could someone explain the steps involved if i want to upgrade my kernel 2.4.18 to 2.4.20 on a slackware 8.1 system?

i have never updated a kernel, so lots of details would be great :>

erik

Download the source for the new kernel and put it in /usr/src/linux-2.4.20

Create a link from /usr/src/linux-2.4.20 to /usr/src/linux-2.4

cd /usr/src/linux-2.4

make someconfig ... menuconfig, xconfig, oldconfig (if you have an old .config) This is where you actually configure what options you want.

make dep
make clean
make bzImage
make modules
make modules_install

copy the bzImage and System.map to /boot , renaming them to vmlinuz-2.4.20 and System.map-2.4.20 , or some-such to keep them straight from the old ones.

mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.4.20.img 2.4.20 ... This creates an initrd (INITial RamDisk) to boot.

Then, create a new entry in your lilo.conf or grub.conf . Copy what you have for your current kernel and point to the new 2.4.20 files.

Of course, this isn't detailed, but you can find HOW-TOs at the Linux Document Project... www.tldp.org

Looks pretty damned detailed enough...

ErikM: Play around with different kernel configurations... make a science out of getting the fastest kernel with the least amount of includes... dont be afraid to wreck your install but keep a back up of the "last working kernel" around.