I have been playing with Debian Linux for some weeks now with varying levels of success.

I very recently had a stable machine, until I attempted to re-compile my kernel. Now I cannot boot into X.

Not too much of a set back as I was planning to nuke and pave at some point anyway, but still annoying.

Hopefully you guys will be able to help me. I have a good idea of what I am doing on the main install, and use howto's for the bits I am not sure about.

I will be using the latest release of Debian Sarge Net Install.

The things I need help with.

Kernel optimizations
Is there anyway to install the optimized kernel i.e. 2.6.7-i686 straight from the debian installer, or do I have to install i386 first and upgrade like I have previously?

Kernel Patches
I keep seeing things about these, but I can't actually seem to find a list of them anywhere. Are there any specific ones I should be aware of?

Bootsplash
[child] I wanna grafical boot splaaaash [/child]
I tried following the instructions here and kind of fried my kernel. Well i can log in but I cant run X. It is probably down to certain settings, but I am going to start from scratch. Also, do I really have to re-compile my kernel to add this?

nVidia GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
I actually had the pucker nVidia drivers installed, eventually *grin*. What I want to know, as I will be re-installing the lot... Are nvidia-kernel-source and nvidia-kernel-common at the same version as the nVidia Installer (6111). Plus, I have yet to set up my twinview yet.

SoundBlaster Audigy ZS
I had this working to some extent with ALSA., I only had sound through my headphones, and not through my Digital Desktop Theater. I must admit I hadn't played with the config file, but I did find a link to here Which may help. The next question is ALSA or OSS, as I have heard reports that the base output is very distorted on ALSA, and have had similar experience through my headphones, with base set at 50% or lower.

Any and all help is appreciated, my main points are the boot splash and kernel compiling.

You might have to reinstall your video card drivers, you've got nvidia drivers isn't it? If this isn't the reason it's not working you need to post the error you get.

Just get the drivers from the nvidia site it's a lot easier. Just run and it will get installed.

edit: there's a debian part of the forum BTW

well, I get the nvidia splash...

but no X.

as for errors, I don't actually get any. I type in kdm, the screen flashes, I get the nVidia logo, then I go back to the shell.

But that isn't the point, and wasn't the queation.

I am starting from scratch, I was planning to do so anyway, so now seems like a good time.

Please read the question before replying. I don't want to "just install the nvidia drivers", what I asked was, was the nvidia source and common, available through apt, at the same version level as the nvidia installer.

sorry, I missed that, probably my fault fo not looking hard enough. If a mod or admin feels it would be more appropriate in said forum, please move it.

Of course you can. I installed the 2.6.7-i686 package kernel on my machine. Just do "apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.7-i686", or whatever kernel it is that you want to install (use apt-cache search kernel-image to get a list).

but that still suggests I have to install i386 and then upgrade to i686. What I wanted to know, is when the net-install CD goes in, can you specify i686 off the bat?

I am beginning to think that the answer to that is no.

The answer is yes actually. The difference between the i386 version and the i686 version is that the i686 version has been optimized for performance on modern Pentium processors, like the Pentium III and PIV. You don't, by any means, need to first install the i386 kernel image and then "upgrade" to the i686 kernel image. When I installed my new kernel, I went from 2.4.25-i386 to 2.6.7-i686, a pretty big leap but I had no problems.


As for specifiying your kernel from the net install CD, I'm not sure about that, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was such an option. I know that you can type "linux26" or something from the first prompt and it will install a 2.6 kernel instead of a 2.4 kernel. You might want to take a read thru the Debian FAQs/Manuals/HOWTOs, or wait for someone smarter than me to post. http://www.debian.org

the nvidia driver version available via apt is 5336, the latest from nvidia is 6111.

cheers guys, i thought apt might be a bit out.

re i686, I am installing onto a blank canvas as it were. I am using linux26 or expert26 to install, no options to install optimizations at that point tho. I'll keep looking, but for now i am upgrading

You know you can have multiple kernels existing on your same system. I still have my old 2.4.25 kernel on here, "just in case". You can just edit your menu.list (for grub) or lilo.conf (for lilo) so that you have the option to boot into multiple kernels. And when you install a new kernel image, I know that in grub at least it automatically adds that kernel as a boot option while retaining all your others. Don't worry about what the first kernel you install on your system is, because it doesn't matter to any new kernels you install.

I was just trying to skip a step. Thanks for the info

one note on this: I was running xinerama and using twinview on the nvidia card to get s-video out to the tv. With version 5336 this worked fine. Any versions newer than this would break the tv-out function. I admit to using a crappy card (fx5200) which might be part of the problem.

Not to thread hijack but in regards to using apt to install the nvidia driver. How do you do this without booting to single user mode and running the nvidia installer?