LinuxQuestions.org - Choosing a kernel for Slackware 12 and is an initrd needed?

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rworkman

01-05-2008 02:03 AM

Here's what I do (this is on -current, but the idea is the same):

Code:

image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.23.12-smp

  initrd = /boot/initrd.gz

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = genericsmp.s

  read-only



image = /boot/vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.23.12-smp

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = hugesmp.s

  read-only



image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-2.6.23.12

  initrd = /boot/initrd.gz

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = generic.s

  read-only



image = /boot/vmlinuz-huge-2.6.23.12

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = huge.s

  read-only

Note that there's really no reason to leave the non-smp kernels available for most people; I only do that for testing purposes.

Also notice that I use the same initrd.gz file for both the smp and non-smp generic kernels; if you don't pass the -c switch to the second run of mkinitrd, it will add the non-smp modules to the existing initrd tree and recreate it. In other words, you can have support for as many different generic kernels as you'd like in one initrd.

Lufbery

01-06-2008 10:08 AM

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice folks. First of all, my vmlinuz was pointing to the generic SMP kernel, and it was booting. So, the JFS file system must be compiled in the kernel. There's no other explanation that I can find.

However, I did create an initrd and point it to the generic SMP kernel. So now I'm doing it correctly, even if it was accidentally working before. :)

Regards,

-Drew

Nylex

01-06-2008 10:19 AM

That's strange:

nick@rigel:/boot$ grep JFS config-generic-smp-2.6.21.5-smp
CONFIG_JFS_FS=m
CONFIG_JFS_POSIX_ACL=y
CONFIG_JFS_SECURITY=y
# CONFIG_JFS_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_JFS_STATISTICS is not set

Oh well, at least it works.

Alien_Hominid

01-06-2008 11:24 AM

It's impossible.

Lufbery

01-06-2008 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nylex (Post 3013311)

Yeah, I got the same results (no surprise). I guess the only explanation was that I had vmlinuz point to a huge kernel even though I though otherwise. *shrug*

In any event, I've got an initrd now and LILO points to the generic SMP kernel after loading the initrd.

Thanks for your help folks.

Regards,

-Drew

techyranger

01-09-2008 01:35 PM

Lufbery, I never saw where you posted your lilo.conf? Would it make sense to see your ftsab file also. I think that will tell us what your root file systems is formated as, ext3 or JFS.

On the topic of the generic vs huge kernels, I'm curious if anyone get's a peformance boost from the generic kernel? I know loading only the needed modules saves memory, but does it really matter in this case?

Lufbery

01-10-2008 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by techyranger (Post 3016965)

Lufbery, I never saw where you posted your lilo.conf? Would it make sense to see your ftsab file also. I think that will tell us what your root file systems is formated as, ext3 or JFS.

You're right. I haven't posted them because the lilo.conf changed after I got the advice here. :)

I can post both. I partitioned and formatted my hard drive with GParted prior to installing Slackware and I chose JFS then.

Regards,

-Drew

Lufbery

01-12-2008 11:02 PM

Hi all,

As requested, and for the record, here's the relevant portions of my /etc/lilo.conf:

Code:

image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.21.5-smp

  initrd=/boot/initrd.gz

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = Slack12GenSMP

  read-only  # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking



image = /boot/vmlinuz

  root = /dev/hda1

  label = Slack12HugeSMP

  read-only  # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking

# Linux bootable partition config ends

And here is my /etc/fstab:

Code:

/dev/hda2        swap            swap        defaults        0  0

/dev/hda1        /                jfs        defaults        1  1

/dev/hda3        /home            jfs        defaults        1  2

#/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom      auto        noauto,owner,ro  0  0

/dev/fd0        /mnt/floppy      auto        noauto,owner    0  0

devpts          /dev/pts        devpts      gid=5,mode=620  0  0

proc            /proc            proc        defaults        0  0

Regards,

-Drew

syg00

01-12-2008 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery (Post 3017711)

I haven't posted them because the lilo.conf changed after I got the advice here. :)

Which is, of course, irrelevant if you didn't also (re-)run the lilo command ... :rolleyes:

Drakeo

01-13-2008 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lufbery (Post 3008513)

Hi all,

I finally got around to installing the new hard drive in my laptop and installing Slackware 12 on it. So far, I've got just two questions.

First, did I change kernels correctly? -- I've read here, and in the readmes the recommendation to use the generic SMP kernel for day-to-day operations. I did a full installation and the default kernel is the huge smp kernel. So, I went to the boot directory and changed the System.map, bzImage, and config symbolic links to link to the corresponding generic SMP files. The laptop boots correctly and everything seems to work, but is there anything else I need to do?

Second, why would I need to make an initrd? The ANNOUNCE.12_0 file states:

But I'm using the generic kernel and haven't made an initrd yet. Why is it necessary? Aren't modules loaded with rc.M?

Thanks,

-Drew

unless you have deleted it in the boot directory is a text file telling you how to make an initrd image.
http://slackware.osuosl.org/slackwar.../README.initrd

Lufbery

01-13-2008 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00 (Post 3020684)

Which is, of course, irrelevant if you didn't also (re-)run the lilo command ... :rolleyes:

Yeah. I did that, I just didn't mention in the post that I did that.

Thanks for the help, guys. Things are running ver well now.

Regards,

-Drew

techyranger

01-22-2008 07:52 PM

Looks good, man. Thanks for posting.

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