2.6.0test-mm4 - Major problems
 

Well, maybe not major, since I can boot up if I pop in my slack9.0 install floppy, then say mount root=/dev/hda2, but when I boot up, it doesn't load any drivers for anything, really. I enabled usb support, 10/100 support for network cars(Couldn't find anything specific about Belkin, so I have the standard boxes checked in the menuconfig), and I enabled the sound options, but my mixer doesn't start up when it loads XWindows(KDE), and when I try to manually get my USB devices to work, modprobe comes up with the error:
"Can't open dependencies file /lib/modules/2.4.20/modules.dep (No such file or directory)"
So I took a look, and as it turns out, my /lib/modules/2.4.20 directory is of no more. But in replacement is my 2.6.0test-mm4 directory. So why would my dependencies be looking for 2.4.20 instead of the new kernel?
First of all, I didn't choose M for any of my options, really. I had the network, audio, and USB options all as Y and not M in menuconfig. Second, I'm not even using 2.4.20 anymore, I'm using 2.6.0test-mm4.
Here's what I ran for my commands, basically:
tar xjvf linux-2.6.0-test6.tar.bz2 -C /usr/src
rm /usr/src/linux
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6.0-test6 /usr/src/linux
cd /usr/src/linux
bzcat 2.6.0-test6-mm4.bz2 |patch -p1
make menuconfig
make clean && make bzImage && make modules && cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz && rm -R /lib/modules/* && make modules_install && cp System.map /boot && lilo

Can anybody help me out? I know that my processor is working, as well as my video card, keyboard, & mouse(Even the mouse wheel, although it has nothing to do with the kernel, at least they're working.) Do I have to issue the last commands individually? I basically did them all as one command so I could let it run while I do my homework, then come back to it later, without having to stop in periodically.

Howdy. That's becasue you need to install the modutils package from the 2.5.x kernel line. download and install the lates mod-init-tools form here
Be warned: read the readme first

Aw crap! But my Linux box can't even access the internet! IT CAN'T EVEN SEE MY NETWORK CARD CONNECTED TO ITS PCI SLOT!!!! Hopefully it'll work with floppies....

for the 2.6.0-test series all you need to do is the following:


make ---> creates the system
make modules_install -----> copies the modules into the correct dir.
make install ----> copies vmlinuz to /boot and makes a back up of old vmlinuz


As to you problem. Look in the /boot directory and see if you have a backup vmlinuz that has an older date than the one you copied.
If so, change you lilo.conf to reflect it and boot into your old kernel.

Yeh but you still have to old kernel right? Why don't you boot with the old kernel?
Also, you can reach this site somehow. The stuff you need to download isn't to big. You could put it on an floppy and bring it home. No biggie, right?

You don't understand the floppy part:
It says input-output error when it tries to open/copy anything from a FAT disk, and the only way I can get on the net right now is through a seperate XP box. I still have my Slackware 9.0 kernel on my HD, I think, but when I ran the commands listed above for installing the 2.6.0test6-mm4 kernel, it got rid of my 2.4.20 settings for modules and everything. The only way I can see me getting anything onto the Linux box is if I can download floppy images of the files, then use rawrite to put them on floppies. Think anybody can put the two mod-init-tools files(.gz and .bz2) into one image file so I can rawrite it onto a floppy? That'd be greatly appreciated. Otherwise I'd have to basically install everything all over again, starting with RH7.3 to download the Slack install stuff, then install Slack via HDD mounting and installing from that, then setting up hardware again and installing software like OpenOffice.

No need to panic :)
* download this mini linux distro: http://www.toms.net/rb/

* or try to boot from the installation cd.

If you get into the prompt, try to setup your system. For example:
modprobe 8139too
ifconfig eth0 10.0.0.100 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.0.0.255
route add default gateway <ip addres of your router>
If you can't use these commands, type to change your root first; see below

You can also access the root of your file system, and make the mounted folder your new root. For example:
mount -t ext3 /dev/hda1 /mnt
chroot /mnt (opens a shell with /mnt/ as root, use 'exit' to return to the old shell/root)

I could mount my hard drive and everything when I used the boot & root disks, but all the CD's for Slack9.0 didn't work for some reason or another. They wouldn't boot, Windows couldn't read them, and Linux couldn't read them. So now I downloaded Slack9.1, and I'm going to end up trying to see if those disks work or not. The thing is that my system works for most programs, like it boots into rc.4 and all of that runs fine, but anything that has to do with drivers basically doens't work. I guess I'll have to try to do a fresh install of Slack9.1. Oh well, I guess I'm upgrading, kinda...

Did you run the MD5 check too? It allows you to verify a file. The files are just ISO's, and a cd-rom is just a disk with an ISO-file structure on it. Both Windows and Linux should be able to read this cd!

I didn't check the MD5 for the Slack9.0 cd's. Mostly because I didn't/don't know how, and that I was on my Windows XP box. Anywho, I put Slack9.1 on the crap computer, now. I'm going to attempt installing 2.6.0test6-mm4 again now. Now that I have install CD's instead of having to download and install from the hard drive(which ment installing an older OS, like RH7.3), I might be more willing to test things out.