Linux booting problems

[John Abreau]

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Kenny Donahue <kennyd at mc.com> writes:

> Ok.... deeep breath. I'm ready to though
> Linux out.  I've been fighting with a Linux kernel
> build for a while now. I'm getting very angry.
> I can load a Redhat 7.2 distribution and everything
> works.  I need to patch the kernel for a project at
> work. so, I do my patch (../fs/proc/base.c if it makes a
> difference) then....
[snip]

I've been running Redhat for ages, and I've found that it's easier to 
stick with kernel rpms. Fortunately the stock kernel sources include 
an "rpm" target, so building rpms from the virgin kernel source should 
be fairly straightforward. The trick is to load the same config that 
your system is already using, which you'll find in one of the files 
under /usr/src/linux-2.4/configs, while in "make xconfig". Then apply 
your changes from that known-good setting. 

Try this:

    make mrproper
    make xconfig
        load config from /usr/src/linux-2.4/configs/kernel-2.4.18-i686.conf
ig
        add your scsi driver into the kernel
    make dep
    make rpm
    sudo rpm -i /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i686/kernel-2.4.18.i686.rpm
    edit lilo.conf 
    ...

When I do this, I like to do the full build without adding my patches, 
so I can explicitly verify that the pre-patched setup is working. 

Note that you want to "install" (-i) the new kernel, not "upgrade" (-U). 
That way you don't lose the older kernel that already works correctly, 
so if the new kernel fails you can still boot the system. 


- --
John Abreau / Executive Director, Boston Linux & Unix
Email jabr at blu.org / WWW http://www.abreau.net / PGP-Key-ID 0xD5C7B5D9
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