I have been trying to recompile the kernel on an install of Debian Sarge with kernel 2.6.8 onto a Dual Opteron machine. The default kernel binary is compiled for i386, and no SMP support. I downloaded kernel-source and all the required stuff to build a new kernel, and finally got a bootable system. However, it is not an SMP, and it still reports i686. I remember having set the option for SMP in menuconfig, and changing the processor type to K8. When I run menuconfig now, I can see the proc type is still K8, but I cannot find any options for SMP! This is so weird. What am I doing wrong? Any ideas?

Why compile?

apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.8-11-amd64-k8-smp

I tried this, it boots OK, but X won't start. I have an nVidia GeForce 6600, which I was using with a the vesa driver (nv would not work). X refuses to start even with the vesa driver when I use the new kernel.

As badly as I wanted to use Debian, I think I will try other distros like Fedora *sigh* since others seem to have success with it on this mobo

My hardware is a Tyan K8WE (S2895) with dual Opteron 246s, nVidia GF6600. All other peripherals are those present on the mobo.

Why wouldn't you use the closed nvidia driver with that card? Seems like a waste to buy a dual opteron system, put a GF6600 in it and then use the vesa or nv driver.

Yeah I agree! That just wouldn't fly for me to have that system and run SOFTWARE acceleration!

The Dual opterons are not meant for graphics use, the reason there's a GF6600 in there is because it's the lowest-end graphics card the system manufacturers (Micronux) offers. I just wanted the thing to boot with SMP enabled, so I could test it for it's real application. I intend to use this box mainly as a data acquisition node, using a custom PCI-X card. Anyway, I'm running Fedora Core 4 right now, and it's stable with the SMP precompiled kernel (2.6.11). Really wish I could have used Debian, though.

BTW, I tried to download the nvidia driver, but running the nVidia installer gave me a segfault.

I was just saying that I wouldn't be ok with having software acceleration and the occasional desktop lag that comes with having hardware rendering off, on a system like that!