ok... so here's what a website tells me to do:
1. become superuser
2. cd /usr/src/linux
3. make dep; make clean
4. make zImage
5. make modules
6. cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/zImage /boot/newkernel
7. make modules_install
8. edit lilo.conf accordingly


i am stuck at 6. simply because i cannot find zImage... i can't copy a non-existent file??? or do i have to create it myself?

it's the 2nd time i'm recompiling and i am encountering the same difficulty...

would appreciate help...

make mrproper
make xconfig (in Xwindows, choose your settings))
make dep
make clean
make bzImage
make modules
make modules_install

hope this helps

Wazza

Or use make bzlilo after bzImage, and as long as you've added the relevant bits to lilo.conf, it all gets copied for you.

This is what I do (slackware specific).
Step 1; Edit /etc/lilo.conf. Add the below entries to lilo.conf,
#Backup image
image = /vmlinuz.old
root = /dev/hda1
label = oldlinux
(note - replace /dev/hda1 with your boot partition)
Step 2; compiling the kernel,
"make mrproper" - only do this for an existing kernel source, ie; if your recompiling your current kernel, don't bother for a new kernel.
"make menuconfig"
"make dep"
"make clean"
"make bzImage"
"make install" - this is for slackware only.
"make modules"
"make modules_install"
reboot and enjoy.
The make install part is only for slackware, what it does is copies, moves and renames all the files to where they neet to go and runs lilo as well, thats why we edit /etc/lilo.conf in step 1.
If the new kernel refuses to boot then you can hit the "left" shift key at the lilo prompt and select "oldlinux" to boot your old (working) kernel.

ah thanks all for replying...

Aussie:
i was kinda hoping you'd show up

anyway, now the recompile went very smoothly (followed aussie's steps coz i'm on slack, but the rest were useful info as well, thanks again all! )

one thing i'm missing though... i still can't get the sound card to work...
any ideas?

oh yea... and btw, i noticed that at the make menuconfig stage, the screens looked a lot like a part of the debian install stage... wasn't too hard selecting the stuff...

btw, my sound card is a very old one (not PCI, the generation of card slots before that, can't remember what it is)... it's a Creative SB16 AWE something or other (okok so i live in the middle ages...). it worked fine with all the RH i tried (from 7.0 to 7.2) and all the Mandrake stuff i tried (from 7.0 to 8.0) so i don't think it's coz the kernel doesn't support it or something...

thanks in advance once again...

well, that'll make it ISA. i remember reading about ISA cards on the school bus when i was 13. spooky. ISA is of course the final standard ever required for PC cards. and of course, it's impossible to use more than 64kb of RAM ever.

isa is possibly disabled, or the isa card drivers are knocked out by default

You need isapnptools to configure your sound card, or any other isa card for that matter....

i did as the article on told me to...

but when i do the /sbin/modprobe sound.o io=0x0220 irq=5 dma=1 dam1=5, it tells me 'can't find sound.o'

i checked it and found the sound.o module in my /lib/modules/2.2.19/misc directory... so why is it telling me it can't be found? (and i did try /sbin/modprobe /lib/modules/2.2.19/misc/sound.o io=0x0220 irq=5 dma=1 dma1=5, so that's not the problem)

When you recompiled your kernel which version did you do? If your still on 2.2.x then try "insmod" instead of "modprobe" If your on a 2.4.x kernel then "/lib/modules/2.4.x" is where the sound.o module will be.

hi...

sorry to reply this late... was cleaning up my room...

did the modprobe... but actually it worked when i left out the sound.o and used just sound alone... ie.

/sbin/modprobe sound io=0x0220 irq=5 dma=1 dma1=5

now the sound modules are loaded... but this turns up when i use the lsmod command (just those related to sound):

Module Size Used by
sound 58624 0 (unused)
soundlow 384 0 [sound]
soundcore 2768 3 [sound]

i do remember encountering this before... but i cannot remember what to do after this...? how do i get sound to work?

i remember it took only 1 or 2 more commands...

Check the sound /dev entries for ownership/permissions

uhh... that's slightly vague... what am i looking for in the permissions?

in any case, there don't seem to be any sound entries in /dev? or what should i be looking for to tell me that they are sound entries?

/dev/dsp*, /dev/sequencer*, /dev/mixer* are the main ones, you can chmod them to 666 if your the only user but if you want more security then you should create a "sound" group and add the users you want to that group.

And don't forget audio and audio1. You can also, if for some reason you do use it, change the midi files: midi00, midi01, 02, 03. Didn't wanna type midi 4 times, you get the piture...

God Bless....