I have problems getting my hardware to work with the Slack 9.1, so now I'm wondering whether there are people with similar components who could explain to me how to get it all working. Here is my hardware:

Asus A7V600 motherboard
Matrox P650
ViewSonic 17" TFT
AMD 2500XP
512 MB RAM

As I install there are alot of IRQ conflicts, however, nothing too severe it crashes the whole system. In addition, the ALSA gives errors on boot saying there are no cards or somthing similar. Plus that the agrgart cannot be loaded due to some problem resolving the aperture size. This I have read can be solved by recompiling the kernel..well, I would like to know what I should do to get _all_ the devices working. Any suggestions? Please help as I have little experience in modifying the kernel etc.

You can check the Hardware How-To for your components, also the manufacturers webpages should have information on linux support.

Slackware is generally pretty good at detecting and configuring hardware, but it sounds like you might have to recompile. Search these pages for help. There is a how-to for that too, but last time I checked it's been removed for review.

John

you might want to try compiling the kernel with and without local APIC on to see if there is any difference.

When I first installed slack, I probobly compiled 20 kernels before I got everything working right. I'm also not one to read documentation in any form though. If you actualy do so reading, you could probobly get it working in 5 or 6.

Upgrading to a 2.6 series kernel would also be worth a try.

Well, the problem is not that I do not know if the hardware is supported or not. I have read many threads in the forum where people have tried to get the same hardware as I have working. As far as I know, the KT600 is only supported in 2.6.something and this is the first thing I would like to fix. Please tell me if I am wrong!

The other components (Matrox P650, soundMAX and 3Com 1GBit) are working, but do not have any support in the kernel I'm using. Well, the sound is not working, but according to many threads I have read it work.

The thing I would like to know is how to get the KT600 working. I have tried to recompile the kernel (2.6.test11), but the computer refused to boot. If you have some tips what to do and how to get it working it would be great!

Thanks anyways for the link to the hw guide..

Hi Tommy,

Sorry, I don't know anything about the KT600 (or even what it is).

Why don't you post a new thread with KT600 (monitor/sound card/whatever) and slackware in the title. You're more likely to attract the attention of someone who knows something about it that way. Your current thread title is too vague for that.

If you are asking for tips about kernel compilation, the best tip anyone can give you is to find out all about your hardware. Most of the options are to do with the actual components you have in your computer, if you know that you're most of the way there.

The basic steps (bearing in mind that I haven't read any documentation for 2.6) are as follows... The commands are in quotes, the rest is just comments.

1) "cd /usr/src/linux"

If you already have a .configure file then make a copy of it in some other directory, the usual thing to do is...

"cp ./configure /boot/configure_<some_version_no>"

2) "make mrproper"
This cleans everything up from the last compile.

3) "make xconfig" or "make menuconfig"
Go through all the menus and options and pick, "yes", "module", or "no".

4) "make dep"
edit the "EXTRAVERSION =" line of Makefile to some new version no (e.g. "_1" or "_0001") or some text that means something to you, e.g. ("_no_sound", or "_my_compile").

5) "make clean"

6) "make bzImage"

7) "make modules"
If anything goes wrong with steps 4 or 5, look at the error messages and decide if you should leave something out (or include something ) from the compile if so start again.

8) "make modules_install"

9) "cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz_<your_version_number>"

10) add a new entry to your lilo.conf or grub.conf pointing to your new kernel - just copy an entry that's already there. If you're using lilo, then type "lilo -v".

11) Reboot. If there are any problems with the boot, you've probably left out something you need. Try to find out what it was from the error message and repeat the whole process.

John

Thanks John! I have tried to compile a new 2.6.x kernel a couple of times, but honestly, I have not got it working. However, the fault is most likely mine as I have not been too eager to browse through the menus in menuconfig.

BTW, KT600 is the circuit on my mobo.

I will try to compile another kernel following you instructions and then post the outcome here.

Hi Tommy,

Ok, good luck.

I forgot to say between steps 2 and 3, if you made a backup of .config from a previous compile you can copy it back into /usr/src/linux/.config here and use your previous choices as a starting point. I.e. you don't have to go through every frickin' menu every frickin' time, just the places you think you went wrong, or want to try changing.

Don't be discouraged by not getting the compilation right straight off, most people don't. It's really all about getting the configuration step right, so unfortunately there's no choice but to go through all those menus at least once, to see what they all are.

I hope your system is reasonably fast, so you don't have to spend the day watching it compile

John

hey ive got that board and ive compiled 2.6.4 kernel on it an dit is really slow then, what is that APIC you were talking about? 2.6 gets rid of all the irq conflicts but it lags a bunch for me

I think Velvet Elvis was talking about ACPI, not APIC.

VE, clarify?