Hi I have RedHat Linux 7.1 installed on my computer and I want to upgrade my kernel from 2.4.2-2 to 2.4.20. Here's what I did:

1. Downloaded the file "linux-2.4.20.tar.gz" from kernel.org
2. Unzipped the file in /usr/src
3. Create 3 symlinks by

cd /usr/include
rm -rf asm linux scsi
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.20/include/asm-i386 asm
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.20/include/linux linux
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.20/include/scsi scsi

4. cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.20
5. make clean
6. make mrproper
7. make menuconfig
8. make dep
9. make bzImage
10. cp /usr/src/linux-2.4.20/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot
11. emacs /etc/lilo.conf
12. Added and modified the following lines:

image=/boot/bzImage
label=linux
root=/dev/hda5
read-only

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20
label=linux.old
root=/dev/hda5
read-only

13. Saved and exited emacs
14. lilo -v
15. reboot

At the lilo prompt, I selected linux, which is my new kernel 2.4.20, but then the system rebooted immediately! When I selected linux.old, which is my old kernel 2.4.2-2, the system ran correctly.

So did I miss something or do something wrong in the entire upgrade process? Any pointer is appreciated!

Probably you missed something in the configuration. Are you sure you have all filesystems you need to boot correctly build into your kernel (as you don't use initrd)?

I looked into this page

http://www.redhat.com/support/resour...1-upgrade.html

and it says that if there's no file that starts with "initrd" in the /boot directory, then I don't need a "initrd" file, is that correct? That's my case and that's why I don't use an "initrd" file.

By the way, what u mean by the "filesystems" I may need? How can I determine which of those I need and where can I get them? Thanks!