I am using the newest linux kernel, 2.6.12.3, with Suse 9.1.

The latest Yast kernel update for Suse 9.1 is only 2.6.5-7.155.29-default, so clearly the Suse people don't think it's a good idea to do what I'm doing. I can't really change back because my Zip drive is supported only by the latest kernel.

Does anyone know what issues to be aware of? In particular, I guess I should steer clear of Yast and YOU, right? Or at least only use them while booted into the supported kernel, and then hope the software works in the new kernel.

Would be good to get some advice on this.

Thanks.

The kernel developers from SUSE offer the 'Kernel of the day' as precompiled rpm packages in the 'people' folder on their servers. Unfortunately, some hardware related packages have to be updated as well, so I am not sure if you can switch back and forth between old and new kernels.

See:
kotd: ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/people/mantel
update-packages: ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/people/agruen

EDIT: post went into the wrong direction

Okay, but in practical terms what would you recommend then? As I said, I can't go back to the old kernel if I want to keep using my hardware.

It seems to me that it wouldn't be a good idea to try YAST software installations using the new kernel, does that sound correct? If I keep the system updated and install software under the old kernel, then boot the new one anyway, most things will probably still work, right?

So far I've only installed Firefox and there doesn't seem to be any problem with that.

You can continue using YaST for everything, even with a custom kernel. I haven't had a single package that stopped working with 2.6.11.7. udev gives some messages, but no functional problems. I also run the kernel updates with YOU, since they do not affect my custom kernel and I am always up-to-date with the SUSE kernel (who knows when I'll need it again ).

So stay with your new kernel and continue as usual. However, you should be aware that you need to maintain the kernel yourself. Bugfixes and security updates offered by SUSE via YOU will only be applied to the standard SUSE kernels. I'd guess that the kotd packages represent an alternativ. Since they are the basis of the kernel for the new SUSE release, new patches will be constantly included. However, you may get an unstable kernel.

Thanks for that, abisko. Things are getting a bit clearer.

1. Just to confirm - YOU knows only to update the Suse-supported kernel, even if it isn't the one currently in use? So I don't even need to boot into the Suse-supported kernel any more?

2. More importantly, I'm still not quite clear about how to go about maintaining the new kernel myself. Should I pick an RPM from the Kernel Of The Day directory at /pub/projects/kernel/kotd/i386/HEAD/ and if so which one? Or could I just install a patch from kernel.org, and if so which one? What does this 'rc2' / 'rc3' mean? Beta, I guess..?

3. Also, what exactly are the advantages of maintaining a kernel if the software is compiled for another older kernel and if I am not changing hardware or doing development work? Is it even necessary?

Thanks once again for enlightenment - you're such an asset to these forums and I do appreciate the time you take.

Correct! YOU only replaces the kernel in the rpm database. So it will not affect you custom vanilla kernel. You may need to modify the links /boot/vmlinuz and /boot/initrd after YOU, if you use those links to boot your kernel. If you address the files directly, there is no need to worry. However I am not sure what will happen if the kernel has been installed from a rpm (kotd). But YOU always checks the version and will not install a package that exists in a higher version already.

Concerning 2. I have not much experience. I don't know if SUSE provides the patches that they use on the YOU updates separately (probably not, or you can't use them on vanilla sources).

My reasons for using kernel of higher versions is the better support of my hardware (I guess this is your reason, too). This becomes a little tricky if the supporting scripts have changed substantially. I think some major changes have been made in hardware integration between 9.1 and 9.3. It might be better (easier) to switch to the new SUSE version instead of upgrading the kernel and keeping the base system. I think this will only work to a certain degree and does not make much sense the larger the gap between original kernel and actual release gets.

Thanks for that information.

So I guess that I will only patch my vanilla kernel using the traditional tarball method, to avoid any RPM conflicts, even if hypothetical.

You're right about upgrading from 9.1. It's just that it's not practical on my machine as I only have a 6gb hard drive - yep, 6gb - and for some reason the CD installs of 9.2 and 9.3 run to FIVE CDs. Doesn't this seem a bit excessive? I suppose it's because of lots of development tools that don't come with 9.1 Personal, but all the same...

I am not sure if you can make this comparison. Sure, the distributions get bigger each update, but you compare Personal and Pro versions. What you know as 9.1 Personal does not exist in this form anymore. You can also blow up 9.1 Personal, if you install all the stuff from the FTP server. If you make an effort to select only the stuff you need, I guess you will be able to run a slim 9.3 as well.

I'm not sure I would know what could be safely 'unselected' from the Pro version in order to make the installation smaller.

And in any case you still have to download 3.5gb of data over 5 CDs, which takes forever on an average connection. Why can't they release a Personal version of 9.2 or 9.3? At the very least it would take some of the load off their servers.

What the real reasons are, I can just guess.
From what I read in the forums, the Personal edition did not get good reviews. Many users complained about the limited amount of available software. "How can the publish such a crippled Linux?" summarizes this quite well. The missing sources and development tools like make, gcc and so on did not lead to good opinion about the personal edition. What people forgot is that chance to install all missing packages from FTP. But hey, the FTP installation is one of the most criticised features in SUSE Linux. "Release ISO's!" was always the call. And that's what they did: release of the Pro version as ISO's and no more Personal edition. One may like it or not