Kernel 2.4 in Debian Etch
 

Hello colleagues;

I would need to install a 2.4.x kernel in Debian Etch. I am using Debian in a PC104 platform and all the drivers are all for the 2.4.x kernels.

I have tried to compile the 2.4 kernel from sources following the instructions of howtoforge.com, but following the instructions step by step, I am experiencing problemas.

I would appreciate a lot any kind of advise for this issue.

Best Regards,

perhaps if you post the 'problems' you are experiancing, i.e. error messages, log entries!

The error is this:
 

In file included from /usr/src/linux/include/linux/unistd.h:9,
from init/main.c:17:
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/unistd.h:360: warning: conflicting types for built-in function ‘_exit’
make[1]: *** [init/main.o] Error 1
make[1]: se sale del directorio `/usr/src/linux'
make: *** [debian/stamp-build-kernel] Error 2
altella:/usr/src/linux#

In google some people state that the error is due to the new gcc compiler, but I don hace any idea about this.

Could anyone help me to solve this problem??

Thank you very much in advance.

what gcc version are you using?
try down grading to 3.3 perhaps?

the default gcc for Etch
 

I thintk it is gcc 4.1.1
How can I go down to the 3.3 and tell the system to use this one instead the default gcc?

Thank in advance

Though you can compile and older kernel to run on Etch, I would suggest doing it a different way. As you've seen, trying to retrofit recent software (gcc 4.1, glibc and many others) backwards is a difficult though not impossible situation.

I would suggest instead of installing Etch to install Sarge, the previous version of Debian stable, now known as old-stable. The disk can still be found, just sick google on debian sarge. it defaults to an install with a 2.4.27 kernel. You may have some hardware issues if your computer is less than 2 years old, or running on satas, but nothing that is insurmountable.

That's probably how I would do it. I'd also check if somebody released updated drivers on their own. 2.4 is really old now, I think 2.6 came out around 3 years ago, so for nothing to have been updated in that amount of time is a bit strange.

Peace,
JimBass