linux kernel
 

hello all,
i have linux kernel 2.4.20-8.can i upgrade it to 2.6 ? if yes then how ? i don't want to reinstall.

My ... umm... experienced advice is that, to make the transition from 2.4 to 2.6, you should do a reinstall from a distribution.

There are many important changes in 2.6, such as the udev facility, the Native Posix Threading Library (NPTL), and other things, which have a very pervasive impact on the system. The easiest way to "make that leap" is through a distro upgrade. Once you've crossed the chasm, you can make incremental changes to the system in the way that you are now accustomed to doing.

The distro installer, running from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM containing all of the necessary materials, will be free to replace all of the materials that need to be "replaced all at once," and that's how this transition ought to be made. It is possible to do it incrementally, and I have done it, but it ain't easy and it's fraught with "no way to go back" surprises... especially with glibc.

yep... And if the OP is running 2.4.20 then it's likely an old distro - probably rh9... It's time to upgrade the OS...

Not that NPTL or udev is an absolute must... my system still uses a lot of old-school linux threads. I upgraded my debian box to 2.6 around 2.6.3 without a problem. I can't imagine EVER reinstalling from scratch anymore, unless I completely botch the system.

i also moved a 2.4 system to 2.6.3 once no problem just upgraded kernel and module_init_tools and it ran alot better too.

What distro are you running?

I bet he is running RH 9...2.4.20-8 is the default kernel with RH9.

Tux,

Well The Linux-From-Scratch Project is an interesting educational experience, and one that I would recommend trying someday on "a spare machine that you care absolutely nothing about," but it is not for the non-masochistic.

A particular issue with this conversion, of course, is glibc. That library is used by everything, and so upgrading it is a very dicey proposition that must be done just-right .. you don't get a second chance if you hose it up. The writers of a "distro" have done the dicey work for you, including setting-up a bootable CD-ROM with automatic software that can replace the kernel, glibc, and the hundreds of programs that depend on it, cleanly all-at-once.

I definitely recommend the conversion because the 2.6 system is much "snappier."