Hi everyone,

I am trying to upgrade the Fedora 8 kernel from version 2.6.23.1-42.fc8.i686 to version 2.6.24.3-***. This is to apply patch for VMware Server. I have downloaded the kernel-2.6.24.3-34.fc8.i686.src.rpm and ran this command:
rpm -ivf kernel-2.6.24.3-34.fc8.i686.src.rpm and received the following warnings:
user mockbuild does not exist - using root
group mockbuild does not exist - using root

Do I need to create user and group named mockbuild? I also downloaded patch-2.6.24.3.bz2 from kernel.org, am I going to the right direction for this upgrade? Can I use yum install to upgrade the kernel automatically? Thanks!

The file you downloaded is the kernel source. This is indicated by the .src portion of the file name. You can use yum to install the complied kernel rpm using the command: yum update kernel

Aren't you using the yum updates daemon? It should automatically notify you when updates are available. 2.6.24 has been out for several weeks.

Hello!

Thanks for the advice. I have utilized yum to install kernel, kernel-devel, and kernel-headers from 2.6.23.1-4.fc8.i686 to 2.6.24.3-34.fc8.i686. However,I encountered this error:
Open: /tmp/initrd.mV4002/lib/modules/2.6.24.3-34.fc8: Permission denied
FATAL: Could not open /tmp/initrd.mV4002/lib/modules/2.6.24.3-34.fc8/modules.dep.temp for writing: Permission denied
Installed: kernel i6860:2.6.24.3-34.fc8

when using the following command:
yum -y install kernel-2.6.24.3-34.fc8

I didn't encountered any errors when installing kernel-devel and kernel-headers 2.6.24.3-34.fc8.i686. Using rpm -qa | grep kernel, kernel,kernel-devel, and kernel-headers for 2.6.24.3-34.fc8 are available together with the older version (2.6.23.1-4.fc8) During reboot with Grub, kerenl 2.6.24.3-34 has caused several directories not available and mount point failed. Any suggestion on this issue? Should I remove the older version of kernel and kernel-devel? Also I have trying to update several packages and there are dependencies errors to the following packages:
1. kdeaddons-3.5.9-1.fc8.i386
2. amarok-konqueror-1.4.8-4.fc8.i386
3. compiz-kde.0.6.2-6.fc9.i386

I have tried to yum install individual package with no success. Any suggestion?

Thank you for your contribution to cure my headache :-)

Do I see fc9 there? That can't be right. If you start mixing different releases, it is very likely that it will end in chaos. Have you got any idea how you ended up with a package for Fedora 9?

Hi Jay73,

I just applied the update process based on warning on Gnome desktop and these are files that have dependency errors. There is one other file that has dependency error and I was able to yum install curl-devel-7.17.1-2.fc8.i386. I was puzzle to see the fc9 requirement on compiz-kde.0.6.2. Before this, when I was in the process to update kernel, I executed yum install kernel and not sure if this might have an effect to compiz-kde module. Thanks.

Dependency issues have not completely disappeared from Fedora although the situation is now much better than it used to be. And unlike other rpm based distros (that I won't bother to mention here - sigh) such issues shouldn't be a cause for concern. They will get stretched out in a day or two, maybe three. Apparently someone made an update available without realizing that some dependent package has not received an update yet. As soon as that other package becomes available, your dependency issue(s) will be solved. In the meantime, let it rest. There are workarounds but you shouldn't try them unless you have been using Fedora long enough to see the implications.

One reason you may have received a package for Fedora 9 is that you may have enabled the development repositories. This is generally not a good idea as it increases the risk of running into dependency issues (among other things). Check the development file in yum.repos.d. to find out whether it is enabled or not. Make sure to install yum-protect-base, a plug-in that will protect your base system from tricky updates. Be very careful when you decide to remove something through yum. Dependencies work both ways: not only do they pull in dependent packages, they also remove them. If you remove certain packages, you may find that they also remove other packages that are vital to keep your system functional. I advise against using the -y option when updating and especially when removing packages. Just use yum update or yum remove, that will give you a chance to back out if you find that things may go wrong if you accept the proposed installs/removals.

Compiz is indirectly linked with the kernel as video drivers are directly dependent on your kernel. Always be careful when updating your kernel if you use the livna video drivers: you generally need to check that a video driver update is available too when a newer kernel is out. Installing just the kernel often means you won't be able to start x anymore unless you switch to the open source drivers.