Which kernel do I choose in installation?

niix · 11-23-2005, 09:31 AM

It came to the point to ask me what kernel to use and I have NO idea. It said either continue using the one it installed or choose from one off the CD, so I don't know which to do.

I was thinking maybe I will be choosing from one off the CD, but now that I see this menu I have NO clue what to do :\

soulestream · 11-23-2005, 09:57 AM

well if the one you used to install works, that usually the best idea.

However, not telling us anything about your hardware or setup(which is why there are different kernel choices) doesnt help.

soule

Bruce Hill · 11-23-2005, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by niix
It came to the point to ask me what kernel to use and I have NO idea. It said either continue using the one it installed or choose from one off the CD, so I don't know which to do.

I was thinking maybe I will be choosing from one off the CD, but now that I see this menu I have NO clue what to do :\

There is a file on the Slackware CD1 called Slackware-HOWTO. In that file there is an
explanation of each kernel and why you would choose it. Let me quote it for you:

Quote:

3.2 Booting the Slackware CD-ROM

If your machine has a bootable CD-ROM drive (you may need to configure
this in the system's BIOS settings) then you'll be able to directly
boot the first CD-ROM. If not, then see the README files in the bootdisks
and rootdisks directories for additional information about starting your
machine using floppy disks. The FAQ.TXT also has good information about
alternate methods of installation.

Now it's time to boot the disc. Put the Slackware installation CD-ROM in
your machine's CD-ROM drive and reboot to load the disc. You'll get an
initial information screen and a prompt (called the "boot:" prompt) at the
bottom of the screen. This is where you'll enter the name of the kernel
that you want to boot with. With most systems you'll want to use the
standard IDE kernel, called bare.i. To boot this, just enter bare.i on
the boot prompt:

boot: bare.i

(actually, since the bare.i kernel is the default, you could have just hit
ENTER and the machine would go ahead and load the bare.i kernel for you)

If you've got some non-standard hardware in your machine (or if bare.i
doesn't work, and you're beginning to suspect you need a different
kernel), then you'll have to enter a different option on the boot prompt.
Slackware comes with many kernels to support a wide variety of hardware --
read the details below to select the one that's right for your machine.

First, the "IDE" kernels (so named because they do not have drivers for
any SCSI controllers built in):

bare.i This is a kernel to use for installation on most
IDE based PCs, with support for nearly all IDE
controllers and support for IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM/DVD
drives. Most CD-ROM drives made today fall into
this category.

bareacpi.i This is similar to the bare.i, but the kernel
also contains support for ACPI (Advanced Configuration
and Power Interface). This performs similar power
management (and other) functions like APM (Advanced
Power Management) and is typically used on laptops to
control battery charging and power related functions.
Unlike APM which can be loaded as a kernel module,
ACPI must be built into the kernel. If you find that
your laptop does not support APM, you may wish to
install using this kernel (or install the
kernel later on). If you aren't using a laptop, then
you probably will not need ACPI (or APM) support.

ataraid.i This is a kernel with support for IDE RAID controllers.
The install disks now have preliminary support for these
controllers as well. The drivers included are:
3ware Hardware ATA-RAID controllers.
Promise Fasttrak(tm) IDE RAID.
Highpoint 370 software RAID.
Many of these controllers will require some degree of
do-it-yourself setup before and/or after installation.

lowmem.i This is a really stripped-down Linux kernel which might
be useful for installing on IDE systems with a low
amount of RAM (less than 8MB). It's also the only
Slackware kernel that supports old 386 machines.
If bare.i runs into problems, you might try this.
NOTE: On systems with extremely low memory (4MB),
ZipSlack plus the fourmeg.zip add-on (found in the
zipslack directory) may boot and run even in cases
where lowmem.i doesn't. If you have to use lowmem.i to
install, you'll then probably have to compile a custom
kernel with the minimal additional features that your
machine requires.

old_cd.i This is a version of bare.i with additional support
for old CD-ROM drives on non-standard proprietary
interfaces. The CD-ROM drives supported by this
kernel are:
Aztech CDA268-01A, Orchid CD-3110, Okano/Wearnes CDD110,
Conrad TXC, CyCDROM CR520, CR540.
Sony CDU31/33a CD-ROM.
Sony CDU531/535 CD-ROM.
Philips/LMS cm206 CD-ROM with cm260 adapter card.
Goldstar R420 CD-ROM (sometimes sold in a 'Reveal
Multimedia Kit').
ISP16/MAD16/Mozart CD-ROM drives.
(Boot time command line options (or 'append=' options
in /etc/lilo.conf) are:
isp16=<port>,<irq>,<dma>,<drive_type>
Valid values for drive_type include: Sanyo, Panasonic
(same as Sanyo), Sony and Mitsumi. Default values are:
port=0x340, irq=0, dma=0, drive_type=Sanyo.)
NON-IDE Mitsumi CD-ROM support.
Optics Storage 8000 AT CD-ROM (the 'DOLPHIN' drive).
Sanyo CDR-H94A CD-ROM support.
Matsushita, Kotobuki, Panasonic, CreativeLabs
(Sound Blaster), Longshine and Teac NON-IDE CD-ROM
support.

pportide.i This is an extended version of bare.i with support for
a wide variety of parallel-port IDE devices. Supports
parallel-port products from MicroSolutions,
Hewlett-Packard, SyQuest, Imation, Avatar, and other
manufacturers.

sata.i This is a version of bare.i with support for SATA
controllers made by Promise, Silicon Image, SiS,
ServerWorks / Apple K2, VIA, and Vitesse.

Then, the SCSI kernels (these also support IDE):

adaptec.s This kernel supports most Adaptec SCSI controllers,
including these models:
AHA-1510, AHA-1520, AHA-1522, AHA-1522, AHA-1740,
and AHA-2825. The AIC7xxx models, which include the
274x EISA cards; 284x VLB cards; 2902, 2910, 293x,
294x, 394x, 3985 and several other PCI and motherboard
based SCSI controllers from Adaptec.
Adaptec's I2O based RAID controllers (including OEM
Adaptec RAID controllers used by HP and Dell,
Adaptec branded AAC964/5400 RAID controllers,
and DPT SmartRaid V cards)

ibmmca.s This is a kernel which supports MicroChannel
Architecture, found in some old IBM PS/2 machines and
laptops. It is a bus system similar to PCI or ISA.
Support for most MCA SCSI, Ethernet, and Token Ring
adapters is included.

jfs.s A version of bare.i with support for IBM's Journaled
Filesystem as well as Adaptec AIC7xxx SCSI support.

raid.s This is a kernel with support for some hardware SCSI
and ATA RAID controllers. The install disks now have
preliminary support for these controllers as well. The
drivers included are:
AMI MegaRAID 418, 428, 438, 466, 762, 490 and 467 SCSI
host adapters. (use scsi2.s for newer models)
Compaq Smart Array controllers.
Compaq Smart Array 5xxx controllers.
IBM ServeRAID hardware RAID controllers.
LSI Logic Fusion(TM) MPT devices (not really RAID, but
added since there was room for this driver here)
Mylex DAC960, AcceleRAID, and eXtremeRAID controllers.
Many of these controllers will require some degree of
do-it-yourself setup before and/or after installation.

scsi.s This is a SCSI kernel with support for various
controllers. Note that this disk does not include
Adaptec support any longer -- you must use the adaptec.s
kernel for that.
This disk supports these SCSI controllers:
AM53/79C974 PCI SCSI support
BusLogic SCSI support
EATA ISA/EISA/PCI (DPT and generic EATA/DMA-compliant
boards) support
Initio 91XXU(W) and Initio 91XXU(W) support
SYM53C8XX Version 2 SCSI support
Qlogic ISP SCSI support
Qlogic QLA 1280 SCSI support

scsi2.s This is a SCSI kernel with support for various
controllers.
This disk supports these SCSI controllers:
AdvanSys SCSI support (supports all AdvanSys SCSI
controllers, including some SCSI cards included with
HP CD-R/RW drives, the Iomega Jaz Jet SCSI controller,
and the SCSI controller on the Iomega Buz multimedia
adapter)
ACARD 870U/W SCSI host adapter support
AMI MegaRAID (newer models)
Compaq Fibre Channel 64-bit/66Mhz HBA support
Domex DMX3191D SCSI Host Adapters
DTC 3180/3280 SCSI Host Adapters
Future Domain 16xx SCSI/AHA-2920A support
NCR53c7,8xx SCSI support
NCR53C8XX SCSI support

scsi3.s This is a SCSI kernel with support for various
controllers.
This disk supports these SCSI controllers:
Western Digital 7000FASST SCSI support
Always IN2000 SCSI support
Intel/ICP (former GDT SCSI Disk Array) RAID
Controller support
PCI2000I EIDE interface card
PCI2220i EIDE interface card
PSI240i EIDE interface card
Qlogic FAS SCSI support
QLogic ISP FC (ISP2100 SCSI-FCP) support
Seagate ST01/ST02, Future Domain TMC-885/950 SCSI
support.
SYM53c416 SCSI host adapter
UltraStor 14F, 24F and 34F SCSI-2 host adapters
Workbit NinjaSCSI-32Bi/UDE support

speakup.s This is like the bare.i (standard IDE) disk, but has
support for Speakup (and since there was space, support
for Adaptec's AIC7xxx SCSI controllers is also included)
Speakup provides access to Linux for the visually
impaired community. It does this by sending console
output to a number of different hardware speech
synthesizers. It provides access to Linux by making
screen review functions available. For more information
about speakup and its drivers check out:
http://www.linux-speakup.org.
To use this, you'll need to specify one of the
supported synthesizers on the kernel's boot prompt:
ramdisk speakup_synth=synth
where 'synth' is one of the supported speech
synthesizers:
acntpc, acntsa, apolo, audptr, bns, decext, dectlk,
dtlk, ltlk, spkout, txprt

xfs.s This is an extended version of bare.i with support for
SGI's XFS filesystem. Support for Adaptec's AIC7xxx
SCSI controllers is also included.

There is also a 2.6.13 install kernel that might be useful if your machine
has new hardware such as a Serial-ATA controller that isn't working with
the 2.4 kernel:

test26.s This is a 2.6.13 kernel with support for nearly all
IDE (ATA), SATA, and SCSI controllers, as well as
most of the filesystems supported in the standard
kernel. The 2.6 kernel series still has a few rough
edges, so it's not the default kernel on Slackware
yet, but some users may need it to install on their
hardware. Because the 2.6 kernel series is rapidly
evolving, if you install with this kernel you might
want to go to ftp.kernel.org later and build a new
kernel from the latest sources. The 2.6 kernel is
not yet considered officially supported by Slackware.

You'll want to choose a kernel from the list that supports your
installation media (such as a CD-ROM drive) and the hard drive you'll be
installing to. For example, to install from an IDE CD-ROM drive to an IDE
hard drive, you'd use the bare.i kernel. Or, for a system with an NCR
53c810 SCSI controller, SCSI CD-ROM, and SCSI hard drive, you'd use either
the scsi.s or scsi2.s kernel (since they each have an NCR driver).

Once you've entered your kernel choice and hit ENTER, the kernel and
install program will load from the CD-ROM, and you'll arrive at the Linux
login prompt. (You're running Linux now. Congratulations! :-)

To log into the system, enter the name of the superuser account and hit
Enter:

root

Since there is no password on the install CD, you will be logged in right
away.

That should thoroughly answer your question.