Multiple kernels

SI_TW · 10-21-2008, 01:29 PM

I need to develop drivers that have multiple kernel support. In the past I would just install different versions of Fedora and recompile my driver on a few versions to verify kernel version compatibility.

I'm fairly certain that I can use a single installation with multiple kernels. Is this true? Where can I find information on how to do this. I've come up empty so far.

paulsm4 · 10-21-2008, 01:35 PM

You have many options, including multi-boot.

But I would strongly urge you to consider something like VMWare (i.e. create a virtual machine for each different combination of OS and version you'd like to test).

IMHO .. PSM

SI_TW · 10-21-2008, 03:54 PM

I'm not really interested in having more than one OS. I really only want to test drivers on multiple kernels with something simpler than installing more than one OS.

Total-MAdMaN · 10-21-2008, 04:09 PM

Install another kernel, update your grub or lilo config file, reboot and select the other kernel.

jailbait · 10-21-2008, 04:11 PM

You don't have to install multiple OS. Just install multiple kernels in /boot and add the different kernels to your /boot/grub/menu.lst

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Steve Stites

sundialsvcs · 10-23-2008, 02:42 PM

"jailbait" is exactly correct: you simply need to build multiple kernel images, each with the appropriate set of configuration options and each supporting your module. When you boot the system using a particular kernel-image, that's really the only piece of software that has changed. (Nevermind that it is a pivotal piece...)