New Kernel Compile, Slack=1hour, Mandrake=2 days and counting
 

Hi all,
Here's the picture. Having recently discovered the pleasures os Slack, I installed it, upgraded it and compiled a new kernel for it with just a couple of problems that were quickly cured by visiting these forums, and were mostly, or rather all, caused by finger trouble.
So, I thought I would install a new kernel from scratch for Mandy. I used exactly the same procedure as for Slack. On the same box, and choosing the same options in the configuration. The .config file for Slack and Mandy are identical in size, structure and content, but no matter how many times I try and compile the kernel om Mandy, it fails with different errors each time. For instance, on one occassion it failed to install the modules in /lib/modules/2.6.5, on another it was succesfull, but failed to boot the box, while on yet another it filed on boot-up complaining of no emu10k1 module. This has continued for 2 days now, and each failure is different to the last on Mandy, while on Slack I have had none of these problems. So, what is it about Mandy that stops a successfull kernel compile, and is there a way around it, or alternatively, can I use the kernel that I compiled for Slack, and which works well to boot either Distro, or even better, multiple Disrtros?

Bad idea ... Mandreck, DeadRat, SuSE ... all make heavy use
of modifications to the kernel. Mdk does it's filesystems using
supermount and stuff that aren't part of the normal kernel
tree, so you're pretty much BOUND to fail if you don't get
the latest kernel from mandrake but try with the stock one.


Cheers,
Tink

Sorry, but I'm missing your point, which by the way isn't very helpfull. It strikes me that even Mandy must start with a vanilla kernel before fscking it up. After all, from what I understand, the differences in Mandys kernel are applied patches that anyone could do. So I really need to know if there is something strange about the way Mandy boots and runs scripts etc that is causing me so many problems with this.
I would also like to get my second question answered, namely, is it possible to have say a kernel in a pooled location that is can be made available to several distos and pointed to at boot time.

If you boot multiple Linux distributions, using a single /boot partition to store kernels is certainly possible but you also need to copy the modules to their proper locations (relative to each distribution installed on the computer) in order for the kernel to work for all installed distros. So yes, it is possible but I don't know if I would recommend it. I haven't tried it so if you do, please let us know how it went.

It would probably be of use if you could specify the exact errors you encounter, either when building a new kernel or when booting it. Do you copy the new kernel to /boot and update the bootloader manually or do you use some sort of tool that your distribution provides?


Håkan