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I have the linux 7.1 (seawolf) 2.4.2-2 kernel. This is working fine. I put this kernel even though I have RH linux 8.0 kernel because my modem will work only on the 2.4.2-2 kernel. So now I want to add the kernel of RH linux 8.0 too without loosing the old kernel which is very important to me. I have the RH linux 8.0 kernel in the CD Rom of RH linux 8.0 as RPM. So what should I do? Is it complicated? After this, I wanted to upgrade almost all the packages from 7.1 to 8.0. So will these work with the old as well as the new kernel? Will I be able to choose the kernel with LILO?
You can copy your current kernel to a safe place, just to be sure you don't lose it. The important files are...
/boot/initrd-kernel_number.img -- if it's there
/boot/System.map-kernel_number
/boot/vmlinuz-kernel_number -- this is the actual kernel
lilo.conf -- I forget... Prob'ly in /boot (I use GRUB.)
As long as you save those, and can boot, either from the new kernel or a floppy, then you should be able to restore them to put your old kernel back if anything happens to it.
When you install the 2.4.18 RPM, then it will set your system up to boot that. When you reboot, you should be able to choose which of the two kernels you want to run. If it clobbers your old kernel, restore the top three files above to /boot, and edit your new lilo.conf to add the lines pointing to your old kernel from your old lilo.conf.
You might want to make a boot-floppy, just in case. Use the command mkbootdisk. Check the man page to see what options you need to pass. You might be able to just run mkbootdisk 2.4.2-2 to get it to work.
As for upgrading the other packages and having them run on the old kernel. I can't tell... Some will work fine, others won't.
it should work fine, but you'll want to back up your existing /etc/lilo.conf first to make sure it doesn't do anything you don't approve of. check through it and it's normally best to ensure that it's not defaulting to teh new kernle, and so should be safer to boot. if it all goes ok and you want to keep it just change the default in lilo.
So are you telling that the only danger is the accidental change of contents in the lilo? nothing else? If it is so, I can backup the old lilo and restore it on the new lilo.conf right?
Please tell me whether the only thing I have to take
in the above process is taking the backup of LILO? After that, can I proceed by using the command rpm -i filename ?
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