Hi,

I'm running Red Hat RHEL 5.3 with kernel version 2.6.18-128.2.1.
I've downloaded a vanilla kernel version 2.6.24 (& 2.6.24.7 as well) - copied my existing config file (from the /boot kernel 2.6.18-128.2.1) - and performed:
- make menuconfig (didn't change anything in the configuration)
- make modules
- make modules_install
- make install

Afterwards I've rebooted the machine and chose the new kernel in the grub menu (so far so good...).
After the kernel loaded - it crashed (Kernel Panic) while starting the udev.

Any idea what I'm missing here?
This should be pretty straight forward - I haven't changed anything in the kernel code or in its configuration.

Thanks!

Not what you asked for but here we go: You have to understand that any one release of RHEL(RHEL5.X) is built around a base kernel (2.6.18 for RHEL5.X). For the entire life cycle of that version (5.X in this case) it will use that same base kernel. This is done to assure maximum stability and software compatibility. However that does not mean that the kernel never gets updated. The RH kernels are constantly being back patched to make them the equivalent(roughly) of a much newer kernel. For instance the current -128 kernel is probably much closer to a vanilla .26 kernel than it is to a vanilla .18 kernel. When you try to build a custom kernel you have to keep in mind all the patches that have been applied (usually 100's) and the needs of the rest of the system. In the vast majority of cases custom kernels (based on newer kernels) on a RHEL system will result in an inferior system. Patching the current kernel for whatever specific feature you need is almost always a better way to handle the situation.


Specifically why do you need a newer kernel than the one provided?

Hi lazlow,

Thanks for your reply.
I understand that the current RH kernel - is an advanced/patched 2.6.18 - that probably is more closer to the 2.6.24-26 vanilla versions.
However, I have 2 problems:
1) I cannot find the RH kernel sources on the Red Hat network.
2) I want to apply the PREEMPT_RT kernel patch - and those are correspondent with vanilla versions only.

Thanks again!

Centos is RHEL with the logos removed. If you must have the RH version it will be in a similar location on RH's. The source rpms are there that have the source, spec, and patches in them.