LinuxQuestions.org
Share your knowledge at the LQ Wiki.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware
User Name
Password
Slackware This Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 02-02-2008, 03:07 AM   #16
Alien_Hominid
Senior Member
 
Registered: Oct 2005
Location: Lithuania
Distribution: Hybrid
Posts: 2,247

Rep: Reputation: 53

Just to add:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...2/#post2970217
 
Old 02-04-2008, 05:29 AM   #17
hellasyoda
Member
 
Registered: Oct 2006
Location: HELLAS
Distribution: Slackware 12.1
Posts: 47

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
how i can check if have these packages?
# You must have the GCC Compiler
# You must have NCurses.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 05:54 AM   #18
Bruce Hill
HCL Maintainer
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: McCalla, AL, USA
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
Posts: 6,940

Rep: Reputation: 129Reputation: 129
ls -l /var/log/packages

These are what you should see:
Code:
mingdao@james:~$ ls -l /var/log/packages | grep -i ncurses
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   53278 2008-02-02 15:37 ncurses-5.6-i486-2
mingdao@james:~$ ls -l /var/log/packages | grep -i gcc
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   11492 2008-02-02 15:29 gcc-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  186908 2008-02-02 15:29 gcc-g++-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    1475 2008-02-02 15:29 gcc-gfortran-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   92269 2008-02-02 15:29 gcc-gnat-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    3398 2008-02-02 15:30 gcc-java-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    2302 2008-02-02 15:30 gcc-objc-4.1.2-i486-1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     659 2008-02-02 15:40 gccmakedep-1.0.2-noarch-1
If you don't have them, you can install them from your Slackware CDs/DVD, or get them from an official Slackware mirror.

Last edited by Bruce Hill; 02-04-2008 at 05:58 AM.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 07:49 AM   #19
onebuck
Moderator
 
Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida 20 minutes from Disney World
Distribution: SlackwareŽ
Posts: 13,922
Blog Entries: 44

Rep: Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158
Hi,

Quote:
Originally Posted by hellasyoda View Post
how i can check if have these packages?
# You must have the GCC Compiler
# You must have NCurses.
You can also use the 'pkgtool' to view what packages you have.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 04:44 PM   #20
shadowsnipes
Senior Member
 
Registered: Sep 2005
Distribution: Slackware
Posts: 1,443

Rep: Reputation: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alien_Hominid View Post
Very good reference.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 10:28 PM   #21
okos
Member
 
Registered: May 2007
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware/Ubuntu
Posts: 609

Rep: Reputation: 38
I have a few questions regarding kernel compile.

1. What are the steps to make sure my original kernel is kept in tack. Though I backed up my info, I am concerned about messing things up.

2. In order to answer the questions about my system in make xconfig should I print everything from KInfoCenter?

3. When reading CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT,
Quote:
It is recommended that you use one of the generic kernels (either the plain
kernel-generic or kernel-generic-smp) for daily use. For most systems,
you should use the generic SMP kernel if it will run, even if your system
is not SMP-capable.
At kernel.org I could not find the smp kernel. So should I just use the generic kernel?

4. Other sites I read suggestions not to use the huge kernel? What is the difference? Is there alot of extras added to suit most computers?

5. When I installed slackware 12 from disk, I selected the default kernel. Did it compile to fit my system hardware? If I use the .config it contains all of the settings for my current kernel. Including all of the extras that are not necessary for my system. Is that correct?

I did upgrade to a new kernel once before and had no errors. However, I noticed a drastic drop in performance. It took much longer to boot. I ended up reinstalling the entire system to correct things.

Thanks
okos

Last edited by okos; 02-04-2008 at 10:33 PM.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 10:52 PM   #22
okos
Member
 
Registered: May 2007
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware/Ubuntu
Posts: 609

Rep: Reputation: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Hill View Post

Here's my very simple kernel rebuild guide that works, and I'm going to do just this on a fresh install of Slackware-12.0 on my test box as I type for you ...
That seems to be a dead link.
 
Old 02-04-2008, 11:36 PM   #23
Bruce Hill
HCL Maintainer
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: McCalla, AL, USA
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
Posts: 6,940

Rep: Reputation: 129Reputation: 129
Quote:
Originally Posted by okos View Post
That seems to be a dead link.
Maybe you can't get past the Great Chinese Firewall? Please let me know why you think it's dead ... what message do you get?

Kernel rebuild guide shoud work if you can't get the other.
 
Old 02-05-2008, 01:16 AM   #24
Bruce Hill
HCL Maintainer
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: McCalla, AL, USA
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
Posts: 6,940

Rep: Reputation: 129Reputation: 129
Originally posted by okos
Quote:
I have a few questions regarding kernel compile.

1. What are the steps to make sure my original kernel is kept in tack. Though I backed up my info, I am concerned about messing things up.
Your original kernel is in /usr/src/linux-x.x.x.x/, with the kernel image copied to /boot/vmlinuz-linux-x.x.x.x/ and symlinked to /boot/vmlinuz. Leave all that alone, and your original kernel stays intact. That in itself is another very good reason to build the kernel under you home directory ... just as Linus Torvalds still says in 2008, and as Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote in Linux Kernel in a Nutshell.

Quote:
2. In order to answer the questions about my system in make xconfig should I print everything from KInfoCenter?
I haven't the slightest idea what KInfoCenter is -- but I issued "Alt+F2" and typed "kinfocenter" and it popped up. Only looking briefly, it appears to have good info, but incomplete info; and maybe a difficult layout. If it prints easily, you could use it. It would be better for you to get the Linux Kernel in a Nutshell book and read it. He covers how to get the information about your hardware in it. I've put all the pdf files into one, so that it's easier to read through it. (If anyone would like the book in that format, email me and I'll post it for downloading.) Chapter 7 Customizing a Kernel covers how to get your hardware information.

Quote:
3. When reading CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT,

At kernel.org I could not find the smp kernel. So should I just use the generic kernel?
There is no such thing as "smp kernel" source. Slackware has enabled SMP (Symmetric multi-processing support) in it's kernel, and labeled those kernels with -smp. If you only have one processor, or a single core processor, there is no benefit to enabling SMP in the kernel. From kernel.org use linux-2.6.24.tar.bz2

Quote:
4. Other sites I read suggestions not to use the huge kernel? What is the difference? Is there alot of extras added to suit most computers?
Yes, there are a lot of extras added so that it will run on most computers. Slackware-12.0 installs four kernels:
Code:
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1937944 2007-06-20 04:18 vmlinuz-generic-2.6.21.5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2087960 2007-06-20 03:53 vmlinuz-generic-smp-2.6.21.5-smp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4097784 2007-06-20 04:23 vmlinuz-huge-2.6.21.5
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4417112 2007-06-20 03:58 vmlinuz-huge-smp-2.6.21.5-smp
The huge one's have almost every driver you could need to get your system up and running built into them. The generic one's have almost every driver you could need as modules, which means you'll need an initrd (initial ramdisk) image to boot one of those kernels. As stated above, smp simply means symmetric multi-processing, which is support for more than one CPU, or CPU core.

Slackware's documentation says:
Code:
As stated earlier, it is recommended that you use one of the generic kernels
  rather than the huge kernels; the huge kernel is primarily intended as
  an "installer" and "emergency" kernel in case you forget to make an initrd.
  However, if you do use one of the huge kernels, you will likely encounter
  errors like this:
    kobject_add failed for uhci_hcd with -EEXIST, don't try to register
  These occur because the respective drivers are compiled statically into the
  huge kernels but udev tries to load them anyway.  These errors should be safe
  to ignore, but if you really don't want them to appear, you can blacklist the
  modules that try to load in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.  However, make sure you
  remove them from the blacklist if you ever decide to use the (recommended)
  generic kernels.
What I am teaching you to do in this guide is build your own kernel. I think it would be nice for everyone to build their own kernel. Look at all the helpful links you've been given; build a kernel and leave it in your home directory; run that kernel and see how it works. It took me a lot of time building kernels before I could get one that was best for my hardware, ran well, booted quickly, and had some modules for possible future use. Now it's easy, each of the 5 computers (and multiple installs) on this LAN gets a custom kernel, and I build custom kernels for the computers I build and sell.

Quote:
5. When I installed slackware 12 from disk, I selected the default kernel. Did it compile to fit my system hardware? If I use the .config it contains all of the settings for my current kernel. Including all of the extras that are not necessary for my system. Is that correct?
All four of those kernels were compiled before Slackware-12.0 was finally released. They are simply installed onto your computer. They are also not guaranteed to work with your computer, but more than likely they will for most things. The default kernel, if you just press Enter and don't make another selection, is huge-smp-2.6.21.5-smp.

Yes, that kernel .config file, located at /usr/src/linux-2.6.21.5/.config, contains all of the settings (configurations) for your current kernel. Yes, including all of the extras that are not necessary for your system. For instance, I have only one SATA drive in this computer, but that Slackware kernel has drivers for all these:
Code:
# Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers
#
CONFIG_ATA=y
# CONFIG_ATA_NONSTANDARD is not set
CONFIG_SATA_AHCI=y
CONFIG_SATA_SVW=y
CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y
CONFIG_SATA_MV=y
CONFIG_SATA_NV=y
CONFIG_PDC_ADMA=y
CONFIG_SATA_QSTOR=y
CONFIG_SATA_PROMISE=y
CONFIG_SATA_SX4=y
CONFIG_SATA_SIL=y
CONFIG_SATA_SIL24=y
CONFIG_SATA_SIS=y
CONFIG_SATA_ULI=y
CONFIG_SATA_VIA=y
CONFIG_SATA_VITESSE=y
CONFIG_SATA_INIC162X=m
CONFIG_SATA_INTEL_COMBINED=y
CONFIG_SATA_ACPI=y
There is no reason to have a driver for anything but my VIA chipset (CONFIG_SATA_VIA=y) in there.

Quote:
I did upgrade to a new kernel once before and had no errors. However, I noticed a drastic drop in performance. It took much longer to boot. I ended up reinstalling the entire system to correct things.
Thanks
okos
I assume you mean you upgraded a new kernel by using a Slackware package. What my guide does is teach you how to compile your own kernel. You can do it using a previous kernel .config (configuration) file, such as the one located at /boot/config in your Slackware OS, or a .config file you keep from a custom kernel you built yourself. Installing a kernel via a Slackware package is not the same thing as compiling your own kernel. There are basically four steps to recompiling a kernel: configuring, building, compiling, and installing the kernel.

As for the drop in performance, there is no way anyone can tell you now since you don't have the information ... and I'm not posing any guesses.

To learn more about the Slackware kernels, and philosophy, please read the Slackware-12.0 RELEASE_NOTES and CHANGES_AND_HINTS files.

I hope I've answered your questions satisfactorily, and you will be inspired to build a custom kernel for your PC. You should always keep the kernel your system was installed with, for more than one reason. If your new kernel fails to boot, you can restart and boot into that good, working kernel you installed with and build your custom kernel again.

Last edited by Bruce Hill; 02-05-2008 at 01:20 AM.
 
Old 02-05-2008, 03:55 AM   #25
hellasyoda
Member
 
Registered: Oct 2006
Location: HELLAS
Distribution: Slackware 12.1
Posts: 47

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Hill View Post
Maybe you can't get past the Great Chinese Firewall? Please let me know why you think it's dead ... what message do you get?

Kernel rebuild guide shoud work if you can't get the other.
The message:
Code:
The connection has timed out
The server at slackwarebox.dyndns.org is taking too long to respond.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.
# If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
    connection.

#   If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
    that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
Tnx for help
 
Old 02-05-2008, 04:16 AM   #26
Bruce Hill
HCL Maintainer
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: McCalla, AL, USA
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
Posts: 6,940

Rep: Reputation: 129Reputation: 129
The other link should work now ... please try it ... DynDNS had an incorrect IP for my server.
 
Old 02-05-2008, 05:28 AM   #27
hellasyoda
Member
 
Registered: Oct 2006
Location: HELLAS
Distribution: Slackware 12.1
Posts: 47

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Hill View Post
The other link should work now ... please try it ... DynDNS had an incorrect IP for my server.
Ok it works!
 
Old 02-05-2008, 07:10 AM   #28
onebuck
Moderator
 
Registered: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida 20 minutes from Disney World
Distribution: SlackwareŽ
Posts: 13,922
Blog Entries: 44

Rep: Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158Reputation: 3158
Hi,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Hill View Post
The other link should work now ... please try it ... DynDNS had an incorrect IP for my server.
Link works for me. Read the guide. Bruce, I would like to link it in 'Slackware-Links' if it's OK?

BTW, I know China' a big country but are you effected by the major winter storm there? I didn't get the city but a major auto plant building collapsed because of the snow load. Crops damaged in tropical region because of snow/cold spell. Wow, We just experienced 'Thunder snow' in Central Illinois, USA. Yes, lightening, thunder with snow. Beautiful but dangerous.
 
Old 02-05-2008, 11:23 PM   #29
okos
Member
 
Registered: May 2007
Location: California
Distribution: Slackware/Ubuntu
Posts: 609

Rep: Reputation: 38
Guys, thanks for all of the help. Bruce, I appreciate all of the details.

I started reading the book Linux Kernel In a Nutshell last night. Im on chapter 6.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Hill View Post
[I assume you mean you upgraded a new kernel by using a Slackware package.
Actually I followed the link provided by perry. However, I had pretty much no clue on all of the choices in setting up the config.

Bruce, that Kernel Rebuild Guide is now working. I could not get it last night.

I will finish the book and the the rebuild guide before getting started.

Thanks again
Dennis
 
Old 02-05-2008, 11:51 PM   #30
Bruce Hill
HCL Maintainer
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: McCalla, AL, USA
Distribution: Arch, Gentoo
Posts: 6,940

Rep: Reputation: 129Reputation: 129
Originally posted by onebuck:
Quote:
Hi,



Link works for me. Read the guide. Bruce, I would like to link it in 'Slackware-Links' if it's OK?
Yes, that's fine. Please put the original link since it's my server here with unlimited bandwidth. I'm removing the file from the second link, because that has very limited bandwidth.
Quote:
BTW, I know China' a big country but are you effected by the major winter storm there? I didn't get the city but a major auto plant building collapsed because of the snow load. Crops damaged in tropical region because of snow/cold spell. Wow, We just experienced 'Thunder snow' in Central Illinois, USA. Yes, lightening, thunder with snow. Beautiful but dangerous.
No major storms here ... Kunming is known as "The Land of Eternal Spring." Our temps have been 5C to 20C lately. We had people stranded here because of train and airline cancellations due to the snow, though. You can find us easily on Google maps.

Sounds like you've had worse weather than us ... my wife and daughter want snow ... I've never been in a thunderstorm with snow ... hope you're all okay.
 
  


Reply

Tags
compile, kernel


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
[Compile kernel] How to compile/install the modules ? frenchn00b Linux - General 1 09-06-2009 03:18 PM
Why can't I compile this kernel module? (kernel: 2.6.8-powerpc Debian sarge) Lannix Linux - Hardware 5 05-01-2007 12:29 PM
upgraded kernel, won't let me compile kernel once Suspend2 patches are applied microsoft/linux Linux - Laptop and Netbook 3 10-02-2005 02:37 PM
Kernel Problems. Howto Compile a new kernel from 4.2 with backwards compatibility ? ShoCkwave Linux - General 2 06-19-2004 06:02 AM
Kernel 2.4.23 compile causes kernel panics on ATA RAID-1 (mirror) array Raptor Ramjet Slackware 3 12-18-2003 01:40 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Distributions > Slackware

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:20 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration