How many times did you compile your kernel?

debasish_5849 · 05-08-2006, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinaman

Wrong. You have a commercial distribution listed as your Linux distro, and someone may have hacked "make_install" to do so, but normally it does not. And most distros don't even use grub -- they use LiLO.

No you are wrong! I did it with kernel source from kernel.org.
If you don't believe me, just try it yourself.

debasish_5849 · 05-08-2006, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinaman

A "debian-based distributions" is not the same as Debian, nor did anyone but you in this thread mention Debian and commercial distro in the same post.

In the source of linux-2.6.16.14 I see absolutely nothing about GrUB. What I do see in README is this:

Code:

 - Do a "make" to create a compressed kernel image. It is also
   possible to do "make install" if you have lilo installed to suit the
   kernel makefiles, but you may want to check your particular lilo setup first.

And in that Makefile I see nothing to adjust any bootloader on it's own.

IMO you have to edit files to make that happen, no matter which bootloader you have. It is not possible with Kernel.org sources to

-- unless someone has edited the bootloader to suit the Makefile.

The reason I'm even carrying on this silly argument is because newbies who don't know any better will read this thread, follow erroneous advice, and then wonder what happened.

Slackware doesn't have any hacked scripts included in the distro -- everything is pristine. Therefore, if you follow what was posted by debasish_5849 you will reboot with the same kernel(s) you had before. Just trying to keep a little sanity in the process we're discussing here.

You better do some practical work before making a statement!

I have done it and it worked with grub. And I did it with kernel source from kernel.org

debasish_5849 · 05-08-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimithebrain

make install overwrites the current kernel, and only works with lilo as far as I know.

No, make install does not overwrite anything if you are upgrading to a new version. Just don't recompile your old kernel source if are a newbie.

And it works also with grub, at least it did for me!

debasish_5849 · 05-08-2006, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chinaman

nor did anyone but you in this thread mention Debian and commercial distro in the same post.

English tip: "Don't tell me" means "Everybody would agree its not that".
It does not need anybody to say that before

mimithebrain · 05-08-2006, 11:33 PM

debasish_5849:
Works with grub? nice! that's good, I must not have looked up that part of the documentation properly.

And it doesn't overwrite? cool,

how does it install it then?

milanc · 05-09-2006, 03:28 AM

Chinaman, i meant that when you do "make install", the kernel image, system.map and config file are copied to /boot or wherever your distro puts its kernel images, and that you must then edit your bottloader's config file... I never said that "make install" somehow updated lilo or grub, though /sbin/install seems to do it... and when i talked of debian and debian based distros, i didn't mix them up: the "-based" was because of:
- ubuntu
- xandros (commercial distro)

PS: i just use "update-grub" in debian and ubuntu to use my new kernel at next boot (of course, this works only for grub)...

mimithebrain, it doesn't overwrite the current kernel image, it copies the new one to /boot with the others, and changes the symlink /vmlinuz so it points to your new kernel (link to old kernel = /vmlinuz.old)

My way to compile a kernel:

Code:

(Login as root)

Before first compile:
$ apt-get install libncurses-dev

Then:
$ cd /usr/src
$ wget ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kerne...-2.6.X.tar.bz2
$ tar xjf linux-2.6.X.tar.bz2
$ cd linux-2.6.X
$ make menuconfig

(Configure the kernel)
$ make

$ make install
$ nano /boot/grub/menu.lst

Or instead of the last 2 steps, if you have dpkg (used by apt-get, in debian, ubuntu & co.):
$ make deb-pkg # so that i have a .deb package if i need to reinstall the whole distro
$ cd ../
$ dpkg -i linux-2.6.X_2.6.X_i386.deb
$ update-grub # after having adjusted the default options on the line that starts with "# kopt="

debasish_5849 · 05-10-2006, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimithebrain

debasish_5849:
Works with grub? nice! that's good, I must not have looked up that part of the documentation properly.

And it doesn't overwrite? cool,

how does it install it then?

The kernels version string is added automatically to the kernel image's filename. So if you are upgrading to a new version, you don't need to worry about overwriting.
I did it myself and it works just fine.

debasish_5849 · 05-10-2006, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milanc

PS: i just use "update-grub" in debian and ubuntu to use my new kernel at next boot (of course, this works only for grub)...

Cool tip

I'm gonna try that

mimithebrain · 05-10-2006, 10:35 AM

*The kernels version string is added automatically to the kernel image's filename.*

Then if your version string is the same, then it will get overwritten from what I read.
So my method of installing kernel is better for those who make many kernel of the same version with different configs. Those upgrading can use make install.

milanc · 05-10-2006, 12:53 PM

The older kernel image is moved to (original name).old, initrd -> initrd.old, etc... (in debian and probably in other distribs too). But I think that if you compile three times the same version you do lose the oldest one...
When you configure your kernel sources, there's an option "append to version string:", so you don't have to fuss about kernel image names and overwriting later on.

Penguin of Wonder · 05-10-2006, 01:02 PM

I didn't know what "append to version string" did. Thanks for the tip!

MasterChief1234 · 05-11-2006, 08:38 PM

I has compilied about 18 kernels, and about 11 were custom compilied by me. I even wrote a tutorial on how to compile Linux Kernels on the Ubuntu Forums.