I keep trying to compile the qc-usb driver for my quick cam web camera. It said all I needed was the kernel source, gcc and v4l. I did the "apt-get install kernel-source-2.6.10" and then extracted the file to "/usr/src/linux-2.6.10" and made a symlink to the "/usr/src/linux". However, it kept getting errors. I figured it was because the source had not been compiled, so I got the kernel-source package from the mepis repositories and copied the files into the kernel source directory, overwriting any same files (and also copied the /boot/config-2.6.10 to /usr/src/linux/.config). That almost worked, but it needed the fixdep program... so I went into that direcotry and compiled it with "gcc fixdep.c". It got past that, but now it needs another file, modpost. I tried compiling that the same way as before, but got an error message saying that I didn't have "elfconfig.h". I suspect these programs will leave if I actually compile the kernel, but the last time I did that it was horrendous... Is there a way I can compile it without installing it to my computer?

I'm using Simply Mepis 3.3 (debian testing/unstable)

Since you have a 2.6 series kernel, you should be able to compile your kernel to the exact currently running settings. This command should do it (run it from the source directory):

Ok, I'll try that.

I did that and got this output:

Do you have a file /proc/config.gz? If so, run:

It says "gzcat: command not found"

Why do you not compile and install the kernel source you have. Just copy the config for the running kernel then.

Then install the .deb kernel package and reboot then should have no complaints about missing anything from the module compile.

The last time I did that, there were all sorts of problems. None of the modules would load, including the NVidia one so I didn't have a graphical environment.

I'd like to do what rjlee suggested and compile an exact version of the kernel I'm running, but without installing it.

Sorry! That was a typo; you should use zcat not gzcat. I've edited the post with the correct command-line.

Will anything else work?

If you don't have the /proc/config.gz file, then you will need to find a copy of the .config file for your system and copy it to /usr/src/linux.

There might be one on the install disks for your distro; then again, there might not be — in which case you will probably have to recompile your kernel.

You can probably upgrade your kernel to a version that supports /proc/config.gz; in this case the make cloneconfig trick will work.

Umm... My configuration should be in /boot/config-2.6.10, at least I think.

OK; do this:This will give you a compiled (but not installed) kernel matching your current system's settings (or those in /boot/config-2.6.10 at least).

Would it work if I just typed in "make"?

Sorry; that was a typo (fixed now in above post); you could probably have figured this out from the README.

Running “make” will only compile the kernel image; it won't set up dependencies, which is the most important step here. It also won't make modules IIRC.