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How to update Kernel?

hi,

i've got the kernel 2.4.20-4GB-athlon on my suse 8.2. Now i've downloaded several progs that need the new 2.6.1 kernel (and its source for building bttv-drivers). can anyone tell me how to update the kernel? do i have to download a special version for my processor (700 mhz duron; the suse installer installed the athlon-kernel)?

nothing special just read this

Quote:

Originally posted by DrOzz
nothing special just read this

Pretty solid guide, but I have 2 objections;
1) symlinking the kernel-dir to /usr/src/linux is officially a *DON'T* ... ask Linus, he'll tell you all about it ;)
2) I wouldn't delete /boot/vmlinuz, but rename it. If you delete it, you loose a perfectly fine working kernel, and a way to boot your system in case the new kernel doesn't work. I suggest creating seperate files in /boot, like /boot/2.4.24 (for your 2.4.24 kernel... duh) and /boot/2.6.1. Don't forget to adjust settings in grub or lilo config accordingly. This way, you can boot with either kernel, and are always able to boot in case you messed up your new kernel-compile.

Just my 2 cents

1) all i got to say is its a symlink ... it doesn't matter ... second no i won't ask linus, and i doubt he told you anything either

2) took back what i say ....
info was correct .

hrmm, i dont' know what i was looking at, because i state :

Quote:

Remove the following links:
rm -rf /boot/System.map
rm -rf /boot/vmlinuz

they are only symlinks ... the actually image is still going to exist, and it is still going to be called vmlinuz-2.4.x ... and when i say to copy over the new image i say to name it as vmlinuz-2.6.x, which then you will have both images in /boot ....

Quote:

Originally posted by DrOzz
1) all i got to say is its a symlink ... it doesn't matter ... second no i won't ask linus, and i doubt he told you anything either

In the past it was common practice to symlink the /usr/include/{linux,asm} directories to /usr/src/linux/include/{linux,asm}. This was a bad practice, as the following extract from a post by Linus Torvalds to the Linux Kernel Mailing List points out:

Quote:

I would suggest that people who compile new kernels should:

- not have a single symbolic link in sight (except the one that the
kernel build itself sets up, namely the "linux/include/asm" symlink
that is only used for the internal kernel compile itself)

And yes, this is what I do. My /usr/src/linux still has the old 2.2.13
header files, even though I haven't run a 2.2.13 kernel in a _loong_
time. But those headers were what Glibc was compiled against, so those
headers are what matches the library object files.

And this is actually what has been the suggested environment for at
least the last five years. I don't know why the symlink business keeps
on living on, like a bad zombie. Pretty much every distribution still
has that broken symlink, and people still remember that the linux
sources should go into "/usr/src/linux" even though that hasn't been
true in a _loong_ time.

(taken from the LFS 5.0 documentation b.t.w.)

I may not have asked Linus personally, but I think the quote above is the next best thing, don't you ;)

Quote:

Originally posted by DrOzz
hrmm, i dont' know what i was looking at, because i state :

they are only symlinks ... the actually image is still going to exist, and it is still going to be called vmlinuz-2.4.x ... and when i say to copy over the new image i say to name it as vmlinuz-2.6.x, which then you will have both images in /boot ....

I meant:

Quote:

ln -s /usr/src/linux-x.x.x /usr/src/linux
**"make a new link to the new kernel"**

when talking about that symlink b.t.w.

Quote:

Originally posted by ReefShark

2) I wouldn't delete /boot/vmlinuz, but rename it. If you delete it, you loose a perfectly fine working kernel, and a way to boot your system in case the new kernel doesn't work.

don't try to turn this around ... you plainly say "i wouldn't delete vmlinuz" ...
you were not in any shape or form talking about the "linux" symlink ... you thought i was actually saying to delete the old image, which it was only the symlink to the old image ..