Hi again everyone,

since i've managed to solve my other problem i now have a new one. I googled it, but it seems that i've a unique problem :P

So, i've done
and i get the following error:
Thanks in advance

3- tar xvfj kernel-source-2.6.7.tar.bz2
4- ln -s /usr/src/kernel-source-2.6.6 /usr/src/linux

you are linking the wrong directory? line 4 should be ...source-2.6.7...?

It was a type error, sorry. hehe

In the earlier thread http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=206064 you say this:

I'm a bit confused why you need to COMPILE a new kernel just to get mouse support. If getting your mouse to work just requires a newer kernel version, an alternative (and perhaps easier) approach would be to simply install a precompiled kernel-image package.


But regarding your actual question, the steps you've taken seem to be correct (I haven't compiled many 2.6.x kernels but this HOWTO http://www.desktop-linux.net/debkernel.htm recommends the same steps), except that you cannot do "make xconfig" in step 6 if you're working in console -- do "make menuconfig" instead. (You may need to install the libncurses5-dev package for this.)

If "make menuconfig" produces similar error message, it's possible that you've made a slight mistake in the course of the journey -- a typo or something. To rule out this possibility of human error you can remove all files, symlinks, and directories from /usr/src except the kernel-source-2.6.7.tar.bz2 file that apt-get created.

Now you can "su" to root and follow steps 2-6 as carefully as possible, double-checking that you don't have typos and that every command produces the desired results (launching Midnight Commander after every step is a handy way to get a "graphical" overview of what's going on in your working directory).

If the factor of human error is ruled out and step 6 ("make menuconfig") still gives an error message, it's time to REALLY start considering alternative solutions.

Hi and thanks for replying,

1- what's the difference between precompiled kernel package and the normal kernel package?
2- Can i get it through apt-get?

Thanks in advance .

Well, the basic difference between a kernel-source package and a kernel-image package is that after downloading a kernel-source package you first need to configure and compile a binary package from this source and then install it while a kernel-image package has already been compiled for your convenience and you can simply do "apt-get install kernel-image-[version]" and that's about it (although you need to make sure that your boot loader recognizes your new kernel before you can actually use it).

Building kernel from source allows you to control what drivers and modules are included in the resulting kernel but it takes some effort to configure and compile the kernel. Installing a precompiled kernel-image is easier but if the drivers or modules that your hardware needs are not included in the kernel-image, then it's tough luck. As usual in Debian, you have here several options and you can choose the one that best suits your needs. Here are two documents you may find interesting:


http://www.thing.dyndns.org/debian/kerneldeb.htm

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/suriy...migration.html