hi!!
i just compiled kernel 2.2.26 on my slck 9.0..
i also have a 2.4.27 kernel version... but i need 2.2.26 to use the rarp support..
after compiling the new kernel (2.2.26) i rebooted and KERNEL PANIC occured..
this is the message i get:

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer deference of virtual address [ ... couple of things.. ]
...
Kernel panic : attempted to kill the idle task!
In swapper task - not synicing.

googling aroound.. i found lot of threads saying that it is a hardware problem.. though mi 2.4.27 kernel version doesnt get panic at booting time!! thats why i thing it might be sth misconfigured...
im a newbie so to configure 2.2.26 kernel.. i just copied the .config file of 2.4.27 kernel into linux-2.2.26 and made
make oldconfig
it asked me for a couple of things that the other kernel didnt have.. and i selected the default answer there..


any idea what can be wrong?
thanks!
__________

any idea?

I never tried to use oldconfig when downgrading a kernel (from 2.4.27 to 2.2.26 in your case).
Could be that this will not work.

Try setting the options 'by hand' (make menuconfig) without the make oldconfig step. Ok, you need to do a bit more, but the end result might be a bootable kernel that will not panic.

Just out of curiousity: Why are you going back to a 2.2.26 kernel?

Hope this helps.

hi! thanks for answer!
the thing is that i need to netboot a sparc station.. so i need rarpd ..
2.4.x kernels dont support rarp any more.. apparently is userland..
i tried that by downloading rarpd.. but it gives me an error that i couldnt fix.. ( rarpd needs libpcap and libnet.. i downloaded both of them.. but when i run ./configure for rarpd it doesnt find libnet libraries.. despite they are there!! its quite strange.. i got crazy with that...so i decided to downgrade to kernel 2.2.x which supports rarp)..
i'm gonna tried what u said and let u know..
thanks!

Mmmm........ I think you can keep your current 2.4.X kernel, take a look at these options (from a 2.4.26 kernel, don't know if 2.4.27 has these):

Kernel level IP autoconfiguration
CONFIG_IP_PNP
This enables automatic configuration of IP addresses of devices and
of the routing table during kernel boot, based on either information
supplied on the kernel command line or by BOOTP or RARP protocols.
You need to say Y only for diskless machines requiring network
access to boot (in which case you want to say Y to "Root file system
on NFS" as well), because all other machines configure the network
in their startup scripts.

BOOTP support
CONFIG_IP_PNP_BOOTP
If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root file system (the
one containing the directory /) from some other computer over the
net via NFS and you want the IP address of your computer to be
discovered automatically at boot time using the BOOTP protocol (a
special protocol designed for doing this job), say Y here. In case
the boot ROM of your network card was designed for booting Linux and
does BOOTP itself, providing all necessary information on the kernel
command line, you can say N here. If unsure, say Y. Note that if you
want to use BOOTP, a BOOTP server must be operating on your network.
Read <fileocumentation/nfsroot.txt> for details.

RARP support
CONFIG_IP_PNP_RARP
If you want your Linux box to mount its whole root file system (the
one containing the directory /) from some other computer over the
net via NFS and you want the IP address of your computer to be
discovered automatically at boot time using the RARP protocol (an
older protocol which is being obsoleted by BOOTP and DHCP), say Y
here. Note that if you want to use RARP, a RARP server must be
operating on your network. Read <fileocumentation/nfsroot.txt> for
details.

Your current 2.4.X kernel should be able to use RARP/BOOTP.

Hope this helps.

hi !
my networking options are set as u said..

# Networking options
#
CONFIG_PACKET=y
# CONFIG_PACKET_MMAP is not set
CONFIG_NETLINK_DEV=m
CONFIG_NETFILTER=y
# CONFIG_NETFILTER_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_FILTER=y
CONFIG_UNIX=y
CONFIG_INET=y
# CONFIG_IP_MULTICAST is not set
# CONFIG_IP_ADVANCED_ROUTER is not set
CONFIG_IP_PNP=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP_DHCP=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP_BOOTP=y
CONFIG_IP_PNP_RARP=y
CONFIG_NET_IPIP=m
CONFIG_NET_IPGRE=m
CONFIG_ARPD=y
# CONFIG_INET_ECN is not set
CONFIG_SYN_COOKIES=y


the snag was that everytime i run rarp -a it told me this:

azul@dodo:~$ /sbin/rarp -a
This kernel does not support RARP.

see? despite being set.. kernel does not support it..
i read that @2.4.27 rarp is part of the tcpip pck.. but i dont know where to find it.. and how to use it..
i' m a newbie getting crazy!

is there sth i can do to fix this?
thanks for your help!

Just tried out the rarp -a command and I get the same result (not supported).

Also read (man rarp) that you need libnet. You also mention it, but not if you actually installed it (the ./configure - make - make install bit). They also mention that you need libnet 1.1 (or better).

Could you post the output (the part that goes wrong) that ./configure (from rarp) produces?

Just in case:

First install:
libnet1.1.2.1 (stable) - http://www.packetfactory.net/libnet/

Then:
rarpd1.1 - ftp://ftp.dementia.org/pub/net-tools/

You might end up missing some other tools, 'just' get them, install them and (re)install rarpd.

Another tip: Always start with a fresh (rarpd) install after you changed things. These 'things' could be: different ./configure options and/or newly installed dependencies for rarpd.

Run make clean or remove the rarpd source dir and unpack again before you do a .configure

hi!!
yes i did installed libnet 1.1.2.1 and also libpcap..
both of them ( i run ./configure , make , make install) everything!
then i run rarpd and this is what happens

root@dodo:/usr/local/src/rarpd-1.1# ./configure
..
checking for libnet library in /usr/ng/lib... not found
checking for libnet library in /usr/lib... not found
checking for libnet library in /usr/local/lib... not found
checking for libnet header in /usr/ng/include... not found
checking for libnet header in /usr/include... found
checking whether to include libnet... no
updating cache ./config.cache
creating ./config.status
creating Makefile

as u can see rarpd decides not to include libnet 'cause it doesnt find it library (libnet.a) which is @/usr/local/lib and i also copied it to /usr/lib.. to see if that works.. but nop
so when i run make for rarpd it gives me this output:

root@dodo:/usr/local/src/rarpd-1.1# make
gcc -g -O2 -I/usr/include -DPACKAGE=\"\" -DVERSION=\"\" -DSTDC_HEADERS=1 -DHAVE_NET_IF_ARP_H=1 -DHAVE_PCAP_NAMEDB_H=1 -DHAVE_STRING_H=1 -DHAVE_STRINGS_H=1 -DHAVE_CTYPE_H=1 -DHAVE_SYS_SOCKET_H=1 -DHAVE_PATHS_H=1 -c rarpd.c -o rarpd.o
rarpd.c: In function `process_arp':
rarpd.c:341: structure has no member named `ar_sha'
rarpd.c:342: structure has no member named `ar_spa'
rarpd.c:343: structure has no member named `ar_tha'
rarpd.c:344: structure has no member named `ar_tpa'
rarpd.c: In function `main':
rarpd.c:456: warning: assignment makes pointer from integer without a cast
make: *** [rarpd.o] Error 1

i looked for "ar_sha" and it is @ /usr/include/net/if_arp.h
rarpd script includes this library
the path to this library is also @/etc/ld.so.conf .. so the problem is not there..

i tried by telling libpcap libnet and rarp the option of installing independencies @/usr with the option
./configure -prefix=/usr
and every time i changed sth.. i removed rarpd's config.cache file to read for new changes..
so after trying a lot of different options.. and pahts.. for libraries.. i gave up and decided to compile 2.2.26 which is supposed to support rarpd..
but.. it gave me a kernel panic as i told u..
and there.. . we go back to the top

thanks for your help!