[ALUG] Re: Upgrading kernels - what do others do?

[cl at isbd.net]

On Wed, Nov 01, 2006 at 08:21:35PM +0000, Paul wrote:
> 
> As to how I track which version and source currently installed - Compiling 
> in /usr/src/linux-yadda is deprecated in favour of a "where ever you want" 
> policy, so I will sometimes use /tmp/linux, and always with make-kpkg. 
> The /tmp directory gets cleaned out on each reboot, but make-kpkg will 
> produce a set of easy to install Debian packages which will get ferreted away 
> in a local repository..
> 
Hmm, that's one way I suppose, I'm Slackware though.


> With regards your problem compiling an RTL8168 driver... After downloading the 
> sources direct from Realtek, it would appear that they need "adjustments" 
> before you can compile against a 2.6.18.x kernel - MODULE_PARM has been 
> dropped and needs to be replaced module_param_array (see 
> http://www.atworkonline.it/~bibe/etch/index.htm for details).. You should be 
> able to override the kernel version by passing it as a make option,
> e.g. `make KVER=2.6.18.1-foo`, failing that, edit the make file..
> 
No, I've got through that already, I had the RTL8168 driver working in
the base 2.6.18 kernel, it's just that when built in the 2.6.18.1 area
it still generated a 2.6.18 module because I built it while running a
2.6.18 kernel.


What seems to be the way is to do what I originally did which was to
make a copy of /usr/linux/2.6.18 in /usr/linux/2.6.18.1 and then apply
the 2.6.18.1 patch in the new area.  Then you have to build the new
kernel *twice*.  You build it once and run it so you have a 2.6.18.1
kernel running, the second build then builds the 'custom' modules
correctly (which fail in the first build).

I now have a working 2.6.18.1 kernel which even has working Jmicron
PATA drivers so I now have *two* CD/DVD drives!  :-)


> What's vmware ? <ducks>
> 
It's actually amazingly *simple* to install considering what it does.
Apart from the need to build it under the kernel you want it to run
it under 'just works'.

-- 
Chris Green (chris at halon.org.uk)