Actually now (Slack 11) it is a symlink pointing to the most recently install rc.modules and running make modules_install or make install (not sure which right now) does create a new rc.modules-kernelversion and a new symlink.

I've done 2 kernel recompiles, 2.6.17 and 2.6.18 and it did so both times.

Well not here.

Eric

Interesting. I've done clean Slack 11 installs on two boxes and a laptop now and it's exactly the same on all of them. I wonder what the difference may be?

Ok,I'm a bit confused. Should rc.modules be symlinked? Also,I downloaded the whole 2.4.33.4 source from kernel.org so I don't have to mess with patching it. I deleted the bzImage that was created by my first attempt. I';m going to try digital hernit's instructions with the new source first. If that doesn't work,I will do the following:

1. run mrproper
2.run xconfig
3.run make dep
4.run makeclean
5.make modules & make modules_install
6.make install

Should that work? Thanks for everyone's help so far. Also,the make install did not make a vmlinuz image which I found odd. Hopefully the new source will work.

You actually don't need make mrproper or make clean (I never use them for 2.6 kernels), but yes it'll (should) work. That's the way I always compile my kernels and they always work.

BTW it's make modules && make modules_install

Okay,I tried both methods with the new source,and nothing worked. The digital hermit method produces an actual kernel I can boot,it's the method I used at the beginning of the post. However,no modules load. The make install method doesn't make any errors, but I don't think it makes a kernel at all. It also does not add anything to the lilo.conf. I'm really stumped,nothing is throwing out any errors. The new kernel boots up normally,it's just that no modules are loaded.

Ok, I mis-spoke regarding it editing lilo.conf. That's my bad, I'm pretty tired after a month on the road. You need to edit lilo.conf manually.

But, make install creates a new vmlinuz in /boot. It reruns lilo which updates lilo to the new kernel (what I was thinking when I wrote that stupidity).

Still not loading any modules at all? Something is seriously wrong with your install. That's the only conclusion left after all of this.

What is in your .etc/rc.d/ regarding modules?

At this point, after redoing it this many times I can only suggest that you do a fresh install. Something is really wrong but I am at a loss as to what it may be.

What should the new kernel be called? When I run make install,it seems to run fine,no errors are listed. When I do the compile the other way,everything also works fine.

EDIT:I'm adding the lines that are output from make install near the end,I think they may be useful:

sh -x ./install.sh 2.4.33.4 bzImage /usr/src/linux-2.4.33.4/System.map""
+ '[' -x /root/bin/installkernel ']'
+ '[' -x /sbin/installkernel ']'
+ '[' -f /vmlinuz ']'
+mv /vmlinuz /vmlinuz.old
+ '[' -f /System.map ']'
+mv /System.map /System.old
+cat bzImage
+cp /usr/src/linux-2.4.33.4/System.map /System.map
+ '[' -x /sbin/lilo ']'
+ /sbin/lilo
Added Linuxold*(the name of my origional kernel,I called it vmlinuz-old)
Added Custom(the name of my new kernel,I had it point to the bzIamge I created the first time)

It also said something about the kernel being too big for a floppy.

I hope that can help
I noticed that sbin/installkernel doesn't exist anywhere,could that be it?

EDIT: Okay,I think I've isolated the problem. When I did make install,I didn't realize I still had to copy the bzImage. I did that,and the kernel worked,like the other method. However,there were still no modules. I went to /lib/modules/2.4.33.4 and saw that there was nothing in the pcmcia directory,while there was in the 2.4.33.3 version. So,I'm thinking somehow the modules aren't getting copied to the /lib/modules/2.4.33.4 directory correctly. I think this has to do with the make modules and make modules_install. I would appreciate any more info I could get on this step,i think it is a case of user error on my part.