the kernel & kernel source in Mandrake are stored in /usr/src. by default, Mandrake doesn't install the kernel source during the installation process, so you have to add it yourself from the CD's using the software management tool or urpmi (more on that in a minute).
to see what kernel you are currently running, open a terminal (or Konsole in KDE) & su to root. to do so, type su at the prompt (hit enter) type root password (hit enter) then type uname -a (hit enter). that will show you your kernel version & some other info.
RPM's are the format Mandrake uses to manage software packages. they are precompiled packages designed to work with Mandrake. it's sort of like .exe files in the Windows world. you install RPM's via Mandrake Control Center (mcc for short)->software management. you can also remove packages there, add RPM source repositories (the Media Manager) & get updates/security/bug fixes. you can also install RPM's via the command line using urpmi. that's a bit too long to get involved with here. see man urpmi for info. in a nut shell, to install a package via urpmi, you open a terminal as root & type urpmi (nameofpackage). it will search your sources & install the package. if it finds more than one package with the same name, it will show what it found & ask you which one to install. it will also look for & satisfy any dependencies needed. the software installer in MCC is just a GUI front end for urpmi.
about these sources i keep talking about.......... there are many ftp sites out there that keep repositories of Mandrake RPM's. these repositories are called sources. an excellent place to get these sources is
Easy URPMI. unfortunately, the site has been down for the past week. i'm not sure why. keep that url & try periodically. when the site is back up, follow the instructions there to add the following sources........ main, plf, & contrib. stay away from cooker sources, as these are testing grounds for new versions of apps & Mandrake itself. cooker sources can be very unstable & break your install if you're not careful. you can use the software installer in MCC to get your kernel-source right now. it's on the CD's. go to install software & type kernel in the search box. just make sure you get the source that matches your kernel. IE: kernel-2.6.3-4 needs kernel-source-2.6.3-4.
i found an Easy URPMI site that's up. ignore the above link & try This Link instead.
finally, if you haven't done so already, i'd suggest going to MCC->software management->updates & install any & all available updates. when you click on the update module, you will be asked to search for update mirrors, then presented with a list of ftp sites. choose one, let it add that source, then proceed to get updates. if it tells you you can't connect to a mirror, use the media manager to remove the update source, then click add to add a new update source. when you get to the updates console, make sure you have all three update boxes checked (security, bugfixes, normal) to get all available updates. be warned, the total updates will vary between 300-600 megs, depending on what you have installed, so if you don't have broadband, it could be ugly.
EDIT: oops...........i see while i was busy typing this, 2 other people replied. well, at least you know have the info you wanted.
otis
