kmc77 Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 (edited) 3 months into MLAW (My Life After Windows) :D . Here's something I probably should have looked into sooner, but didn't. Guess I was just chicken. I read Arthur's post in the FAQ section regarding the kernel upgrade to 2.6. My question is, for a noob like myself is this the best and simplest way to upgrade? It seems straight forward enough, but comming from a long Windows history, I'm still a bit nervous when thinking about messing with the kernel.... (kernel, kernel - still fun to say). Right now I'm running 2.4 with Mandrake 9.2 download ed. Also Is 2.6 what I want, or should I be looking for something else? Edited April 11, 2004 by kmc77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 If you are going to compile a kernel, then this seems simple enough. I have never successfully compiled a kernel! Really, in order to upgrade, simply download the kernel rpm, urpmi kernel.file.name, and check the new entry in lilo. If you are running nvidia drivers, be sure to download and install the kernel-source file as well. When you reboot, choose the new kernel and run it. If something is wrong, like a kernel panic, you can simply reboot with your old kernel. If all runs well, reinstall nvidia if needed. You can edit lilo to remove the old entry and even remove the old kernel from /boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 No. That's not an upgrade 'only' but also a compile (compile, compile, compile.....it's fun to say) and is not at all necessary (but still fun to say)....'compile' :lol: If all is well for ya you do not have to have the 2.6. Some say there's a performance diff but I don't notice much....just an itty_bitty_bit. Then again for kernel....they just all run together for me....except the few that didn't work :unsure: . Easiest way is to point your urpmi sources to a mirror with the 2.6 and urpmi_it or use rpmdrake (urpmi frontend). Then all the dependencies are handled. See, you need more than just the kernel. There's about 3 or 4 other pkgs that have to be upgraded as well. Cutting_edge stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 No. The pre-compiled mandrake kernels are perfectly fine for your purpose. Kernel compiles are only for people obsessed with performance/customizability ;) er...me :wacko: that's why I posted that info...a compile will teach you a lot about linux Here's the easier way: http://www.MandrakeUsers.org/index.php?sho...indpost&p=87215 btw, 9.2 still uses supermount, but 10.0 doesn't, so pick a kernel that has supermount - 2.6.3-3mdk, unless later versions still have supermount, I haven't checked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannonfodder Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 You can also compile a new kernel and have it co-exist next to your current kernel. When you install Mandrake, all those other options on the LILO boot page are alternate kernels! Check here.. http://www.mandrakeuser.org/docs/install/index.html#ku Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 supermount is still in kernel-2.6.....if you have a floppy, it's using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frosterrj Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 so why did Update section of the MCC only show me the kernel-source package for 2.6.4-7mdk and no actual kernel package? I guess I dont mind compiling from the source rpm, but seems a little odd. RF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 You are not recompiling from source with rpm's. The kernel is pre configured and works just fine 90% of the time. You should never install a kernel along with other stuff. That's why I said to download the kernel rpm and the kernel source rpm and install them seperately. I think some are confused concerning kernel-source and a kernel package that is kernel.xxx.xxx.src.rpm. The kernel-source package is used by other programs to compile against the running kernel. While you can recompile a kernel from these sources if you wish, it is really not a necessary thing to do. Any rpm that ends with .src.rpm can be rebuilt on your machine with the command rpmbuild --rebuild. The concepts are similar, but the former actually configures and builds a kernel while the latter rebuilds an existing rpm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 hmmm....I've seen and installed it from rpmdrake...and along with a slew of pkgs like XFree86 and kde while in kde. Drak stuff has come a long way since ML-8.2 :D ...BUT yes, a manual dload>install can't be beat. I usually put kernel kernel-source lilo grub in /etc/urpmi/skip.list to prevent any possible probs and to give me control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kjel Oslund Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 so why did Update section of the MCC only show me the kernel-source package for 2.6.4-7mdk and no actual kernel package? I guess I dont mind compiling from the source rpm, but seems a little odd. RF The reason that MCC shows the kernel-source packages but not kernel (binary) packages is that when rpmdrake/urpmi install a package (or an update) they automatically remove any previous package and all its installed files before installing the new package. You do not want to do this to a running kernel! But it's okay to replace a kernel source package. Interestingly, urpmi now supports an install-never-upgrade list (see /etc/urpmi/inst.list), but it seems that MCC still suppresses the kernel package, just to be safe. I don't know if rpmdrake uses urpmi or rpm directly. If it bypasses urpmi, that may be the reason why it cannot handle a direct kernel update. As others have said, there is no reason to compile a kernel yourself unless you want to change the configuration or complilation options (such as cpu type). Just download the kernel package from your mirror and rpm -ivh it as root. It will put every thing in place, update your lilo config and make the new kernel the default. Your previous kernels will show up on the lilo menu so you can always get back to a working kernel. (I hope the do the same for grub users). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 bvc: yes, supermount still is in 2.6. but I don't have a floppy drive anyways :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvc Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 bvc: yes, supermount still is in 2.6. but I don't have a floppy drive anyways :D and I take mine out of fstab :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmc77 Posted April 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Wow. Lots of info. The main reason that I wanted to upgrade, is because I have been having trouble getting a USB HD working (see THIS thread). I thought it might be a problem that could be solved with an updated kernel. Do you think that it would help. Really, that was the only reason that I wanted to upgrade. Everything has run smooth as it is now, and I don't want to rock the boat if no one thinks that the 2.6 kernel will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 I switched to the 2.6 kernel because of improved ACPI support, all my USB devices worked in 2.4 anyway - but you can upgrade the kernel just by using two lines(be sure to have the mirrors set up): urpmi kernel-2.6.3 lilo -v then reboot into your new kernel. If it doesn't work, reboot into your old kernel. You can't go wrong! I think... :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmc77 Posted April 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 Updated my mirrors, but I keep getting [root@kevins kevin]# urpmi kernel-2.6.3 no package named kernel-2.6.3 What am I doing wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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