Hi, Penguins.

Question is:
Does "make oldconfig" work when downgrading kernel?

Situation is:
There are several problems with peripheral interfaces. At this moment, I am using kernel 2.6.17.13 and highly customized. I would like to check several older kernels if same problem exists.

Observation is:
It seems it works, but I am not sure.

Does anybody have similar experience?

Happy Penguins!

Yes, I think I've done it before too, not on my main systems, but my little test system for similar reasons as you. It may not work for all versions, and probably depends on how much the kernels are different from each other.

I've always used a different approach instead of using "make oldconfig". After I have a kernel configured the way I want I use menuconfig's "save alternate" option to save the config to a descriptive name in a directory of my choice. That way I have a backup and I when I build a new kernel I simply import it with the "load alternate" option and quickly browse the menus to make sure everything looks right and to look for any newly added items of interest. I've been using the same config from 2.6.11 to 2.6.18 and nothing's changed so much that the file would be incompatible.

If "make oldconfig" doesn't work for you you can use the "load alternate" option to load the .config from /usr/src/linux-2.6.18 or wherever it's stored.

Thanks,

Happy Penguins!

By the way, one of my penguins is Debian etch..., the other is sarge. I hope etch penguin does not live in windoe in evil bill's aquarium.