I have download the following files:

xfree86-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
xfree86-devel-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
xfree86-docs-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
xfree86-docs-html-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
kernel-modules-2.4.18-i386-5.tgz

As far as I know these are all the packages I am going to need to upgrade my xfree in Slackware 8.1 right?
So is it so simple that I just run pkgtool and select "install from this dir" and then I choose yes to all those. After that do I need configure / reconfigure something? I have a good working X now so would updating those cause any problems?

How about that kernel-modules package. Do I just install it with pkgtool and that's it or do I have to do something after it?

Thank you.

When I just reviewed the slackware-current tree and there appeared to be 9 packages total with 2.4.1 version numbers for xfree86. If you are going to attempt it, I would suggest all nine packages. The font packages may not have changed but I would think it best to keep everything in sync.

The modules file, I would suggest not. Modules are built to operate with the kernel they were built for. If you want to install the modules package then I would also suggest the kernel package to go with it. Also, slackware-current is using 2.4.19 kernel at present.

Keep in mind that slackware-current right now is the 9.0 Beta system. Over half of the distrbution has been rebuilt. But I do not know what other libraries might be required to support the new builds. I have installed the beta using xfree 4.2.0 packages and it appeared to be stable. I have heard reports of continuing problems compiling and linking other programs though. Difficult to determine how well it will work backwards though.

Consider carefully. Perhaps some others will offer their advise as well.

These packages are downloaded from the slackware-8.1/patches/packages directory from the slack ftp. So they should be patches for Slack 8.1.

There are still these packages on the patches dir:

xfree86-xnest-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
xfree86-xprt-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz
xfree86-xvfb-4.2.1-i386-1.tgz

I don't believe these are relevant or needed for me. Are they? How do I find do I have older versions of those installed?

patches/packages/kernel-modules-2.4.18-i386-5.tgz: Updated XFree86 DRI
modules in /lib/modules/2.4.18/kernel/drivers/char/drm/.

Note that there are no changes to the fonts packages (xfree86-fonts-*.tgz),
and the xfree86-fonts packages released with Slackware 8.1 should continue
to be used.

So do I need the Xnest, xprt, xvfb?

and would it be ok to update the kernel_modules? (I have bare.i kernel 2.4.18 from the slackware install cd). After installing the modules do I need to configure something or reboot?

Thank You.

Sorry about the slackware-current stuff from before. I did not know about the patches directory tree for Slack 8.1 being available. Thank you for providing that information.

I read the text file description of the packages and you probably do not need them.

xnest - nested x server
xprt - a print only x server
xvfb - virtual frame buffer x server

To review what packages are installed on your system you can review the /var/log/packages directory.

Since an updated kernel is not available from what I can tell the modules package is probably OK and built using the same source. And you stated that you are still running the bare.i distro kernel. I wouldn't think it would be a problem. For the new modules to be loaded, a system reboot would be the easiest. That would also clear out all of the cached stuff in memory as well in regard to the X window system.

Good luck.

Thank you. That seems clear. Ok I have still one question (not related to X but pkgtool)

I did this by accident:
I upgraded the openssl, openssh and openssl-solibs by just opening pkgtool and choosing install new packages. Then I noticed that it hadn't updated but only installed the new packegas. Well I used pkgtool to remove the old packages.. was this ok?

Everything seems fine now. I manages to remove all the old packages (openssh and openssl) and I kept the new versions of them. Then I used the upgradepkg to install the new kernel modules and xfree 4.2.1. -devel, -docs. then I rebooted and everything works fine. The X is 4.2.1 (I can see this when starting X).

Thank you for your help. Now I know how to upgrade and install things properly.

Beware! Packages from slackware-current are compiled with gcc-3.2 and probably won't work with slack 8.1. You can install the upgrades with "upgradepkg <package>.tgz"