confirmation on un-installing a custom kernel
 

hello all

As a result of the 4.4.172 kernel update causing one or two issues (like blanking the screen/turning it of on boot, which the previous kernel did not, affecting network card functionality that was previously working etc) I had a go at builing/compiling a kernel...not really had a good go before.

I have read 'this and that' on the internet, regarding building/compiling a kernel and had a go. It went well.

What I am not clear about is how to correctly remove it having built it and installed it and the modules etc.

I did it with the localversion set, so the modules are in their own folder (as I understand it).

Please confirm, to remove correctly/fully, is it a simple case of deleting the relevant modules directory, then simply deleting the respective kernel image etc copied into /boot and relinking other file to that previously...finally removing the stuff in lilo.conf ?

*If* something gets a bit more deeply embeded, then what am I looking for and how do I remove cleanly etc?

Regards
Habs

PS: i used alien's very useful 'how to' to learn how to build. Thank you.

Depends on your distro. Presuming some version of slackware, remove modules from /lib/modules, and the appropriate kernel, initrd, System.map & config from /boot.

Next time, introduce yourself to slackware packaging. I keep an empty directory in /tmp (/tmp/pack) for making packages. Plenty written on it. Read some. Packages are much handier than rpms or debs to make.

@business_kid thank you for the reply. I should have mentioned the distro details etc to avoid presumption, but in my defence, I thought by choosing to post in a specific Slackware distribution forum might give some clue :-)

I will indeed consider packaging; I am in the early stages of engaging in this 'stuff'...one step at a time. Perhaps the packages for Slackware will be a good starting point. Thanks for the prompt.

We do occasionally see people post using Slackware derivatives, which we really can't properly support, since we don't know what was changed in the OS (sometimes we try anyway).

But there is no need to remove the old kernel unless you really want to. The old kernel can live on your drive with no ill effects other than the space it takes up.

But if you don't want the old kernel there, you can simply remove the packages associated with it. You can remove kernel-generic, kernel-huge, and kernel-modules. Make sure you keep kernel-source, allowing you to rebuild, and kernel-firmware, allowing you to run devices that require firmware.

I would also look into packaging your changes, as it makes removal/upgrade much easier.