LinuxQuestions.org - I'm about to compile a kernel... but what version should I use... 2.4.29 or 2.6.10???

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I'm about to compile a kernel... but what version should I use... 2.4.29 or 2.6.10???

Which version is gonna work better with my slack 10.1???

Thanks.

Both. 2.4.29 is the kernel which is installed in Slack 10. If you want to upgrade it, there are instructions on this site and the kernel is at www.kernel.org

I'm currently running 2.6.10, but I suggest you use 2.4.29, assuming it has everything you need (which it should). I would be using 2.4.29 right now, but I would need to compile multi-LUN, visor, gamepad, etc. support. The bad thing about 2.4.29 is that there is no gconfig, and the menuconfig available isn't as pleasant to work with. I might get around to that eventually.

2.6.10, while supposedly faster (the difference between an optimized 2.6.10 and the prepackaged 2.4.26 is imperceptible to me), is less stable. The 2.6.x kernels, after a certain x (I believe 2.6.5) broke support for some multimedia keyboard keys. It also broke functionality of the single Windows Start Menu key to open the KDE box. It may cause certain versions of k3b to not work. I have a whole slew of irritating bugs that I can't attribute directly to 2.6.x, and while they are minor, I'd like to try 2.4.29 just to verify that it is a kernel problem.

Quote:

he bad thing about 2.4.29 is that there is no gconfig, and the menuconfig available isn't as pleasant to work with.

What about xconfig? I like xconfig better than the 2.6 gconfig.

Quote:

the menuconfig available isn't as pleasant to work with

This menu is simply magic ;) I mean try just type "/" and search a keyword...

There are a few posts here from people having problems with 2.6.10, maybe you could check them out before choosing, see if any of those problems are likely to affect you. Patrick obviously chose 2.4.29 for a reason and its definitely still more stable and less buggy.

However, I am running 2.6.10 on Slack10.1 and I am really happy with it. It feels like this is the best performance I've ever had from this box, but I could be imagining things (its happened before .:D ).

well, my advice: keep the working kernel you've got, and compile the 2.6.9 kernel.
2.6.10 doesn't make all device-nodes ( or udev with 2-6.10 ).

get the source from www.kernel.org and use the 2.6.10 config-file supplied on cd
just copy it as " .config " to where you extracted the kernel.tar file( like ~/linux-2.6.9. )

make sure to add a new entry in lilo.conf,( and run #lilo ) so you can choose wich kernel to boot.

good luck

egag

If your system has multiple devices (CD/DVD, CDrw, usb scanner, usb palm) you will find it much easier to have them all work with the 2.4 kernel

The 2.6 kernel series dynamically makes device nodes with each boot. Although this makes for a smaller /dev file and should allow your system to hotplug devices better, it still not ready for regular use.

For example, if you have a scanner the sane developers have a "libusbscanner" script that will allow you access the scanner as a user. The script does not work in the 2.6 kernel series.

USB palm pilots are another problem. Some are assigned a USB node rather than the pilot node.

Quote:

Originally posted by shepper
If your system has multiple devices (CD/DVD, CDrw, usb scanner, usb palm) you will find it much easier to have them all work with the 2.4 kernel

The 2.6 kernel series dynamically makes device nodes with each boot. Although this makes for a smaller /dev file and should allow your system to hotplug devices better, it still not ready for regular use.

For example, if you have a scanner the sane developers have a "libusbscanner" script that will allow you access the scanner as a user. The script does not work in the 2.6 kernel series.

USB palm pilots are another problem. Some are assigned a USB node rather than the pilot node.

No... in fact I just use a keyboard and a mouse, thats all.. so I think Ill just go for the 2.6.10, and I use very standard hardware... Intel i430TX chipset... Voodoo3... etc...

Now... what about the menuconfig (I wont be using xconfig) in the version 2.6.10... does it have MORE options than the 2.4.x? or less...? is it more friendly (the 2.4.x one is pretty easy to use in fact)

Thanks for the replies. ;)