On Sat, 1 Dec 2001 09:44:29 -0800
David Herman
OK I'm ready to take my next SuSE step. I want to upgrade my kernel.
Hi David, I imagine that you will get a number of responses to your post. Mine will only be partial. The first question is *why* do you want to upgrade it? Do you know that 2.4.16 contains support for something you need and that is not supported in your existing kernel, or is it just a matter of interest? I am all in favour of interest, - that is why I upgrade - but if (like me), you use linux for your business, then you have to be aware that upgrading always has an element of risk that you may not need to run.
I currently run SuSE 7.2 pro and have kept things pretty much updated (new rpms from SuSE, online updates, etc). I've been reluctant to upgrade my kernel and xFree86 as Linux is my main OS now.
I use 7.0 pro - I do not think that anything I will say is invalidated by that, but you should know that I am not using a system identical to yours. Also, I run vanilla kernels, so I can't say anything helpful specifically with regard to SuSE kernels.
I've read things about mk_initrd, cloneconfig etc and am currently looking through all of the documentation I can find.
The discussion in Chapter 13 of my 7.0 pro manual is one of the best things I have read on kernel compilation.
I have an athlon Athlon 700mhz cpu ATI all -in-Wonder128pro SB live value usr ISA hardware modem
I want to keep all of this working obviously.
So my questions are: 1) How do I backup my old kernel in case things go wrong?
If 7.2 is the same as 7.0, then your existing kernel is boot and is called vmlinuz. You can backup that file to somewhere safe if you want, but the usual technique is to rename it to something like vmlinuz-old immediately before you install your new kernel under the name vmlinuz. With an appropriate entry in /etc.lilo.conf you can then choose between vmlinuz and vmlinuz-old at boot time. If your new kernel won't load, the old one should.
2) Is it recommended to go with the Mantel rpm or should I bite the bullet and learn how to re-compile the kernel?
It depends what you are looking for - see my preliminary comments. If it is a matter of needing to upgrade to get some new/improved functionality then I would go with the rpm. If you are doing this to learn and experiment then you will have to compile. You can always download a kernel to some safe directory and practice compiling there. There is, in fact, nothing hard about that process itself. The hard part is knowing what you are trying to achieve. The kernel .config is a complex thing. Print out your current SuSE .config and study it. Run "make menuconfig" a few times on your practice kernel and read the inavaluable help that the help screens offer. Finally, take special care to learn about modules. If you alter the modules in your kernel you will probably find that your /etc/modules.conf is no longer valid for your system. I found it *far* harder to reconstruct my modules than to work out what I wanted in a kernel.
3) If re-compile which sources should I get?
Again, it depends what you want. The distros do not employ kernel hackers for their looks. They use their expertise to improve the vanilla kernels released by Linus, and they have intimate knowledge of what will work best with their own distros. I am perfectly prepared to believe that SuSE kernels are better than vanilla kernels. Having said that, I run vanilla kernels because I take an interest in kernel development and I know that what I am seeing on my own system is precisely what the developers are dealing with. You do, however, have to bear in mind that even "stable" vanilla kernels have not been comprehensively tested and may contain errors. There was a scare last week when the new 2.4.15 contained an error which might cause file system corruption. This led to a debate about quality control. Someone said in the course of that debate that *everyone* who runs a vanilla kernel is a linux developer, and if they do not like it they should stick with the distros. I think that there is truth in that, but for people like me (with about 1% of the understanding that a real kernel developer has), to say that I am a kernel developer is like saying that a rat in a maze is a psychology researcher. Nevertheless, it *is* fun.
4) I've noticed that Yast 2 has a kernel config interface. Does it open with the current settings (as installed originally) or some default config.
Sorry I don't know about that.
Thanks for your patience and help dh
Have a lot of fun. Regards, Geoff _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com