problems upgrading slack 12.0 to 12.1
 

I currently have slack 12.0 installed on my old pc, but for some reason I can't boot off my 12.1 cd. I know the cd work because i have install it on another pc without any problems.

With the slack 12.1 cd, at the boot prompt I get an error saying I don't have enough memory for to load any of the kernels (huge.s, hugesmp.s)

So how can I do a fresh install of slack 12.1 already having a working linux system that i can boot into?

my current linux root is mounted on /dev/hdd2
if I boot using the 12.1 cd and type at the boot prompt

root=/dev/hdd2 rdinit= ro

i get an error saying it can't find a kernel?

Hi,

You need to provide the kernel and the initrd not rdinit.


EDIT: be sure to look at the Slackware 12.1 UPGRADE.TXT.

Hi Gary, thanks for your reply but I am still not sure I am doing this right?

If I log into my current slack 12.0, the current kernel image can be found at /boot as vmlinuz which is a sym-link to vmlinuz-huge-2.6.21.5

i have tried a few things, all which don't seem to work for me.
i created a sym-link at the root / called vmlinuz to point to /boot/vmlinuz-huge-2.6.21.5

after booting from 12.1 cd, at the boot prompt i have tired tying

vmlinuz root=/dev/hdd2 intrd=ro

/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdd2 intrd=ro

boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdd2 intrd=ro

/boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/hdd2 intrd=ro

i still get the error, can't find the kernel image?


Kind Regards,
Rajinder

Hi,

I thought you were going to do a upgrade.

If you want a fresh install just select the default kernel by pressing return after booting the 12.1 cd. You will have to prepare a separate partition for the new 12.1 or write over the 12.0. I would not mix the install, you can have multiple installations but on different partitions. Then chainload your installed OS(s) with the bootloader.

If you want a upgrade read the text that I referenced.

If you want to do a real upgrade then as Onebuck said you would definitely want to consult the UPGRADE.TXT. You might also want to take a look at the Upgrade HowTo thread in my signature (and Slackware links). It makes uses of the UPGRADE.TXT and CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT. You will want to make use of CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT whether you are doing a fresh install or an upgrade.

Gary, that's my problem I can't do a fresh install because I can't boot off the CD. If you reread my original post you will understand that all I want to do is boot from the 12.1 cd using the kernel from my existing linux install.

I don't want to take a chance upgrading and making my linux non-bootable.

If you just want to use your kernel from your existing installation then why don't you just boot as normal and then mount the cd?

It sounds like you really just want to be booted into an installation cd kernel so you can do a fresh install. Have you tried booting by just typing
and then hitting ENTER?

Perhaps your old PC is having problems with the smp kernel. If nothing else you might be able to boot from a floppy or another install cd. You could then mount your Slackware install cd and / filesytem and do a fresh install that way. Slackware Basics's custom install section might be of some help.

Sometimes computer error messages mean exactly what is reported. :) Do you have sufficient RAM in the box?

Your response to that question will be how much is sufficient?

I configured a VirtualBox virtual machine for 16 MB of RAM. Using the 12.1 DVD ISO image, neither the hugesmp.s nor huge.s kernels would boot, responding with a message "Not enough memory to load specified kernel."

The kernel booted after changing the virtual memory to 24, 32, and 48 MB, but never got past the point of "Checking if image is initramfs . . . it is."

The kernel booted fully after changing the virtual memory to 64 MB.

Curious, I tried the same thing with the 12.0 CD1.

The kernel booted with 16 MB of RAM but never fully loaded. I experienced the same results as 12.1 with 32 MB of RAM, but the kernel booted fully with only 48 MB of RAM.

Curiouser and curiouser, I tried the same test with the 11.0 CD1. The 2.4.33 kernel booted fully with only 16 MB of RAM.

I repeated the test for Slackware 12.2 (current). Same results as 12.1.

Based upon this simple testing I'd guess the minimum RAM requirements are:

Slackware 12.2 (current): 64 MB
Slackware 12.1: 64 MB
Slackware 12.0: 48 MB
Slackware 11.0: 16 MB

With that said, do you have sufficient RAM in the box?

I might be wrong, but I don't think you can do that. You can use the DVD or first CD to boot a non-booting system, but even in that process the DVD/CD is using the kernel on the DVD/CD, not the kernel on the hard drive.

The DVD/CD uses ISOLINUX to create a bootable file system, which is not related to what might be on your hard drive. You might be able to remaster the DVD/CD using your own custom kernel.

Out of curiosity, again using my virtual machine with 48 MB of RAM (minimum required to boot the 12.0 CD), I booted with the 12.0 CD1. I ran setup, reformatted the hard drive, and installed only the /a packages. All went well and I was running a minimal 12.0 Slackware virtual machine. I rebooted the box with the 12.0 CD1 installed. After booting from the 12.0 CD1 and logging in as root, I changed the CD to the 12.1 DVD. I then ran setup, reformatted the partition, and again installed only the /a packages. I removed the DVD, rebooted the virtual machine, and I was using Slackware 12.1. I provide no guarantees with this approach, but the idea might work for others.

However, if all you want is to update your 12.0 box to 12.1, then you do not need to boot from the CD/DVD. You need the disks only to update the packages. Follow the directions in UPGRADE.TXT. Basically, boot into runlevel 3, log in as root, then step down to runlevel 1 --- init 1. Log in as root and proceed with the instructions outlined in UPGRADE.TXT and CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT.

Hi,

Woodsman the 'Slackware 12.1 HOWTO' states;

I think you can get the same information from previous release information.

H,
That is not possible. You could boot the install cd/dvd to chroot and maintain you present installation. Once you correct the problem then you could boot your present kernel.

As I stated before just create another partition for the new install.

Okay, but I had a very fun half-hour running my tests. :D

All Thanks for your informative replies. Woodsman you're right sometimes the error means what it means. I don't have 64M of ram as Gary pointed out I need for 12.1. That is why I was hoping for another way to get around this situation. I learned something new today, so not all is lost. I will try following the upgrade instruction when I find some free time :) ....it's too bad one can't use the pre-installed kernel image!

I still don't know how I was able to boot-off the 12.0 CD and install Slack? My recent attempt to try this have failed with a linux error at initramfs. Stating it's not a initramfs image!

Woodsman I wish I had as much fun as you did!!!

Regards,

I would not attempt to upgrade your current installation (or at least not the kernel) if you have less than 64 MB RAM -- you may find your system unbootable. If you are feeling risky, you could try upgrading some or all of the other packages -- but at least leave your current kernels alone if they are booting. The kernels on the CD/DVD are the same as those that will be installed, so if you can't boot using the one on the CD you likely won't be able to boot using it when it's installed. You *may* be able to get around that by using one of the generic kernels, but I can't really make any promises. If you do want to try the newer kernels, I would use installpkg instead of upgradepkg so all of the kernels are living side-by-side so you have working kernels in an emergency situation.

Im trying to install slack 12.2 and i seem to have this problem as well.
I
I had slack 8 on hardrive , with windows 2000 and LILO. Slack 8 no longer works - bad error messages, all sorts of poo - not good - cant read disc sector blah blah blah. Not good at all.
Anyway, I decided to remove the linux partitions altogether. They have gone. bye bye. No return. I used knoppix to do this, btw.
When i did fdisk with knoppix, i noted that windows had a * to inidicate that it was the booting partition, so was v surprised to see that Lilo still popped up, offering me a choice of windows or linux. I sort of assumed that it was gone and knoppix would automatically set windows to boot.(In lilo I chose linux to see what would happen. Linux loaded for a while! Not bad considering the partition was gone haha.)
Anyway, back to 12.2. That message popped up - "not enough memory to load specified kernel". I wonder if its something to do with my sata hard drive? when I used knoppix fdisk, it identified the main partition as dev/sda not hda (s for scsi i think?)
Anyway, can anyone assist? Incidentally, I have 1GB of ram. Thanks.