upgrading from kernel 2.4.21 to 2.4.28
 

Hi,

I have Red Hat Enterprise Linux installed (AS 3), kernel version 2.4.21. I want to upgrade to version 2.4.28

I've downloaded the 2.4.28 tgz file and I've been reading thru the documentation. I meet all the minimum required versions for gcc, makefile, etc.

I unzipped it to a temp directory, then I ran
make mrproper
make config
make dep
make install

At the end of running make install, I got this:
depmod: Can't open /lib/modules/2.4.28/modules.dep for writing
/lib/modules/2.4.28 is not a directory.
mkinitrd failed
make[1]: *** [install] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/linux-2/linux-2.4.28/arch/i386/boot'
make: *** [install] Error 2

The instructions say this:
In order to boot your new kernel, you'll need to copy the kernel image (found in .../linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage after compilation) to the place where your regular bootable kernel is found.

I went to /etc/lilo.conf.anaconda and I edited it. Here's what it said:
prompt
timeout=50
default=linux
boot=/dev/hda
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
message=/boot/message
linear

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.21-27.EL
label=linux
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.4.21-27.EL.img
read-only
append="hdc=ide-scsi root=LABEL=/"

Questions:

1. Why am I getting the above errors?
2. Am I supposed to copy the bzImage file somewhere and add another line in lilo.conf.anaconda??

Aren't there supposed to be 'make modules' and 'make modules_install' steps somewhere?

Did you follow the README closely?

Always run /sbin/lilo before rebooting, make sure you have at least one bootable kernel.

For 2.4 kernels you can do the following in Redhat and Redhat clone distros.
Extract the kernel in /usr/src
Make a softlinux from the new kernel to /usr/src/linux. ' ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.28 /usr/src/linux '
Now with redhat there is a config file in /boot that you can use to build with.
If everything worked fine then use that.
Run the command
make mrproper (restructure the kernel unless clean extract)
make xconfig ( gui interface to see the kernel ). Load the config from /boot and hit Save then Exit.
make dep ( make dependiences )
make clean ( clean up )
make bzImage ( build kernel ) Will be in /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
make modules ( build the modules )
make modules_install ( install the modules in /lib/modules )
Now copy the new bzImage to /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.28
In /boot run the command ' mkinitrd 2.4.28.img '
Edit lilo or grub and create a bootloader like current old kernel.

Brian1

I followed your instructions and I edited the grub.conf. When I tried to boot into the 2.4.28 kernel I got the error message below:

VFS: Cannot open root device "LABEL=/" or 00:00
Please append a correct "root=" boot option
Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on 00:00

Here's what my GRUB.CONF looks like: (I manually added the 2nd title and below)
# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,0)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda2
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=10
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (2.4.21-27.EL)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.21-27.EL ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.21-27.EL.img
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (2.4.28)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.28 ro root=LABEL=/ hdc=ide-scsi
initrd /initrd-2.4.28.img


Also, what's the difference between grub.conf and /etc/lilo.conf.anaconda ??

They are two completely different boot managers.

Change your root=LABEL=/ to root=/dev/hda2

Brian1

Ok, I did that and it booted now but when I go the command prompt and type in "uname -a", it still shows 2.4.21-27

Did you boot the correct kernel. The default in grub is 0 which is the first one. Unless you selected one at boot then it booted the old kernel.

Brian1

I selected the new one when it prompted me.

Still seems odd to me. Is the new kernel a copy of the new kernel or a link to the new kernel. If a link it may actually be seeing the old kernel. Make sure it is a copy of the new bzImage file and placed in /boot and renamed of course.

Other than that no other ideas.
Brian1

Not sure if it's a copy or a link. How can I tell?

When I followed the instructions it said to copy the bzImage, so here's what I typed:

cp bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.28

Also, I don't know if this makes a difference but when I extracted the tar.gz I extracted it in root's home folder. so all the extracted files are under /root/linux-2/linux-2.4.28

The reason I did that is because there's a warning in the Readme file that says not to extract it in /usr/src
"Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually
incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header
files. They should match the library, and not get messed up by
whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be."

Here's the files in my /boot directory:

config-2.4.21-27.EL lost+found System.map-2.4.28
grub message vmlinux-2.4.21-27.EL
initrd-2.4.21-27.EL.img message.ja vmlinuz
initrd-2.4.28.img System.map vmlinuz-2.4.21-27.EL
kernel.h System.map-2.4.21-27.EL vmlinuz-2.4.28

Not sure if it is in root's home directory is an issue or not. I would have extracted as /usr/src/linux-2.4.28. Then create a soft link of linux to /usr/src/linux using command ' ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.28 /usr/src/linux '.

If added to grub.conf as stated above and selected the the new 2.4.28 kernel, I say I have no idea why it is using kernel 2.4.21-27 still.

When you did your kernel building you were in /root/linux-2/linux-2.4.28
and not in /usr/src/linux correct? If in /usr/src/linux when compiling then you ended up compiling the the linux-2.4.21 kernel.

Brian1

Go back to where you built your 2.4.28 kernel and do; make install

How about the warning in the Readme about not extracting it to /usr/src. And for your question about being in the /root/linux-2/linux-2.4.28 Yes I was in that directory.

Here's something else that's interesting. I have setup a 2nd machine (this one's a Gateway P4 1 Ghz) and I did the exact same thing that I did to the 1st machine. This one however starts loading and then it cannot load the GUI portion.

Why am I getting different results with 2 different machines?