Help Downgrading Kernel
 

I am setting up a linux box, and its sole purpose will be to run MythTV PVR.

I installed Fedora 4, and following the guide at wilsonet.com, I ran yum upgrade which moved my kernel from 2.6.12 to 2.6.13. The problem is, that IVTV only has support to 2.6.12. As a result, I need to downgrade it to 2.6.12 so I can carry on building my PVR box

So, as a newbie, how do I accomplish this (a step by step guide would be awesome...) ?

When I go to /usr/src/kernels I see:


drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 4096 Sep 29 22:42 2.6.11-1.1369_FC4-i686
drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 4096 Sep 29 23:42 2.6.12-1.1456_FC4-i686
drwxr-xr-x 17 root root 4096 Sep 29 23:57 2.6.13-1.1526_FC4-i686


What this means, I have no idea...I just thought it may be useful to anyone who may be able to help me!! LOL!!

Thanking anyone in advance,

Derek

Unless you deleted it (which is very unlikely), the 2.6.12 kernel is still present on your system and the commands to start it should still be available in the initial grub boot menu (i.e., where it says something like “press any key...”).

You can make it the default kernel by changing the default= value in /boot/grub/grub.conf to match it's position in the list minus one, since all counting in grub starts at zero. For example, if it is the second kernel in the list, then default=1 (grub default = 2 – 1).

Actually that info is very helpful.;) It shows that you still have two previous kernel versions on your system. Including the one you want to use. All you have to do is open a terminal in root (su) and edit your grub.conf file to use the 2.6.12-1.1456_FC4-i686 kernel as default. The grub.conf file is located in /boot/grub. So, as root (su), using a text editor such as gedit (Gnome) or kate (KDE) type:

gedit /boot/grub/grub.conf for Gnome, or kate /boot/grub/grub.conf for KDE

This should open the grub.conf file. Now you need to modify the line default=0 to select the kernel you want. The kernels boot in the order they are listed, starting with 0, then 1, then 2....and so on. The default number is what chooses the default boot kernel and the kernel line to look for is the line: title Fedora Core (2.6.12-1.1456_FC4). Therefore, if the 2.6.12 kernel is the second kernel in the list then the 'default=' line should be changed to default=1 , if it is the third kernel in the list, the 'default=' line would be default=2...Remember, counting starts with 0 not 1. Now save the grub.conf file, reboot and the kernel you selected will be the one that boots.

Sorry WhatsHisName...I got sidetracked and waited too long to submit my post. ;) I wasn't trying to double up on you.

Thanks...that waws too easy!!
 

Thanks for your help. I had no idea it was going to be that easy! I was reading about the force install of the RPMs for a previous kernel and that was more than a little intimidating. When I saw the 3 listings in the /usr/src/kernels folder I had hope!

Thanks again for helping the noob....now if there was only a driver for my wireless card....