I need a new kernel, but which way to go?
 

I am running the 2.4.18-14 kernel under Red Hat 8.0. I have tried the beta version of RH 8.1, which has a newer kernel, but I have found it to be quite buggy.

My problem is I am running 8.0 on my HP laptop, which uses ACPI instead of APM. ACPI is now supported in the 2.4.20 kernel.

My question is... Should I just compile a new kernel, or wait until RH 9 comes out and reinstall? I have never compiled a kernel before, let alone one for a laptop, so I'm a bit apprehensive. I really like things like apt-get (for RH) and the like and many of these apps will take a while to be ported to RH9. Will compiling a new kernel mess up these apps?

You can safely compile a "test" kernel to test out all the things you are worried about. Simply make an entry in your boot loader for this kernel, keeping the working (old) one until you are ready to do without it. Trial and error while you have a working system will teach you more than you could ever imagine on kernel compiling. ;)

As for which kernel, get the lq series:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquestions

;)

Cool

Thanks. I am going to take the plunge. The worry is my laptop lacks a floppy drive, therefore if I screw this up its gonna hurt.

Just a few quick questions:

1. Can you use the RH cd #1 as a boot disk to fix any boot loader problems that arise?

2. What is the advantage of the LQ kernel?

3. My laptop has a cdrw/dvd combo drive as well as a conexant winmodem, are these issues I should address while replacing the kernel?

4. Assuming things were removed from the kernel for performance, the LQ kernel still has ACPI/APM support right? I really need that little battery symbol to work :D ?

You can get the new kernel from website www.kernel.org