SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
View Poll Results: When do you update/upgrade the kernel ?
On machines used as audio workstations i build a new kernel with the realtime patch (jackd and fellows), and at this occasion i do some adjustments, like building a more monolithic kernel (but that's more superstition than a decision based on measured facts), ramdisk size/numbers, and so on, as hardware doesn't change on those machines. Otherwise (simple desktops) i leave the original kernel untouched.
Years ago i had the ambition to build a specialized kernel for each machine, but now...
Probably again just for curiosity when i get my raspberry.
That's how I handle every package, and the kernel is nothing special in this respect. I don't follow -current, so no rolling releases for me. Also the times of recompiling kernels as a configuration measure are long gone.
In BSD/Unix land, the kernel is integrated tightly with the rest of the operating system and only upgraded together with it. Doing the same on Slackware looks like a sane strategy to me. I never had any stability issues with Pat's kernel choices.
On machines used as audio workstations i build a new kernel with the realtime patch (jackd and fellows), and at this occasion i do some adjustments, like building a more monolithic kernel (but that's more superstition than a decision based on measured facts), ramdisk size/numbers, and so on, as hardware doesn't change on those machines.
I was just reading up about this yesterday, over at the Slackermedia website:
Their take: "These issues are ancient history now. The Linux kernel version 2.6.38.4 received a 200-line block of code that drastically changed its ability to work with near-realtime performance, and multimedia producers haven't looked back since."
These issues are ancient history now. The Linux kernel version 2.6.38.4 received a 200-line block of code that drastically changed its ability to work with near-realtime performance, and multimedia producers haven't looked back since.
...i should read more changelogs...
Thank you for the hint, on a rainy Saturday-afternoon i'm going to try with the original kernel.
lambo
If hardware still works, and I don't see the security fixes, I use the kernel from Slackware's distribution. Otherwise, I upgrade the kernel to the next or recent stable release.
Anything past 3.4.x breaks my video (ATI Radeon X2300)
Something to do with how it detects the monitor in KMS, if I replace the code for the radeon-kms from 3.4 kernel it works.
Yes, on Redhat's bugzilla; if I switch back to Slackware on my laptop I will re-report to the real kernel devs. Fedora has once again disappointed me and I have switched to Ubuntu for the time being (12.04 uses 3.2.x kernel so my video works)
I'll upgrade if there's security concerns or hardware issues. Had issues with piledriver cpu and xbox controller which got resolved after upgrading kernel from stock slackware 14 kernel.
I back to running slackware after several years. One thing I like about slackware is there are no distro-dependant patches.
One of the first things I usually want to do when installing slackware is compile a kernel that includes whatever filesystem (ext3 right now) ether-net and maybe other things that are in the computer that aren't going to change. I don't use initrd after install unless I screwup and have to but with the original kernel.
I'm up to 3.4.40 right now and I have been tweaking it almost every day, since I have the time, and I'm about 10 years behind on some of this. I just wish I didn't have the nvidia graphics, that I have to reinstall the module for each time. This computer wasn't originally bought with linux in mind. It was my ex girlfriend's computer.
I just wish I didn't have the nvidia graphics, that I have to reinstall the module for each time. This computer wasn't originally bought with linux in mind. It was my ex girlfriend's computer.
Code:
sh NVIDIA-*.run -s -K -k 3.4.40
That will just build the module and copy it to /lib/modules/3.4.40/kernel/drivers/video/nvidia.ko, and you won't need to reconfigure anything (it should just work when you reboot into the new kernel).
Not sure if you knew that already or not, but just thought I'd mention it -- no need to rebuild/reinstall the whole thing. If you use a LOCALVERSION tag then be sure to specify that (3.4.40-tag instead of 3.4.40).
Not sure which GPU's have the best open source module support but Nvidia has the best in house Linux binary driver with ATI second. I'd imagine you need a very old GPU for a great open source module.
I tend to work for a while on PV's kernels for my stable Slackware. Lately, I have been experimenting with linux-3.8.7 & now using linux-3.8.10 with slackware64 14.0. Moving to linux-3.9 version in a few weeks. Linux 3.9 Clamps Down on Power Speeds Up with SSD options will be a decision for testing on my new hardware since these have system 'SSD'. Love that Solid State hardware at my age!
So far no real issues with any of the newer kernels.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.