Notes and resources on upgrading the kernel, generally by other than recompiling it.

See also CompilingTheKernel.

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Notes

from:

 Subject: Re: [basiclinux]Mandrake Update, ugh!
    Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:41:22 +0000
    From: Sam <peacemkr@wcc.net>
Reply-To: Basiclinux@basiclinux.net
      To: Basiclinux@basiclinux.net

http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en/docs/magic.php I used the above with mandrake and followed 3 different kernel upgrades with no problems. I did notice they are no longer calling my cdrom dev=/dev/hdc,fs=iso9660,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1 0 0 but rather the following: dev=/dev/hdc,iocharset=iso8859-1 0 0 but it works just as it did before.

More along the lines on mandrake and kernel compiling. I had gotten comfortable with the kernel recompile while using gentoo. How ever when i went back to mandrake and attempted to apply my new found skill by recompiling the generic kernel I was using... it blew up in my face. (I made no changes only ran make menuconfig and saved it with no changes) I think it's some how related to the 'make bzImage' part i had learned with gentoo. Also gentoo had none of the 'System.map.bla.mdk and initrd.bla.mdk.img' --> stuff<-- (using polite terms here) envolved in its recompile.

<and, from a second post>

reference the Gentoo doc: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/build.html#doc_chap14

The steps Gentoo used were as follows: <quote> # cd /usr/src/linux # make menuconfig # make dep && make clean bzImage modules modules_install # mv /boot/bzImage /boot/bzImage.orig [if bzImage already exists] # cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot </quote>

as i said you will notice no mention of: 'System.map.bla.mdk' and 'initrd.bla.mdk'

I believed the bzImage (after compiling) can be renamed vmlinuz I'm not sure about this either. But the file sizes seemed simular.

---

On http://www.mandrakesecure.net/en/docs/magic.php however we do find these snipits:

in /boot we have.... <quote> We have the 2.4.8-33.1mdk kernel, the 2.4.8-34.1mdk kernel (our updated kernel we just installed), and the 2.2.20-1.1mdklinus kernel. Notice also the symlinks in this directory. You'll see that vmlinuz is a symlink to the latest kernel's vmlinuz (in this case vmlinuz-2.4.8-34.1mdk), and initrd.img is a symlink to the latest kernel's initrd-2.4.8-34.1mdk.img initrd file. These are the two most important symbolic links because, without paying attention to them, you can make your previous kernel unavailable. </quote>

refering to changes in lilo.conf... <quote> You'll notice that here the "linux" and "failsafe" entries, which are defaults, point to the symbolic links for initrd.img and vmlinuz. They point to the current kernel. On a fresh install, this is not a big deal because they point to the only initrd and vmlinuz files that are there. As soon as you install another kernel, however, this becomes a big deal.

When you install a new kernel, the install kernel script overwrites the symbolic links so they point to this new kernel. It also adds a new stanza to lilo.conf </quote>

ignoring this part is where I think I broke my recompile attempt. <quote> For older distributions, however, you may have an additional step. On Mandrake Linux 7.1, and sometimes on 7.2, we have noticed that the initrd file is not generated automatically. If you use ReiserFS partitions or have your root directory on a SCSI disk, this can prevent your system from booting. To fix this, prior to booting, issue the following command:

# mkinitrd /boot/initrd-[kernel_version].img [kernel_version]

For instance, if you were installing 2.2.19-20.1mdk and had a ReiserFS root partition but noticed that there is no /boot/initrd-2.2.19-20.1mdk.img then you would use:

# cd /boot # mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.2.19-20.1mdk.img 2.2.19-20.1mdk # ln -sf initrd-2.2.19-20.1mdk.img initrd.img

Then edit your lilo.conf file accordingly, making sure you have "initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.19-20.1mdk.img" or "initrd=/boot/initrd.img" in your 2.2.19-20.1mdk kernel stanza. </quote>

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Resources

See ResourceRecommendations. Feel free to add additional resources to these lists, but please follow the guidelines on ResourceRecommendations including ResourceRecommendations#Guidelines_for_Rating_Resources.

Recommended

• (rhk) [[][]] --

Recommended for Specific Needs

• (rhk) [[][]] --

Recommended by Others

• http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/install/kupgrade3.html -- Never looked at, apparently includes some good information on compiling the kernel, also.
• (rhk) [[][]] --

No Recommendation

• (rhk) [[][]] --

Not Recommended

• (rhk) [[][]] --

Contributors

• () RandyKramer - 28 Jun 2002
• <If you edit this page: add your name here; move this to the next line; and include your comment marker (initials), if you have created one, in parenthesis before your WikiName.>

[[Main.RandyKramer#28 Jun 2002][]]

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