mount -o loop /boot initrd.img /initrd failure

[Dave S]

I am trying to mount my .boot/initrd.img file so I can view & modify it

root at dave-comp:~#
root at dave-comp:~# ls -al /dev/l
log   loop/ lp0
root at dave-comp:~#
root at dave-comp:~# cd /boot
root at dave-comp:/boot# ls
System.map-2.6.15-23-386  abi-2.6.15-25-386     config-2.6.17.7           
initrd.img-2.6.15-26-386  vmlinuz-2.6.15-23-386
System.map-2.6.15-25-386  abi-2.6.15-26-386     grub                      
initrd.img-2.6.17.7       vmlinuz-2.6.15-25-386
System.map-2.6.15-26-386  config-2.6.15-23-386  initrd                    
initrdstraight.img        vmlinuz-2.6.15-26-386
System.map-2.6.17.7       config-2.6.15-25-386  initrd.img-2.6.15-23-386  
memtest86+.bin            vmlinuz-2.6.17.7
abi-2.6.15-23-386         config-2.6.15-26-386  initrd.img-2.6.15-25-386  tmp
root at dave-comp:/boot# mount -o loop /boot/initrd.img-2.6.15-26-386 /initrd
ioctl: LOOP_CLR_FD: Device or resource busy
mount: you must specify the filesystem type
root at dave-comp:/boot#
root at dave-comp:/boot# ls -al /dev/l
log    loop/  loop0  loop1  loop2  loop3  loop4  loop5  loop6  loop7  lp0
root at dave-comp:/boot#

I have also tried -t auto, -t ext2 etc all with the same error message, I have 
scoured google and tried gunzipping initrd.img first - same problem. I have 
tried mount -t cramfs -o loop /boot/initrd.img /initrd - same problem.

All attempts seem to use up the allocation of loop devices immediately.

Can anyone tell me how to mount /boot/initrd.img so I can view it ?

Thanks in advance

Dave