Slack 9.0-xfs modem problem
 

I downloaded and installed the Slackware 9.0 ISO using xfs.i, and then installed the (K) package along with the xfs kernel modules. I did (make install) from within my driver directory, and did the setup command (hcfpciconfig). After setup completes, it says that the modem can be accessed through /dev/ttySHCF0 or through /dev/modem. I setup my ppp and my kppp, but when I run (ppp-go) or go into kppp, they both tell me, "Unable to open modem." During the modem setup, it asked for the build directory because it complained that the /.../include/version.h didn't match the running kernel. I don't think the modem setup created the module because it couldn't find the correct data that it needed. I have no clue what to do, or how to correctly edit the version.h to reflect the xfs kernel (if that be the case).

I do not know for sure about your problem on the package. But if you want to make sure your kernel sources are correct then I suggest that you copy the kernels/xfs.i/config file from the install CD to the /usr/src/linux/.config file. Note the dot in the filename because it is a hidden file. Then run "make oldconfig". That should update the sources for anything that the make program should do like sym links. If you really wanted all the object files created, etc. then;

make dep
make bzImage
make modules

You should then have a complete source build identical to the xfs.i kernel that is installed. When you go to build the program you are attempting to use, check to see if you need to specify the location of the kernel sources and/or include files when you run ./configure or whatever it uses. There is usually a README.TXT file. Perhaps it will help.

Thankx
 

Before I do that, wouldn't I need to go to the Slack 9.0 ftp and get the xfs kernel patches from source/k/xfs? Anyways, if yes, I've already gotten them, but I can't get them to work. When I run the patch, it halts at line (4) and complains that it can't find the file that it needs and then asks me for the filename to patch. What's the problem? The patches were placed in /usr/src/linux-2.4.20 before they were extracted/run. Isn't that correct? Also, I have created a directory with the exracted kernel code in it. If I get the xfs patches to work, then follow your directions in your post above, will that make a linux-2.4.20-xfs source tree? If so, I will recompile a new Slackware package (k) with xfs. If not, what would be the easiest way to do it? Thanx

Frankly, when I made the earlier post I didn't know there were any patches for the kernel. Sorry about the delay but I had to investigate that info.

Well, I was able to apply all the patches. I started with kernel source from the k disk set for 2.4.20. There is a README file to apply the ext3 patches so I did those operations in the order specified in the README. Then I installed the xfs patches as well. It does not have a README file, so I was on my own here. One of the xfs patches was a bz2 compressed file. So I had to use "bzip2 -dc" instead of the zcat command like the other patches. My current system, Slack 8.1, does not have the bzcat command for some reason. I piped it to "patch -p1" because my current directory was the top level of the source like instructed in the README file. From there you would copy the xfs config file from the kernel directory as .config and then "make oldconfig".

It maybe the missing ext3 patches that could be causing your problem or the patch command is wrong. For an example of the large bz2 patch file I would think something like the following would work if I understood what you described you have. Modify as required if I misunderstood something.

cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.20
bzip2 -dc xfs-2.4.20-all-2003-02-05_23:39-i386.bz2 | patch -p1
zcat xfs-2.4.20-buffer-reject.diff.gz | patch -p1

If you are looking to duplicate the entire build then I would think you need to also apply the 5 ext3 patches first. I would highly suggest doing this since you may have a need in the future to build a custom kernel, then you know all the patches have been applied. There was also mention of several other steps that included copying the source tree because some will be deleted after the patch and then copied from the source again, etc. I would suggest following all the steps to apply the ext3 patches, then apply the xfs patches, and then return to the README file to complete the remaining steps as outlined in the file.

Perhaps it will be of some help.

I got the patches to work. For some reason, they wouldnt work on the /source/k/ tree...it had to be from /slackware/k/ tree. I installed the (k) package, installed the patches, copied the config file from the /kernels/xfs.i folder to /usr/src/linux-X.X.XX, renamed it to the hidden one, and did a (make oldconfig). Rename /usr/src/linux-X.X.XX to /usr/src/linux-X.X.XX-xfs. Then do a (make dep) and (make install) I then for some reason had to redo the (build) symlink in /lib/modules/X.X.XX-xfs/ to point to /usr/src/linux-X.X.XX-xfs. I restarted the box and ran /etc/cron.daily/slocate just to make sure it knew where everything was, and all was well. Thanx greatly for the help!!