kernel upgrade, ati driver install and system fine tuning

gtludwig · 11-08-2006, 11:58 AM

Hello all,

I'm running Slackware 11 on my computer (see specs at signature!). I need to upgrade my kernel so it supports my lan adapter (Marvell Yukon), my AGP bus (Via), my AGP card (ATI Radeon), ... I've downloaded the iso dvd for slack 11 and somehow whenever I try to install using huge26.s or test26.s it installs the 2.4.33 kernel instead of the 2.6.17 or 2.6.18 respectively.

As for the kernel, the contents of /extra/linux-2.6.17 are
kernel-generic-2.6.17-i486-1.tgz
kernel-headers-2.6.17-i386-1.tgz
kernel-modules-2.6.17-i486-1.tgz
kernel-source-2.6.17-noarch-1.tgz

I did a

Code:

root@ferrari:/mnt/cdrom/extra/linux-2.6.17.13# installpkg *.tgz

This should upgrade my kernel without much hassle, right? These are the requided packages to upgrade the kernel or I'll need something else?

As stated above want to make my video card work properly with its 3D acceleration, OpenGL support, etc. OK! I know ATI's driver for linux are crap, but I'm not ready to give up just yet and buy a nVidia board. I can't afford it, also. I installed the proprietary driver (8.30.3), but I still get:

Code:

gtl@ferrari:~$ fglrxinfo
display: :0.0  screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.4.1)

Can anyone help me fine tuning (aka kernel recompiling) after upgrading my kernel?

Thanks in advance!

Eternal_Newbie · 11-08-2006, 02:38 PM

Don't forget to rerun lilo (or liloconfig) as root, or else the computer won't boot. Also you usually only need the 2.6.x kernel headers if a program you are compiling asks for them.

See cwwilson721's thread A Guide: Enabling 3D Acceleration in X11 for all the info you ever could want setting up ATI drivers on Slackware

cyberhawk · 03-01-2007, 01:03 AM

on the slackware 11 DVD in the /extra directory is a package called x11-ati-xxxx.
install that package as it contains apatch for X11 for ATI graphics cards. after that download and install the ATI drivers from the ATI website. I found that helped enable my 3D performance. glxgears gave me ~220FPS before now gives me ~800-1000FPS

Necronomicom · 03-01-2007, 06:22 AM

This is what I do to upgrade from 2.4 to 2.6 from a fresh install,

- after the system packages are installed I pick huge26.s as the kernel to load (I already had some issues using test26.s in more than one comp, so i recommend huge26.s)

- this will install the 2.6 kernel but there will also be some 2.4 kernel packages (headers, etc) from the system installation and you need them or else you won't boot the system, so don't unselect them (just unselect the 2.4 kernel source)

- after the first boot I remove all the 2.4 kernel packages (check /var/log/packages), install all the 2.6 packages from /extra, check to see if lilo and the /boot paths are correct,

-reboot the system