kernel recompilation in details

puishor · 06-25-2005, 04:14 PM

Hi!

I tried to recompile 2.6.10 kernel not for the first time but always not successfully...

Please help !!
Here is what I did in detail:

1. I use debian system, with 2.4.27-1-386 kernel.
2. I copied /boot/config-2.4.27-1-386 to /usr/src/linux/ and rename it to .config
i.e.
cp /boot/config-2.4.27-1-386 /usr/src/.config
by the way in the first lines of config-2.4.27-1-386 it is said

Code:

#
# Automatically generated make config: don't edit
#
CONFIG_X86=y
# CONFIG_SBUS is not set
CONFIG_UID16=y ...

"don't edit" , could be that a problem ?
3. I run

Code:

  make xconfig

and I didn't modified anything , just left the old settings of 2.4.27 kernel .

4. then

Code:

   make bzImage
   make modules
   make modules_install

  cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/bzImage-2.6.10
  cp System.map  /boot/System.map-2.6.10
  ln -s /boot/System.map-2.6.10  /boot/System.map

till now all goes OK.

5.next comes my /boot/grub/menu.lst
here is a snippet from it:

Code:

title           kernel 2.4.27-1-386
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /vmlinuz-2.4.27-1-386 root=/dev/hda2 ro
initrd          /initrd.img-2.4.27-1-386
savedefault
boot

title           kernel 2.6.10
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /bzImage-2.6.10  root=/dev/hda2 ro
boot

the first part is for my old 2.4.27 kernel , it just loads ok.
the second part is the one I added , and it is supposed to loadnew recompiled kernel ( 2.6.10 ) , it is almost the same as for 2.4.27

6. When I reboot the system , and load 2.6.10 kernel ( from grub menu )
I get the following error:

VFS: Cannot open root device "hda" or unknown-block (0,0).
Please append a correct "root=" boot option: kernel panic: not syncing VFS .Unable to mount root fs on unknown block

dcdbutler · 06-25-2005, 06:20 PM

Sounds like you're missing a driver for your harddisk or support for one of your filesystems. Hard to see how this would be if it was in your previous config file though. Check it by running make menuconfig or make xconfig again.
Also, you could look for a config file for the 2.6 kernel to use as a template and then add or take stuff out that you need or don't need. I got mine off a slackware mirror.
Cheers

Noth · 06-25-2005, 10:11 PM

Don't steal a 2.4 kernel config and use it in a 2.6 kernel, too many variable names have changed. If you need a 2.6 kernel, just install one of the kernel-image packages already in Debian.

puishor · 06-26-2005, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Also, you could look for a config file for the 2.6 kernel to use as a template

Where could I get a template for .config ?
I downloaded new sources , and when I run :
make xconfig
without any .config does it generate a template ?
So I must only save it ?
Am I right ?

dcdbutler · 06-26-2005, 08:16 AM

I suppose you could do as suggested by noth and install a pre-compiled kernel from the Debian packages. This will generate a .config file automatically which you can then copy and use for your own kernel compilations, Or look for a .config file on the Debian mirrors or use the one I used off the slackware mirrors (don't see why not, there's nothing distro-specific in there as far as I know)
eg
http://public.planetmirror.com/pub/s...e/linux-2.6.x/