What commands do I need to upgrade my kernel?

cecram · 10-31-2006, 11:21 PM

Hi all.

What shell commands do I need to upgrade my kernel to 2.6.15? I am using "Etch" on a Pentium 3 chip.

Many thanks to any replies that may come.

IBall · 10-31-2006, 11:46 PM

Welcome to LQ!

Etch currently has 2.6.17. Run "uname -a" to see what version you are running.

If you want to upgrade to 2.6.17, then run "aptitude update && aptitude install linux-image-386" to install it.

The current version from kernel.org is 2.6.18, so to install that you need to download it from kernel.org. I have instructions Here. Follow the "Debian Specific" instructions.

I hope this helps
--Ian

rickh · 10-31-2006, 11:56 PM

Quote:

The current version from kernel.org is 2.6.18,...

...which is in Sid.

Don't forget that a kernel upgrade means you may have issues with drivers that will need to be straightened out.

cecram · 11-01-2006, 12:29 AM

Cheers for that IBall.

Apparently, at boot up, my boot messages tell me that "udev requires a kernel>= 2.6.15 not started".

Once boot up has finished, KDE (I'm running KDE) is no longer available, because of the new kernel requirement I'm assuming. KDM & Kde are installed.

I installed "kernel-package" and then did an "# apt-cache search kernel-package". The resulting listing included "linux-source-2.6.16" and "linux-source-2.6.17" but nothing for 2.6.15.

Where do I go from here assuming that it is 2.6.15 that my system requires?

FredGSanford · 11-01-2006, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cecram

"udev requires a kernel>= 2.6.15 not started".

(>=) That means greater than or equal to kernel 2.6.15!

cecram · 11-01-2006, 03:00 AM

Log in as "root":
After the prompt in the shell type:

"cd /" and press enter, then: (After I had some good advice from a very cluey colleague)

"apt-get install linux-image-2.6" and press enter.

You are presented with a choice list of virtual packages. (As I had another machine running, I visited the Debian site, packages.debian.org/testing/admin/ to see which choice was most suitable for me. I run "ETCH" with a Pentium III i686 processor & only 512 MB RAM so I chose to install (linux-image-2.6.17-2-686).)

Then type at the prompt I typed:

"apt-get install linux-image-2.6.17-2-686" and press enter.

In this case, Lilo (my boot loader) was automatically updated.

I chose to follow up by installing all the recommended and suggested packages (3 of them today, as prompted by the kernel upgrade installation process).

After this at the prompt, type:

"reboot" and press enter.

I now appear to be back in business with a functioning kernel & KDE.

Cheers all.