diff --git a/target/linux/octeon/Makefile b/target/linux/octeon/Makefile
index fb5360a7f4..e1739e70e5 100644
--- a/target/linux/octeon/Makefile
+++ b/target/linux/octeon/Makefile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ include $(TOPDIR)/rules.mk
 ARCH:=mips64
 BOARD:=octeon
 BOARDNAME:=Cavium Networks Octeon
-FEATURES:=squashfs jffs2 ext4 pci usb
+FEATURES:=squashfs jffs2 ext4 initramfs pci usb
 CPU_TYPE:=octeon
 CPU_CFLAGS_octeon:=-march=octeon -mabi=64
 MAINTAINER:=John Crispin <blogic@openwrt.org>
diff --git a/target/linux/octeon/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh b/target/linux/octeon/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
index ad075d5652..4cb03bc984 100755
--- a/target/linux/octeon/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
+++ b/target/linux/octeon/base-files/lib/upgrade/platform.sh
@@ -35,36 +35,50 @@ platform_copy_config() {
 	esac
 }
 
+platform_do_flash() {
+	local tar_file=$1
+	local board=$2
+	local kernel=$3
+	local rootfs=$4
+
+	mkdir -p /boot
+	mount -t vfat /dev/$kernel /boot
+
+	[ -f /boot/vmlinux.64 -a ! -L /boot/vmlinux.64 ] && {
+		mv /boot/vmlinux.64 /boot/vmlinux.64.previous
+		mv /boot/vmlinux.64.md5 /boot/vmlinux.64.md5.previous
+	}
+
+	echo "flashing kernel to /dev/$kernel"
+	tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-$board/kernel -O > /boot/vmlinux.64
+	md5sum /boot/vmlinux.64 | cut -f1 -d " " > /boot/vmlinux.64.md5
+	echo "flashing rootfs to ${rootfs}"
+	tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-$board/root -O | dd of="${rootfs}" bs=4096
+	sync
+	umount /boot
+}
+
 platform_do_upgrade() {
+	local tar_file="$1"
 	local board=$(octeon_board_name)
 	local rootfs="$(platform_get_rootfs)"
+	local kernel=
 
 	[ -b "${rootfs}" ] || return 1
-
 	case "$board" in
 	erlite)
-		local tar_file="$1"
-		local kernel_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/kernel -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
-		local rootfs_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/root -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
-
-		mkdir -p /boot
-		mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /boot
-
-		[ -f /boot/vmlinux.64 -a ! -L /boot/vmlinux.64 ] && {
-			mv /boot/vmlinux.64 /boot/vmlinux.64.previous
-			mv /boot/vmlinux.64.md5 /boot/vmlinux.64.md5.previous
-		}
-
-		tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/kernel -O > /boot/vmlinux.64
-		md5sum /boot/vmlinux.64 | cut -f1 -d " " > /boot/vmlinux.64.md5
-		tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/root -O | dd of="${rootfs}" bs=4096
-		sync
-		umount /boot
-		return 0
+		kernel=sda1
 		;;
+	er)
+		kernel=mmcblk0p1
+		;;
+	*)
+		return 1
 	esac
 
-	return 1
+	platform_do_flash $tar_file $board $kernel $rootfs
+
+	return 0
 	
 }
 
@@ -72,10 +86,11 @@ platform_check_image() {
 	local board=$(octeon_board_name)
 
 	case "$board" in
-	erlite)
+	erlite | \
+	er)
 		local tar_file="$1"
-		local kernel_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/kernel -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
-		local rootfs_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-erlite/root -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
+		local kernel_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-$board/kernel -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
+		local rootfs_length=`(tar xf $tar_file sysupgrade-$board/root -O | wc -c) 2> /dev/null`
 		[ "$kernel_length" = 0 -o "$rootfs_length" = 0 ] && {
 			echo "The upgarde image is corrupt."
 			return 1
diff --git a/target/linux/octeon/config-3.18 b/target/linux/octeon/config-3.18
index 032146e804..44a154aeb7 100644
--- a/target/linux/octeon/config-3.18
+++ b/target/linux/octeon/config-3.18
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ CONFIG_ARCH_SUSPEND_POSSIBLE=y
 CONFIG_ARCH_WANT_COMPAT_IPC_PARSE_VERSION=y
 CONFIG_ARCH_WANT_IPC_PARSE_VERSION=y
 CONFIG_ARCH_WANT_OLD_COMPAT_IPC=y
-# CONFIG_AUDIT_ARCH_COMPAT_GENERIC is not set
 CONFIG_BINFMT_ELF32=y
 CONFIG_BLK_DEV_SD=y
 CONFIG_BLOCK_COMPAT=y
@@ -126,6 +125,7 @@ CONFIG_HZ=250
 # CONFIG_HZ_100 is not set
 CONFIG_HZ_250=y
 CONFIG_HZ_PERIODIC=y
+CONFIG_IMAGE_CMDLINE_HACK=y
 CONFIG_INITRAMFS_SOURCE=""
 CONFIG_IOMMU_HELPER=y
 CONFIG_IRQCHIP=y
@@ -146,7 +146,6 @@ CONFIG_MIPS32_O32=y
 CONFIG_MIPS_L1_CACHE_SHIFT=7
 CONFIG_MIPS_L1_CACHE_SHIFT_7=y
 # CONFIG_MIPS_MACHINE is not set
-# CONFIG_MIPS_PARAVIRT is not set
 CONFIG_MIPS_PGD_C0_CONTEXT=y
 CONFIG_MMC=y
 CONFIG_MMC_BLOCK=y
@@ -154,6 +153,7 @@ CONFIG_MMC_OCTEON=y
 # CONFIG_MMC_TIFM_SD is not set
 CONFIG_MODULES_USE_ELF_REL=y
 CONFIG_MODULES_USE_ELF_RELA=y
+CONFIG_MTD_BLOCK2MTD=y
 # CONFIG_MTD_CFI_INTELEXT is not set
 CONFIG_MTD_CMDLINE_PARTS=y
 # CONFIG_MTD_COMPLEX_MAPPINGS is not set
@@ -204,7 +204,6 @@ CONFIG_SCSI=y
 CONFIG_SECCOMP=y
 CONFIG_SECCOMP_FILTER=y
 CONFIG_SERIAL_8250_DW=y
-CONFIG_SERIAL_EARLYCON=y
 CONFIG_SMP=y
 CONFIG_SPARSEMEM=y
 CONFIG_SPARSEMEM_STATIC=y
diff --git a/target/linux/octeon/image/Makefile b/target/linux/octeon/image/Makefile
index f06dd6bcfe..24bca9b48d 100644
--- a/target/linux/octeon/image/Makefile
+++ b/target/linux/octeon/image/Makefile
@@ -7,30 +7,46 @@
 include $(TOPDIR)/rules.mk
 include $(INCLUDE_DIR)/image.mk
 
-define Image/BuildKernel
+define Image/BuildKernel/Template
 	# Workaround pre-SDK-1.9.0 u-boot versions not handling the .notes section
-	$(TARGET_CROSS)strip -R .notes $(KDIR)/vmlinux.elf -o $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-vmlinux.elf
-	$(STAGING_DIR_HOST)/bin/lzma e $(KDIR)/vmlinux $(KDIR)/vmlinux.bin.l7
-	dd if=$(KDIR)/vmlinux.bin.l7 of=$(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-vmlinux.lzma bs=65536 conv=sync
-	$(CP) $(KDIR)/vmlinux.elf $(BIN_DIR)/vmlinux.64
-	md5sum  $(BIN_DIR)/vmlinux.64 | cut -d " " -f 1 | tee $(BIN_DIR)/vmlinux.64.md5
+	$(TARGET_CROSS)strip -R .notes $(KDIR)/vmlinux.elf -o $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux.64
+	$(STAGING_DIR_HOST)/bin/patch-cmdline $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux.64 '$(strip $(2))'
+	md5sum $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux.64 | cut -d " " -f 1 | tee $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux.64.md5
 endef
 
-define Image/Build/squashfs
-    $(call prepare_generic_squashfs,$(KDIR)/root.squashfs)
+define Image/BuildKernel/Initramfs/Template
+	$(TARGET_CROSS)strip -R .notes $(KDIR)/vmlinux-initramfs.elf -o $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux-initramfs.elf
+	$(STAGING_DIR_HOST)/bin/patch-cmdline $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-vmlinux-initramfs.elf '$(strip $(2))'
 endef
 
-define Image/Build/ext4/erlite
-	mkdir -p $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-erlite/
-	echo "BOARD=erlite" > $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-erlite/CONTROL
-	$(CP) $(KDIR)/vmlinux.elf $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-erlite/kernel
-	$(CP) $(KDIR)/root.ext4 $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-erlite/root
+ER_CMDLINE:=-mtdparts=phys_mapped_flash:640k(boot0)ro,640k(boot1)ro,64k(eeprom)ro block2mtd.block2mtd=/dev/mmcblk0p2,65536,rootfs,5 root=/dev/mtdblock3 rootfstype=squashfs rootwait
+
+define Image/BuildKernel
+	$(call Image/BuildKernel/Template,generic,)
+	$(call Image/BuildKernel/Template,er,$(ER_CMDLINE))
+endef
+
+define Image/BuildKernel/Initramfs
+	$(call Image/BuildKernel/Initramfs/Template,generic,)
+	$(call Image/BuildKernel/Initramfs/Template,er,$(ER_CMDLINE))
+endef
+
+define Image/Build/sysupgrade
+	mkdir -p $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-$(1)/
+	echo "BOARD=er" > $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-$(1)/CONTROL
+	$(CP) $(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(2)-vmlinux.64 $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-$(1)/kernel
+	$(CP) $(KDIR)/root.$(3) $(KDIR)/sysupgrade-$(1)/root
 	(cd $(KDIR); $(TAR) cvf \
-		$(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-erlite-sysupgrade.tar sysupgrade-erlite)
+		$(BIN_DIR)/$(IMG_PREFIX)-$(1)-sysupgrade.tar sysupgrade-$(1))
 endef
 
 define Image/Build/ext4
-    $(call Image/Build/ext4/erlite)
+	$(call Image/Build/sysupgrade,erlite,generic,ext4)
+endef
+
+define Image/Build/squashfs
+	$(call prepare_generic_squashfs,$(KDIR)/root.squashfs)
+	$(call Image/Build/sysupgrade,er,er,squashfs)
 endef
 
 define Image/Build
diff --git a/target/linux/octeon/patches-3.18/160-cmdline-hack.patch b/target/linux/octeon/patches-3.18/160-cmdline-hack.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..39b8a99ae5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/target/linux/octeon/patches-3.18/160-cmdline-hack.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+--- a/arch/mips/cavium-octeon/setup.c
++++ b/arch/mips/cavium-octeon/setup.c
+@@ -609,6 +609,35 @@
+ 	write_c0_derraddr1(0);
+ }
+ 
++#ifdef CONFIG_IMAGE_CMDLINE_HACK
++extern char __image_cmdline[];
++
++static int __init octeon_use_image_cmdline(void)
++{
++       char *p = __image_cmdline;
++       int replace = 0;
++
++       if (*p == '-') {
++               replace = 1;
++               p++;
++       }
++
++       if (*p == '\0')
++               return 0;
++
++       if (replace) {
++               strlcpy(arcs_cmdline, p, sizeof(arcs_cmdline));
++       } else {
++               strlcat(arcs_cmdline, " ", sizeof(arcs_cmdline));
++               strlcat(arcs_cmdline, p, sizeof(arcs_cmdline));
++       }
++
++       return 1;
++}
++#else
++static inline int octeon_use_image_cmdline(void) { return 0; }
++#endif
++
+ /**
+  * Early entry point for arch setup
+  */
+@@ -798,6 +827,8 @@
+ 		}
+ 	}
+ 
++	octeon_use_image_cmdline();
++
+ 	if (strstr(arcs_cmdline, "console=") == NULL) {
+ #ifdef CONFIG_CAVIUM_OCTEON_2ND_KERNEL
+ 		strcat(arcs_cmdline, " console=ttyS0,115200");