status of current applications after kernel upgrade (2.4.x -> 2.6.x)
 

i am currently running all applications perfectly on RH9 (kernel version 2.4.20-8).

my concern is, if i were to upgrade my kernel to the latest stable release (2.6), do i have to re-compile/re-install/re-configure any of the applications that is already running fine ?

in addition to application eg. Mozilla, Gimp ... how bout system-related things like additionally installed drivers (eg. Nvidia display) ?

thanks for any response

From my personal experience, the main incompatible components are modutils and binary-only hardware device drivers. You have to upgrade to mod-init-tools and fiddle with the modprobe.conf file a little. For hardware, you have to check with the hw vendor for 2.6 drivers. Other than that, as long as u have built the 2.6 kernel to be backward compatible (for eg, enable OSS or OSS emulation support, or your existing soundapps wouldn't work).

thanks for the info. so are you recommending that i install 'mod-init-tools' first, then install the new kernel and attempt to fix any incompatibilities from there ?

my only concern is not being able to boot up after the new kernel install :) ...

yup. if u installed kernel first, then modinittools, you are going to see a whole bunch of error messages on boot and some devices will fail to work because modutils can't load the 2.6 style kernel modules.

ok, that's what i wanted to know !

btw, is it possible for me to keep my old kernel around just in case i want to boot to it later ? i am currently using LILO to dual boot into RH9 / WinXP

Sure just keep the entry in lilo.conf.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I finally DID IT !

using latest RPMs from Redhat (Arjan's) helped a lot though - i suspect . basically i upgraded all the components as recommended in a few articles abt upgrading to 2.6.

everything seems to be working fine ... just some minor hiccups (now solved) after the new kernel installation :-
1) RPM was hanging (temporary fix - 'export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5')
2) No sound (maestro3 module was not loaded - modified /etc/modprobe.conf)

now i have WinXP, RH9 (2.4.20-8) and (2.6.1) bootable under LILO.

any one contemplating on upgrading and have queries .... i am happy to share my experience :)