved by the crash kernel. Bernhard does that sound useful to you? Amerigo does that seem reasonable? Eric