mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
2070 lines
81 KiB
Plaintext
2070 lines
81 KiB
Plaintext
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
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<!--
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************************** begin comment *****************************
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The following is the Linux Kernel HOWTO.
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This document is in the SGML format. You must use sgml package to
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process this document
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************************* end of comment *****************************
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-->
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<!--
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************************** SGML USER GUIDE *****************************
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The SGML user guide on linux is located at /usr/doc/sgml-tools
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Read the example.sgml and guide.html documents.
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Usage:
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HTML sgml2html foo (Do not give extension .sgml here!!)
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Text sgml2txt foo.sgml
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Latex sgml2latex foo.sgml
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Note: Use 2 dashes - before language, error while compiling
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Postscript sgml2latex -language=english -o ps foo.sgml
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DVI sgml2latex -d foo.sgml
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Lyx sgml2lyx foo.sgml
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Richtext sgml2rtf foo.sgml
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gnuinfo sgml2info foo.sgml
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man sgml2txt -man foo.sgml
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SGML sgmlcheck foo.sgml
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************************* end of comment *****************************
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-->
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<article>
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<title>The Linux Kernel HOWTO
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<author>
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Brian Ward
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<htmlurl url="mailto:
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bri@cs.uchicago.edu
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" name="
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bri@cs.uchicago.edu
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">
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<date>v3.4, 01 Feb 2002
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<abstract>
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This is a detailed guide to kernel configuration, compilation, upgrades,
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and troubleshooting for ix86-based systems.
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</abstract>
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<toc>
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<sect> Introduction <p>
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Should you read this document? Well, see if you've got any of the following
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symptoms:
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<p>
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<itemize>
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<item> ``Arg! This wizzo-46.5.6 package says it needs kernel
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release 2.8.193 and I still only have release 1.0.9!''
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<item> There's a device driver in one of the newer kernels that
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you just gotta have
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<item> You really have no idea at all how to compile a kernel
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<item> ``Is this stuff in the README <it>really</it> the whole story?''
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<item> You came, you tried, it didn't work
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<item> You need something to give to people who insist on asking you to
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install their kernels for them
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</itemize>
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<sect1> Read this first! (I mean it)<p>
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Some of the examples in this document assume that you have GNU <tt>tar</tt>,
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<tt>find</tt>, and <tt>xargs</tt>. These are quite standard; this should
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not cause problems. It is also assumed that
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you know your system's filesystem structure; if you don't, it is critical
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that you keep a written copy of the <tt>mount</tt> command's output during
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normal system operation (or a listing of <tt>/etc/fstab</tt>, if you can
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read it). This information is important, and does not change unless you
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repartition your disk, add a new one, reinstall your system, or something
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similar.<p>
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The latest ``production'' kernel version at the time of this writing was
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2.2.9, meaning that the references and examples correspond to that
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release. Even though I try to make this document as version-independent as
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possible, the kernel is constantly under development, so if you get a
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newer release, it will inevitably have some differences. Again, this should
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not cause major problems, but it may create some confusion.<p>
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There are two versions of the linux kernel source, ``production'' and
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``development.'' Production releases are the even-minor-numbered releases;
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1.2.x was production, 2.0.x is production, as well as 2.2.x. These kernels
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are considered to be the
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most stable, bug-free versions available at the time of release. The
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development kernels (2.1.x, 2.3.x, etc) are meant as testing kernels, for
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people willing to test out new and possibly very buggy kernels. You have
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been warned.<p>
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<sect1>A word on style<p>
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<tt>Text that looks like this</tt> is either something that appears on
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your screen, a filename, or something that can be directly typed in, such as a
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command, or options to a command (if you're looking
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at a plain-text file, it doesn't look any different). Commands and other
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input are frequently quoted (with ` '), which causes the following
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classic punctuation problem: if such an item appears at the end of a sentence
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in quotes, people often type a `.' along with the command, because the
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American quoting style says to put the period inside of the quotation
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marks. Even though common sense (and unfortunately, this assumes that the
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one with the ``common sense'' is used to the so-called American style of
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quotation) should tell one to strip off the
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punctuation first, many people simply do not remember, so I will place
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it outside the quotation marks in such cases. In other words, when
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indicating that you should type ``<tt>make config</tt>'' I would write
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`<tt>make config</tt>', not `<tt>make config</tt>.'
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<p>
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<chapt change> Quick Install Steps
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-->
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<sect> Quick Steps - Kernel Compile
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<p>
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This section is written by
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<htmlurl url="mailto:alavoor[AT]yahoo.com"
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name="Al Dev (alavoor[AT]yahoo.com)">
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The latest version of this section is at <url url="http://www.aldev.8m.com"> and click on
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"Quick Steps to recompile linux kernel". Mirror sites are at -
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<url name="angelfire" url="http://www.angelfire.com/country/aldev0">,
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<url name="geocities" url="http://www.geocities.com/alavoor/index.html">,
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<url name="virtualave" url="http://aldev0.virtualave.net">,
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<url name="Fortunecity" url="http://members.fortunecity.com/aldev">,
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<url name="Freewebsites" url="http://aldev.freewebsites.com">,
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<url name="Tripod" url="http://members.tripod.lycos.com/aldev">,
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<url name="101xs" url="http://www.101xs.com/101xs/aldev">,
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<url name="Freeservers" url="http://aldev.freeservers.com">,
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<url name="50megs" url="http://aldev0.50megs.com">,
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<url name="Terrashare" url="http://aldev.terrashare.com">,
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<url name="Escalix" url="http://www.escalix.com/freepage/aldev">,
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<url name="Httpcity" url="http://www.httpcity.com/aldev/index.html">.
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These sites have <bf>lots of linux goodies</bf> and tips.
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The latest copy of this document can be found at <bf><url url="http://www.aldev.8m.com"></bf>.
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Kernel re-compile is required in order to make the kernel very lean
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and which will result in FASTER operating system . It is also
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required to support any new devices.
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<sect1> Precautionary Preparations<label id="precautions">
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<p>
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Before you build kernel, it is a good idea to do a backup of the system.
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If you had not backed up your system recently then do it now.
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See
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<url name="Backup-Recovery-HOWTO" url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Backup-Recovery-HOWTO.html">.
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Or if you feel that you can take risk of losing data, then skip this section and
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go to next section.
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*******************************************
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************ End of Section ***************
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*******************************************
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-->
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<sect1> Building Kernel <label id="building">
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<p>
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<bf>Note: </bf> Below 'bash#' denotes the bash prompt, you should type
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the commands that appear after the 'bash#' prompt. Below are commands
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tested on Redhat Linux, but it should work for other distributions with
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very minor changes.
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<enum>
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<item> <bf>Note:</bf> You can have many kernel images on your system. By following the steps below
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you do not overwrite or damage your existing kernel. These steps are <bf>very safe</bf>
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and your current kernel will be intact and will not be touched.
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<p>
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<item> Login in as 'root' throughout all these steps. Mount Redhat linux cdrom and install the linux kernel source rpm
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<code>
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bash$ su - root
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bash# cd /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS
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bash# rpm -i kernel-headers*.rpm
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bash# rpm -i kernel-source*.rpm
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bash# rpm -i dev86*.rpm
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bash# rpm -i bin86*.rpm
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</code>
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(The bin86*.rpm and 'as86' is required only for <bf>OLDER Linux</bf> systems like redhat 5.x.
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Get Intel assembler 'as86' command from
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dev86*.rpm on cdrom or from
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<url name="bin86-mandrake" url="http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/mandrake/7.1/Mandrake/RPMS/bin86-0.4-12mdk.i586.html">
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, <url name="bin86-kondara" url="http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/kondara/jirai/i586/bin86-0.4-8k.i586.html">
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).
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<p>
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<item>
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<itemize>
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<item> Start X-windows with 'startx'. If you are not able to start X-window then
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see next step below.
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<code>
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bash# man startx
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bash# startx
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# make xconfig
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</code>
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<item> If you are not able to start X-window above then try -
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<code>
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bash# export TERM=xterm
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bash# make menuconfig
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If you find scrambled display, then use different terminal emulators like vt100,
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vt102, vt220 or ansi. The display will be scrambled and will have garbage
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characters in cases where you use telnet to login to remote linux. In such
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cases you should use the terminal emulators like vt100, vt220.
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For example:
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bash# export TERM=vt220
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bash# export TERM=ansi
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At a lower level, use:
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bash# export TERM=vt100
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bash# make menuconfig
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If the menuconfig command fails then try -
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bash# make config
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</code>
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</itemize>
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The <bf>"make xconfig" or "make menuconfig"</bf> brings up a user friendly GUI interface.
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And <bf>"make config"</bf> brings up command-line console mode interface.
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You can load the
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configuration file from <it>/usr/src/linux/.config</it> (dot config file. Note the dot
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before config).
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<p>
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<item> Within 'make xconfig' you must do these to avoid problems -
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<itemize>
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<item> Select proper CPU type - Pentium 3, AMD K6, Cyrix, Pentium 4, Intel 386, DEC Alpha, PowerPC otherwise kernel will not boot!!
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<item> Select SMP support - whether single CPU or multiple CPUs
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<item> Filesystems - Select Windows95 Vfat, MSDOS, NTFS as part of kernel and
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not as loadable modules. (My personal preference but you are free to pick your own option).
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<item> Enable the Loadable kernel modules support!
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With this option you can load/unload the device drivers
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dynamically on running linux system on the fly.
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See these man pages
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<code>
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bash# rpm -i /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS/modutils*.rpm
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bash# man lsmod
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bash# man insmod
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bash# man rmmod
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bash# man depmod
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bash# man modprobe
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</code>
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</itemize>
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<p>
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<item> Save and Exit "make xconfig".
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All the options which you selected is now saved into configuration file
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at <it>/usr/src/linux/.config</it> (dot config file).
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And now, do -
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<code>
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bash# make dep
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bash# make clean
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> Read the following file (to gain some knowledge about kernel building. Tip: Use
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the color editor
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<url name="gvim" url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Vim-HOWTO.html">
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for better readability.
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<code>
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bash# gvim -R /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/config.in
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bash# man less
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bash# less /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/config.in
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Type 'h' for help and to navigate press i, j, k, l, h or arrow, page up/down keys.
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> Now, give the make command -
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<code>
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# man nohup
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bash# nohup make bzImage &
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bash# man tail
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bash# tail -f nohup.out (.... to monitor the progress)
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This will put the kernel in /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> After bzImage is successful, copy the kernel image to /boot directory.
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You must copy the new kernel image to /boot directory, otherwise the
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new kernel <bf>MAY NOT</bf> boot.
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And then read the manual page on lilo
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(see also <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/LILO-crash-rescue-HOWTO.html">)
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and see the <ref id="liloconf" name="sample lilo.conf"> file.
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Always give a date extension to the filename, because it tells you when you built the
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kernel, as shown below:
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<code>
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bash# cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/bzImage.myker.26mar2001
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bash# man lilo
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bash# man lilo.conf
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And edit /etc/lilo.conf file and put these lines -
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image=/boot/bzImage.myker.26mar2001
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label=myker
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root=/dev/hda1
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read-only
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You can check device name for 'root=' with the command -
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bash# df /
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> Now give
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<code>
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bash# lilo
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bash# lilo -q
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</code>
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You must re-run lilo even if the entry 'myker' exists, everytime you create a new bzImage.
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<p>
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<item> Reboot the machine and at lilo press tab key and
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type 'myker' If it boots then you did a good job! Otherwise at lilo
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select your old kernel, boot and re-try all over again. Your old kernel
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<bf>is still INTACT and SAFE</bf> at say <it>/boot/vmlinuz-2.0.34-0.6</it>
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<p>
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<item> If your new kernel 'myker' boots and works properly, you can create the
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boot disk. Insert a blank floppy into floppy drive and -
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<code>
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# make bzdisk
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See also mkbootdisk -
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bash# rpm -i mkbootdisk*.rpm
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bash# man mkbootdisk
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> <bf>LOADABLE MODULES: </bf>
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This step is required <bf>ONLY if</bf> you had enabled Loadable module support in
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step 3 above.
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Loadable module are located in /lib/modules. You MUST do this step if you enabled or
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disabled any modules, otherwise you will get 'unresolved symbols' errors during
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or after kernel boot.
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Check for insmod command which is extensively used for loading the modules.
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<code>
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# make modules
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bash# make modules_install
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</code>
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This will copy the modules to /lib/modules directory.
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For example to load the module <tt>/lib/modules/2.4.2-2/kernel/drivers/block/loop.o</tt>, you would
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do :
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<code>
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bash# man insmod
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bash# modproble loop
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bash# insmod loop
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bash# lsmod
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</code>
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You can set PATH the insmod searches in /etc/modules.conf
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</enum>
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-->
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<sect1> Troublshoot Common Mistakes
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<p>
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<!--
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************ End of Section ***************
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*******************************************
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-->
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<sect2> The System Hangs at LILO
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<p>
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<bf>Sympton: </bf> After you build the kernel and reboot, the system hangs just before LILO.
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<bf>Reason: </bf> Probably you did not set the BIOS to pick up the proper Primary Master IDE and
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Secondary Slave IDE hard disk partition.
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<bf>Solution: </bf>Power on the machine and press DEL key to do setup of the BIOS (Basic Input Output system). Select the IDE settings and set proper primary hard disk partition and slave drives.
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When the system boots it looks for the primary IDE hard disk and the Master Boot Record partition.
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It reads the MBR and starts loading the Linux Kernel from the hard disk partition.
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-->
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<sect2> No init found
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<p>
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The following mistake is commited very frequently by new users.
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If your new kernel does not boot and you get -
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<code>
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Warning: unable to open an initial console
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Kernel panic: no init found. Try passing init= option to kernel
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</code>
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The problem is that you <bf>did not</bf> set the "root=" parameter properly
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in the /etc/lilo.conf. In my case, I used root=/dev/hda1 which is
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having the root partition "/". You must properly point the root device in your
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lilo.conf, it can be like /dev/hdb2 or /dev/hda7.
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The kernel looks for the init command which is located in /sbin/init.
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And /sbin directory lives on the root partition.
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For details see -
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<code>
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bash# man init
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</code>
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<!--
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************ End of Section ***************
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*******************************************
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-->
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<sect2> The 'depmod' gives "Unresolved symbol error messages"
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<p>
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When you run <tt>depmod</tt> it gives "Unresolved symbols". A sample error message
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is given here to demonstrate the case:
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<code>
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bash$ su - root
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bash# man depmod
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bash# depmod
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depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/version/kernel/drivers/md/linear.o
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depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/version/kernel/drivers/md/multipath.o
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depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/version/kernel/drivers/md/raid0.o
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depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/version/kernel/drivers/md/raid1.o
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depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/version/kernel/drivers/md/raid5.o
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</code>
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<bf>Reason: </bf> You did not make modules and install the modules after building
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the new kernel with <tt>"make bzImage"</tt>.
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<bf>Solution: </bf> After you build the new kernel, you must do:
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<code>
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bash$ su - root
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# make modules
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bash# make modules_install
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</code>
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<!--
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************ End of Section ***************
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*******************************************
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-->
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<sect2> Kernel Does Not Load Module - "Unresolved symbols" Error Messages
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<p>
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When you boot kernel and system tries to load any modules and
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you get "Unresolved symbol : __some_function_name" then it means
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that you did not clean compile the modules and kernel. It is mandatory that
|
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you should do <bf>make clean</bf> and make the modules. Do this -
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<code>
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bash# cd /usr/src/linux
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bash# make dep
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bash# make clean
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bash# nohup make bzImage &
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bash# tail -f nohup.out (.... to monitor the progress)
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bash# make modules
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bash# make modules_install
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</code>
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<!--
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*******************************************
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|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect2> Kernel fails to load a module
|
|
<p>
|
|
If the kernel fails to load a module (say loadable module for network card
|
|
or other devices), then you may want to try to build the driver for device
|
|
right into the kernel. Sometimes <it><bf>loadable module will NOT
|
|
work</bf></it> and the driver
|
|
needs to be built right inside the kernel. For example - some network cards do not
|
|
support loadable module feature - you MUST build the driver of the network card
|
|
right into linux kernel. Hence, in 'make xconfig' you MUST not select loadable
|
|
module for this device.
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect2> Loadable modules
|
|
<p>
|
|
You can install default loadable modules with -
|
|
|
|
The step given below may not be required but is needed <bf>ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES</bf> where
|
|
your /lib/modules files are damaged. If you already have
|
|
the /lib/modules directory and in case you
|
|
want replace them use the --force to replace the package and
|
|
select appropriate cpu architecture.
|
|
|
|
For new versions of linux redhat linux 6.0 and later, the kernel modules are
|
|
included with kernel-2.2*.rpm. Install the loadable modules and the kernel with
|
|
<code>
|
|
This will list the already installed package.
|
|
bash# rpm -qa | grep -i kernel
|
|
|
|
bash# rpm -U --force /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS/kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i686.rpm
|
|
(or)
|
|
bash# rpm -U --force /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS/kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i586.rpm
|
|
(or)
|
|
bash# rpm -U --force /mnt/cdrom/Redhat/RPMS/kernel-2.2.14-5.0.i386.rpm
|
|
</code>
|
|
|
|
This is only for old versions of redhat linux 5.2 and before.
|
|
Boot new kernel and install the loadable
|
|
modules from RedHat Linux "contrib" cdrom
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash# rpm -i /mnt/cdrom/contrib/kernel-modules*.rpm
|
|
....(For old linux systems which do not have insmod pre-installed)
|
|
</code>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Post Kernel Building <label id="postkernel">
|
|
<p>
|
|
After successfully building and booting the Linux kernel, you may be required
|
|
to do these additional steps to make some of the devices to work with Linux.
|
|
(The steps below were tested on Redhat Linux but should work with other distributions
|
|
as well.)
|
|
|
|
<bf>Video card/Monitor configuration: </bf>
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Please see the video card manual which is usually shipped with the PC.
|
|
You should look for a "Technical Specifications" page.
|
|
<item> Please see the monitor's manual and look for a "Technical Specifications" page.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
You can configure the Video card and monitor by using these commands:
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ su - root
|
|
bash# man Xconfigurator
|
|
bash# /usr/bin/X11/Xconfigurator --help
|
|
bash# /usr/bin/X11/Xconfigurator
|
|
bash# /usr/bin/X11/Xconfigurator --expert
|
|
|
|
See also:
|
|
bash# man xf86config
|
|
bash# /usr/bin/X11/xf86config
|
|
</code>
|
|
If your card is not detected automatically, then you can use the --expert option
|
|
and select the "Unlisted card". If your monitor is not listed then select the generic
|
|
monitor type SVGA 1024x768.
|
|
|
|
<bf>Sound card configuration: </bf>
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Connect your external speakers to the sound card's audio port.
|
|
<item> Connect your CDROM audio wire to sound card's audio 4-pin socket. (Otherwise
|
|
your cdrom drive will not play the music from your music cd)
|
|
<item> Refer to HOWTO docs on 'Sound' at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ su - root
|
|
bash# man sndconfig
|
|
bash# /usr/sbin/sndconfig
|
|
</code>
|
|
Then start X-window 'KDE desktop' with 'startx' command.
|
|
Click on 'K Start->ControlCenter->SoundServer->General->Test Sound'. This should
|
|
play the test sound. Then click on 'K Start->MultiMedia->SoundMixer->SoundVolumeSlider'
|
|
and adjust the sound volume.
|
|
|
|
<bf>Network card configuration: </bf>
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Use /sbin/linuxconf
|
|
<item> Or use KDE control panel
|
|
<item> Refer to HOWTO docs on 'Networking' at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
<bf>Configure Firewall and IP Masquerading : </bf>
|
|
For Linux kernel version 2.4 and above, the firewall and IP Masquerading is
|
|
implemented by NetFilter package. Hence in kernel config you should enable
|
|
Netfilter and run the Firewall/IPMasq script. Download the scripts from
|
|
<url name="Firewall-IPMasq scripts" url="http://www.BoingWorld.com/workshops/linux/iptables-tutorial">
|
|
, main page of Netfilter is at
|
|
<url url="http://netfilter.samba.org">.
|
|
Related materials at <url name="firewalling-matures" url="http://www.linuxsecurity.com/feature_stories/kernel-netfilter.html">
|
|
and <url name="Netfilter-FAQ" url="http://netfilter.filewatcher.org/netfilter-faq.html">.
|
|
|
|
For kernel version below 2.4 you should install the firewall rpms from
|
|
<url name="rpmfind.net" url="http://rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=firewall">
|
|
or <url name="firewall.src.rpm" url="http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/contrib/noarch//SRPMS//firewall-2.2-3.src.html">.
|
|
|
|
<bf>Configuration of other devices: </bf>
|
|
Refer to HOWTO docs relating to your devices at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org">
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Sample lilo.conf <label id="liloconf">
|
|
<p>
|
|
Given below is a sample /etc/lilo.conf file. You should follow the
|
|
naming conventions like ker2217 (for kernel 2.2.17), ker2214 (for kernel 2.2.14).
|
|
You can have many kernel images on the same /boot system.
|
|
On my machine I have something like:
|
|
<code>
|
|
boot=/dev/hda
|
|
map=/boot/map
|
|
install=/boot/boot.b
|
|
prompt
|
|
timeout=50
|
|
default=firewall
|
|
|
|
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.14-5.0
|
|
label=ker2214
|
|
read-only
|
|
root=/dev/hda9
|
|
|
|
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.17-14
|
|
label=ker2217
|
|
read-only
|
|
root=/dev/hda9
|
|
|
|
#image=/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
|
|
# label=myker
|
|
# root=/dev/hda7
|
|
# read-only
|
|
|
|
image=/boot/bzImage.myker.11feb2001
|
|
label=myker11feb
|
|
root=/dev/hda9
|
|
read-only
|
|
|
|
image=/boot/bzImage.myker.01jan2001
|
|
label=myker01jan
|
|
root=/dev/hda9
|
|
read-only
|
|
|
|
image=/boot/bzImage.myker-firewall.16mar2001
|
|
label=firewall
|
|
root=/dev/hda9
|
|
read-only
|
|
</code>
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect>Important questions and their answers <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>What does the kernel do, anyway? <p>
|
|
|
|
The Unix kernel acts as a mediator for your programs and your hardware.
|
|
First, it does (or arranges for) the memory management for all of the
|
|
running programs (processes), and makes sure that they all get a fair (or
|
|
unfair, if you please) share of the processor's cycles. In addition, it
|
|
provides a nice, fairly portable interface for programs to talk to your
|
|
hardware.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
There is certainly more to the kernel's operation than this, but these
|
|
basic functions are the most important to know.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Why would I want to upgrade my kernel? <p>
|
|
|
|
Newer kernels generally offer the ability to talk to more types of
|
|
hardware (that is, they have more device drivers), they can have better
|
|
process management, they can run faster than the older versions, they
|
|
could be more stable than the older versions, and they fix silly bugs in
|
|
the older versions. Most people upgrade kernels because they want the
|
|
device drivers and the bug fixes.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>What kind of hardware do the newer kernels support? <p>
|
|
|
|
See the Hardware-HOWTO. Alternatively, you can look at the
|
|
`<tt>config.in</tt>' file in the linux source, or just find out
|
|
when you try `<tt>make config</tt>'.
|
|
This shows you all hardware supported by the
|
|
standard kernel distribution, but not everything that linux supports; many
|
|
common device drivers (such as the PCMCIA drivers and some tape drivers) are
|
|
loadable modules maintained and distributed separately.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>What version of gcc and libc do I need? <p>
|
|
|
|
Linus recommends a version of gcc in the <tt>README</tt> file included with
|
|
the linux source. If you don't have this version, the documentation in the
|
|
recommended version of gcc should tell you if you need to upgrade your libc.
|
|
This is not a difficult procedure, but it is important to follow the
|
|
instructions.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>What's a loadable module? <p>
|
|
|
|
These are pieces of kernel code which are not
|
|
linked (included) directly in the kernel. One compiles them separately,
|
|
and can insert and remove them into the running kernel at almost any
|
|
time. Due to its flexibility, this is now the preferred way to code certain
|
|
kernel features. Many popular device drivers, such as the PCMCIA
|
|
drivers and the QIC-80/40 tape driver, are loadable modules.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>How much disk space do I need? <p>
|
|
|
|
It depends on your particular system configuration. First, the compressed
|
|
linux source is nearly 14 megabytes large at version 2.2.9. Many sites keep
|
|
this even after unpacking.
|
|
Uncompressed and built with a moderate configuration, it takes up another 67
|
|
MB.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>How long does it take? <p>
|
|
With newer machines, the compilation takes dramatically less time than
|
|
older ones; an AMD K6-2/300 with a fast disk can do a 2.2.x kernel in about
|
|
four minutes. As for old Pentiums, 486s, and 386s, if you plan to compile
|
|
one, be prepared to wait, possibly hours, days..
|
|
<p>
|
|
If this troubles you, and you happen to have a faster machine around to
|
|
compile on, you can build on the fast machines (assuming you give it the
|
|
right parameters, that your ulilities are up-to-date, and so on), and then
|
|
transfer the kernel image to the slower machine.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>How to actually configure the kernel <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Getting the source <p>
|
|
|
|
You can obtain the source via anonymous ftp from <tt>ftp.kernel.org</tt> in
|
|
<tt>/pub/linux/kernel/vx.y</tt>, where <tt>x.y</tt> is the version (eg 2.2),
|
|
and as mentioned before, the ones that end with an odd number are
|
|
development releases and may be unstable.
|
|
It is typically labelled <tt>linux-x.y.z.tar.gz</tt>, where <tt>x.y.z </tt>
|
|
is the version number. The sites also typically carry ones with a suffix of
|
|
<tt>.bz2</tt>, which have been compressed with bzip2 (these files will be
|
|
smaller and take less time to transfer).
|
|
<p>
|
|
It's best to use <tt>ftp.xx.kernel.org</tt> where <tt>xx</tt> is your
|
|
country code; examples being <tt>ftp.at.kernel.org</tt> for Austria,
|
|
and <tt>ftp.us.kernel.org</tt> for the United States.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Unpacking the source <p>
|
|
|
|
Log in as or <tt>su</tt> to `<tt>root</tt>', and <tt>cd</tt> to
|
|
<tt>/usr/src</tt>.
|
|
If you installed kernel source when you first installed linux (as most do),
|
|
there will already be a directory called `<tt>linux</tt>' there, which
|
|
contains the entire old source tree.
|
|
If you have the disk space and you want to play it safe, preserve that
|
|
directory. A good idea is to figure out
|
|
what version your system runs now and rename the directory
|
|
accordingly. The command `<tt>uname -r</tt>' prints the current
|
|
kernel version.
|
|
Therefore, if `<tt>uname -r</tt>' said `<tt>1.0.9</tt>', you would
|
|
rename (with `<tt>mv</tt>') `<tt>linux</tt>' to `<tt>linux-1.0.9</tt>'.
|
|
If you feel mildly reckless, just wipe out the entire
|
|
directory. In any case, make certain there is no `<tt>linux</tt>' directory
|
|
in <tt>/usr/src</tt> before unpacking the full source code.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Now, in <tt>/usr/src</tt>, unpack the source with
|
|
`<tt>tar zxpvf linux-x.y.z.tar.gz</tt>'
|
|
(if you've just got a <tt>.tar</tt> file with no <tt>.gz</tt> at the end,
|
|
`<tt>tar xpvf linux-x.y.z.tar</tt>' works.).
|
|
The contents of the source will fly by. When finished, there will be
|
|
a new `<tt>linux</tt>' directory in <tt>/usr/src</tt>. <tt>cd</tt> to
|
|
<tt>linux</tt> and look over the <tt>README</tt> file.
|
|
There will be a section with the label `<tt>INSTALLING the kernel</tt>'.
|
|
Carry out the instructions when appropriate -- symbolic links that should
|
|
be in place, removal of stale <tt>.o</tt> files, etc.
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you have a <tt>.bz2</tt> file and the bzip2 program (read about it at
|
|
<tt>http://www.muraroa.demon.co.uk/</tt>), do this:
|
|
<p>
|
|
<verb>
|
|
bz2cat linux-x.y.z.tar.bz2 | tar xvf -
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Configuring the kernel <p>
|
|
|
|
Note: Some of this is reiteration/clarification of a similar
|
|
section in Linus' <tt>README</tt> file.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
The command `<tt>make config</tt>' while in <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt> starts
|
|
a configure script which asks you many questions. It requires bash,
|
|
so verify that bash is <tt>/bin/bash</tt>, <tt>/bin/sh</tt>,
|
|
or <tt>$BASH</tt>.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
However, there are some much more pleasant alternatives to `<tt>make
|
|
config</tt>' and you may very well find them easier and more comfortable to
|
|
use.
|
|
`<tt>make menuconfig</tt>' is probably the most widely-used. Whatever you
|
|
choose, it's best to get familiar with the interface because you may find
|
|
yourself back at it sooner than you think.
|
|
For those ``running X,'' you can try `<tt>make xconfig</tt>' if you have Tk
|
|
installed (`click-o-rama' - Nat). `<tt>make menuconfig</tt>' is for those
|
|
who have
|
|
(n)curses and would prefer a text-based menu. These interfaces have a rather
|
|
clear advantage: If you goof up and make a
|
|
wrong choice during configuration, it is simple to go back and fix it.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
The configuration options will appear in hierarchies with `<tt>make
|
|
menuconfig</tt>' and `<tt>make xconfig</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
You are ready to answer the questions, usually with `<tt>y</tt>' (yes) or
|
|
`<tt>n</tt>' (no). Device drivers typically have an `<tt>m</tt>' option.
|
|
This means ``module,'' meaning that the system will compile it, but not
|
|
directly into the kernel, but as a loadable module. A more comical way to
|
|
describe it is as ``maybe.'' Some of the
|
|
more obvious and non-critical options are not described here; see the section
|
|
``Other configuration options'' for short descriptions of a few others.
|
|
With `<tt>make menuconfig</tt>', the space bar toggles the selection.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
In 2.0.x and later, there is a `?' option, which provides a brief
|
|
description of the configuration parameter. That information is likely to
|
|
be the most up-to-date. Here are a listing of some of the important
|
|
features, which hierarchy they are in, and brief description.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Kernel math emulation (Processor type and features)<p>
|
|
If you don't have a math coprocessor (you have a bare 386 or
|
|
486SX), you must say `<tt>y</tt>' to this. If you do have a coprocessor and
|
|
you still say `<tt>y</tt>', don't worry too much -- the coprocessor is
|
|
still used and the emulation ignored. For any halfway modern machine, the
|
|
answer will be no, but don't worry if you say yes accidentally; if not
|
|
needed, it is not used.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Enhanced (MFM/RLL) disk and IDE disk/cdrom support (Block Devices)<p>
|
|
|
|
You probably need to support this; it means that the
|
|
kernel will support standard PC hard disks, which most
|
|
people have. This driver does not include SCSI drives; they come later in
|
|
the configuration.
|
|
<p>
|
|
You will then be asked about the ``old disk-only'' and ``new IDE'' drivers.
|
|
You want to choose one of them; the main difference is that the old driver
|
|
only supports two disks on a single interface, and the new one supports a
|
|
secondary interface and IDE/ATAPI cdrom drives. The new driver is 4k
|
|
larger than the old one and is also supposedly ``improved,'' meaning that
|
|
aside from containing a different number of bugs, it might improve your
|
|
disk performance, especially if you have newer (EIDE-type) hardware.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Networking support (General Setup)<p>
|
|
|
|
In principle, you would only say `<tt>y</tt>' if your machine is on a network
|
|
such as the internet, or you want to use SLIP, PPP, term, etc to
|
|
dial up for internet access. However, as many packages (such as the X
|
|
window system)
|
|
require networking support even if your machine does not live on a real
|
|
network, you should say `<tt>y</tt>'. Later on, you will be asked if you
|
|
want to support TCP/IP networking; again, say `<tt>y</tt>' here if you
|
|
are not absolutely sure.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>System V IPC (General Setup)<p>
|
|
|
|
One of the best definitions of IPC (Interprocess Communication) is in the
|
|
Perl book's glossary. Not surprisingly, some Perl programmers employ it to
|
|
let processes talk to each other, as well as many other packages (DOOM,
|
|
most notably), so it is not a good idea to say <tt>n</tt> unless you know
|
|
exactly what you are doing.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Processor family (Processor type and features)<p>
|
|
(in older kernels: Use -m486 flag for 486-specific optimizations)<p>
|
|
|
|
Traditionally, this compiled in certain optimizations for a particular
|
|
processor; the kernels ran fine on other chips, but the kernel was perhaps
|
|
a bit larger. In newer kernels, however, this is no longer true, so you
|
|
should enter the processor for which you are compiling the kernel. A
|
|
``386'' kernel will work on all machines.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>SCSI support<p>
|
|
|
|
If you have SCSI devices, say `<tt>y</tt>'. You will be prompted for
|
|
further information, such as support for CD-ROM, disks, and what kind
|
|
of SCSI adapter you have. See the SCSI-HOWTO for greater detail.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Network device support<p>
|
|
|
|
If you have a network card, or you would like to use SLIP, PPP, or a
|
|
parallel port adapter for connecting to the Internet,
|
|
say `<tt>y</tt>'. The config script will prompt
|
|
for which kind of card you have, and which protocol to use.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Filesystems<p>
|
|
|
|
The configure script then asks if you wish to support the following
|
|
filesystems:
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Standard (minix) - Newer distributions don't create minix filesystems,
|
|
and many people don't use it, but it may still be a good idea to
|
|
configure this one. Some ``rescue disk'' programs use it, and still more
|
|
floppies may have a minix filesystem, since the minix filesystem is less
|
|
painful to use on a floppy.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Second extended - This is the standard Linux filesystem. You
|
|
almost definitely have one of these, and need to say `<tt>y</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
msdos - If you want to use your MS-DOS hard disk
|
|
partitions, or mount MS-DOS formatted floppy disks, say `<tt>y</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
There are various other foreign operating system filesystem types available.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
/proc - (idea from Bell Labs, I guess). One doesn't make a proc
|
|
filesystem on a disk; this is a filesystem interface to the kernel and
|
|
processes. Many process listers (such as `<tt>ps</tt>') use it. Try
|
|
`<tt>cat /proc/meminfo</tt>' or `<tt>cat /proc/devices</tt>' sometime.
|
|
Some shells (rc, in particular) use <tt>/proc/self/fd</tt> (known as
|
|
<tt>/dev/fd</tt>
|
|
on other systems) for I/O. You should almost certainly say `<tt>y</tt>' to
|
|
this; many important linux tools depend on it.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
NFS - If your machine lives on a network and you want to use filesystems which
|
|
reside on other systems with NFS, say `<tt>y</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
ISO9660 - Found on most CD-ROMs. If you have a CD-ROM drive and you wish to
|
|
use it under Linux, say `<tt>y</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect3>But I don't know which filesystems I need!
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Ok, type `<tt>mount</tt>'. The output will look something like this:
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<tscreen><verb>
|
|
blah# mount
|
|
/dev/hda1 on / type ext2 (defaults)
|
|
/dev/hda3 on /usr type ext2 (defaults)
|
|
none on /proc type proc (defaults)
|
|
/dev/fd0 on /mnt type msdos (defaults)
|
|
</verb></tscreen>
|
|
|
|
Look at each line; the word next to `<tt>type</tt>' is the filesystem
|
|
type. In this example, my <tt>/</tt> and <tt>/usr</tt> filesystems are
|
|
second extended, I'm using <tt>/proc</tt>, and there's a floppy
|
|
disk mounted using the msdos (bleah) filesystem.
|
|
<p>
|
|
You can try `<tt>cat /proc/filesystems</tt>' if you have <tt>/proc</tt>
|
|
currently enabled; it will list your current kernel's filesystems.
|
|
<p>
|
|
The configuration of rarely-used, non-critical filesystems can cause kernel
|
|
bloat; see the section on modules for a way to avoid this and the
|
|
``Pitfalls'' section on why a bloated kernel is undesirable.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Character devices <p>
|
|
|
|
Here, you enable the drivers for your printer (parallel printer, that is),
|
|
busmouse, PS/2 mouse (many notebooks use the PS/2 mouse protocol for their
|
|
built-in trackballs), some tape drives, and other such ``character''
|
|
devices. Say `<tt>y</tt>'
|
|
when appropriate.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Note: <tt>gpm</tt> is a program which
|
|
allows the use of the mouse outside of the X window system for cut and paste
|
|
between virtual consoles. It's fairly nice if you have a serial mouse,
|
|
because it coexists well with X, but you need to do special tricks
|
|
for others.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Sound<p>
|
|
|
|
If you feel a great desire to hear <tt>biff</tt> bark, say
|
|
`<tt>y</tt>',
|
|
and you can tell the configuration program all about your
|
|
sound board. (A note on sound card configuration: when it asks you if you
|
|
want to install the full version of the driver, you can say `<tt>n</tt>'
|
|
and save some kernel memory by picking only the features which you deem
|
|
necessary.)
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If you are serious about sound card support, have a look at both the free
|
|
drivers at <tt>http://www.linux.org.uk/OSS/</tt> and the commercial
|
|
Open Sound System at <tt>http://www.opensound.com/</tt>.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Other configuration options<p>
|
|
Not all of the configuration options are listed here because they change
|
|
too often or fairly self-evident (for instance, 3Com 3C509 support to
|
|
compile the device drive for this particular ethernet card).
|
|
There exists a fairly comprehensive list of all the options (plus a way to
|
|
place them into the <tt>Configure</tt> script) in an effort started and
|
|
maintained by Axel Boldt (<tt>boldt@math.ucsb.edu</tt>) and it's the online
|
|
help. It's also available as one big file at the
|
|
<tt>Documentation/Configure.help</tt> in your Linux kernel source tree as
|
|
of version 2.0.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect2>Kernel hacking <p>
|
|
|
|
>From Linus' README:
|
|
|
|
the ``kernel hacking'' configuration details usually result in
|
|
a bigger or slower kernel (or both), and can even make the
|
|
kernel less stable by configuring some routines to actively try
|
|
to break bad code to find kernel problems (kmalloc()). Thus
|
|
you should probably answer `n' to the questions for a
|
|
``production'' kernel.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Now what? (The Makefile) <p>
|
|
|
|
After you finish configuration, a message tells you that your kernel has
|
|
been configured, and to ``check the top-level <tt>Makefile</tt> for
|
|
additional configuration,'' etc.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
So, look at the <tt>Makefile</tt>. You probably will not need to change it,
|
|
but it never hurts to look. You can also change its options
|
|
with the `<tt>rdev</tt>' command once the new kernel is in place. If you're
|
|
feel lost when you look at the file, then don't worry about it.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Compiling the kernel <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Cleaning and depending <p>
|
|
|
|
When the configure script ends, it also tells you to `<tt>make dep</tt>'
|
|
and (possibly) `<tt>clean</tt>'.
|
|
So, do the `<tt>make dep</tt>'. This insures that all of the
|
|
dependencies, such the include files, are in place. It does not take long,
|
|
unless your computer is fairly slow to begin with.
|
|
For older versions of the kernel, when finished, you should do a
|
|
`<tt>make clean</tt>'.
|
|
This removes all of the object files and some other things
|
|
that an old version leaves behind. In any case,
|
|
<it>do not</it> forget this step before attempting to recompile a kernel.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Compile time <p>
|
|
|
|
After <tt>dep</tt>ending and <tt>clean</tt>ing, you may now `<tt>make
|
|
bzImage</tt>' or `<tt>make bzdisk</tt>' (this is the part that takes a long
|
|
time.).
|
|
`<tt>make bzImage</tt>' will compile the kernel, and leave
|
|
a file in <tt>arch/i386/boot</tt> called `<tt>bzImage</tt>'
|
|
(among other things). This is the new compressed kernel. `<tt>make bzdisk</tt>'
|
|
does the same thing, but also places the new <tt>bzImage</tt>
|
|
on a floppy disk which you hopefully put in drive ``A:''.
|
|
`<tt>bzdisk</tt>' is fairly handy for testing new
|
|
kernels; if it bombs (or just doesn't work right), just remove the floppy
|
|
and boot with
|
|
your old kernel. It can also be a handy way to boot if you accidentally
|
|
remove your kernel (or something equally as dreadful). You can also use it
|
|
to install new systems when you just dump the contents of one disk onto the
|
|
other (``all this and more! NOW how much would you pay?'').
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
All even halfway reasonably recent kernels are compressed, hence the
|
|
`<tt>bz</tt>' in front of the names. A compressed kernel automatically
|
|
decompresses itself when executed.
|
|
<p>
|
|
In older kernels, you don't have the option to build a <tt>bzImage</tt>; it
|
|
was simply a <tt>zImage</tt>. That option is at the moment still available,
|
|
however, given the code size of newer kernels, it is now more or
|
|
less mandatory to build a <tt>bzImage</tt> because the older methods can't
|
|
handle a kernel that's just too large.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Other ``make''ables <p>
|
|
|
|
`<tt>make mrproper</tt>' will do a more extensive `<tt>clean</tt>'ing.
|
|
It is sometimes necessary; you may wish to do it at every patch. `<tt>make
|
|
mrproper</tt>' will also delete your configuration file, so you might want
|
|
to make a backup of it (<tt>.config</tt>) if you see it as valuable.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
`<tt>make oldconfig</tt>' will attempt to configure the kernel from an old
|
|
configuration file; it will run through the `<tt>make config</tt>' process
|
|
for you. If you haven't ever compiled a kernel before or don't have an old
|
|
config file, then you probably shouldn't do this, as you will most likely
|
|
want to change the default configuration.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
See the section on modules for a description of `<tt>make modules</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Installing the kernel <p>
|
|
After you have a new kernel that seems to work the way you want it
|
|
to, it's time to install it. Most people use LILO (Linux Loader) for
|
|
this. `<tt>make bzlilo</tt>' will install the kernel, run LILO on it,
|
|
and get you all ready to boot, BUT ONLY if lilo is configured in the
|
|
following way on your system: kernel is
|
|
<tt>/vmlinuz</tt>, lilo is in <tt>/sbin</tt>, and your lilo config
|
|
(<tt>/etc/lilo.conf</tt>) agrees with this.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Otherwise, you need to use LILO directly. It's a fairly easy package to
|
|
install and work with, but it has a tendency to
|
|
confuse people with the configuration file.
|
|
Look at the config file (either <tt>/etc/lilo/config</tt> for older
|
|
versions or <tt>/etc/lilo.conf</tt> for new versions), and see what the
|
|
current setup is. The config file looks like this:
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
image = /vmlinuz
|
|
label = Linux
|
|
root = /dev/hda1
|
|
...
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
The `<tt>image =</tt>' is set to the currently installed kernel.
|
|
Most people use <tt>/vmlinuz</tt>. `<tt>label</tt>'
|
|
is used by lilo to determine which kernel or operating system to
|
|
boot, and `<tt>root</tt>' is the <tt>/</tt> of that particular operating
|
|
system. Make a backup
|
|
copy of your old kernel and copy the <tt>bzImage</tt>
|
|
which you just
|
|
made into place (you would say `<tt>cp bzImage /vmlinuz</tt>' if you
|
|
use `<tt>/vmlinuz</tt>'). Then, rerun lilo -- on newer systems, you can
|
|
just run `<tt>lilo</tt>', but on older stuff, you might have to do an
|
|
<tt>/etc/lilo/install</tt> or even an
|
|
<tt>/etc/lilo/lilo -C /etc/lilo/config</tt>.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If you would like to know more about LILO's configuration, or you don't have
|
|
LILO, get the newest version from your favorite ftp site and follow the
|
|
instructions.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
To boot one of your old kernels off the hard disk
|
|
(another way to save yourself in case you screw up the new kernel),
|
|
copy the lines below (and including) `<tt>image = xxx</tt>' in the LILO config
|
|
file to the bottom of the file, and change the `<tt>image = xxx</tt>' to
|
|
`<tt>image = yyy</tt>', where `<tt>yyy</tt>' is the full pathname of
|
|
the file you saved your
|
|
backup kernel to. Then, change the `<tt>label = zzz</tt>' to
|
|
`<tt>label = linux-backup</tt>' and rerun <tt>lilo</tt>. You may need to
|
|
put a line in
|
|
the config file saying `<tt>delay=x</tt>', where x is an amount in tenths of a
|
|
second, which tells LILO to wait that much time before booting, so that you
|
|
can interrupt it (with the shift key, for example), and type in the label
|
|
of the backup boot image (in case unpleasant things happen).
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Patching the kernel <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Applying a patch <p>
|
|
|
|
Incremental upgrades of the kernel are distributed as patches. For
|
|
example, if you have version 1.1.45, and you notice that there's a
|
|
`<tt>patch46.gz</tt>' out there for it, it means you can upgrade to version
|
|
1.1.46 through application of the patch. You might want to make a backup of the
|
|
source tree first (`<tt>make clean</tt>' and then
|
|
`<tt>cd /usr/src; tar zcvf old-tree.tar.gz linux</tt>'
|
|
will make a compressed tar archive for you.).
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
So, continuing with the example above, let's suppose that
|
|
you have `<tt>patch46.gz</tt>' in <tt>/usr/src</tt>. <tt>cd</tt> to
|
|
<tt>/usr/src</tt> and do a `<tt>zcat patch46.gz | patch -p0</tt>'
|
|
(or `<tt>patch -p0 < patch46</tt>'
|
|
if the patch isn't compressed). You'll see things whizz by
|
|
(or flutter by, if your
|
|
system is that slow) telling you that it is trying to apply hunks,
|
|
and whether it succeeds or not. Usually, this action goes by too quickly for
|
|
you to read, and you're not too sure whether it worked or not, so you might
|
|
want to use the <tt>-s</tt> flag to <tt>patch</tt>, which tells <tt>patch</tt>
|
|
to only report error messages (you don't get as much of the ``hey, my
|
|
computer is actually doing something for a change!'' feeling, but you may
|
|
prefer this..). To look for
|
|
parts which might not have gone smoothly, cd to <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt> and
|
|
look for files with a <tt>.rej</tt> extension. Some versions of <tt>patch</tt>
|
|
(older versions which may have been compiled with on an inferior
|
|
filesystem) leave the rejects with a <tt>#</tt> extension. You can use
|
|
`<tt>find</tt>' to look for you;
|
|
<verb>
|
|
find . -name '*.rej' -print
|
|
</verb>
|
|
prints all files who live in the current directory or any subdirectories with
|
|
a <tt>.rej</tt> extension to the standard output.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If everything went right, do a `<tt>make clean</tt>', `<tt>config</tt>',
|
|
and `<tt>dep</tt>' as described in sections 3 and 4.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
There are quite a few options to the <tt>patch</tt> command. As mentioned
|
|
above, <tt>patch -s</tt>
|
|
will suppress all messages except the errors. If you keep your kernel
|
|
source in some other place than <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt>, <tt>patch -p1</tt>
|
|
(in that directory) will patch things cleanly. Other <tt>patch</tt> options are
|
|
well-documented in the manual page.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>If something goes wrong <p>
|
|
|
|
(Note: this section refers mostly to quite old kernels)<p>
|
|
|
|
The most frequent problem that used to arise was when a patch modified
|
|
a file called `<tt>config.in</tt>' and it didn't look quite right,
|
|
because you changed the options to suit your machine. This has been
|
|
taken care of, but one still might encounter it with an older release.
|
|
To fix it, look at the <tt>config.in.rej</tt> file, and see what remains
|
|
of the original patch.
|
|
The changes will typically be marked with `<tt>+</tt>' and `<tt>-</tt>'
|
|
at the beginning of the
|
|
line. Look at the lines surrounding it, and remember if they were set to
|
|
`<tt>y</tt>' or `<tt>n</tt>'. Now, edit <tt>config.in</tt>, and change
|
|
`<tt>y</tt>' to `<tt>n</tt>' and `<tt>n</tt>' to `<tt>y</tt>'
|
|
when appropriate. Do a
|
|
<verb>
|
|
patch -p0 < config.in.rej
|
|
</verb>
|
|
and if it reports that it
|
|
succeeded (no fails), then you can continue on with a configuration and
|
|
compilation. The <tt>config.in.rej</tt> file will remain, but you can get
|
|
delete it.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If you encounter further problems, you might have installed a patch out
|
|
of order. If patch says `<tt>previously applied patch detected: Assume
|
|
-R?</tt>', you are probably trying to apply a patch which is below your current
|
|
version number; if you answer `<tt>y</tt>', it will attempt to degrade
|
|
your source, and will most likely fail; thus, you will need to get a whole new
|
|
source tree (which might not have been such a bad idea in the first place).
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
To back out (unapply) a patch, use `<tt>patch -R</tt>' on the original patch.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
The best thing to do when patches really turn out wrong is to start over
|
|
again with a clean, out-of-the-box source tree (for example, from one
|
|
of the <tt>linux-x.y.z.tar.gz</tt> files), and start again.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Getting rid of the .orig files <p>
|
|
|
|
After just a few patches, the <tt>.orig</tt> files will start to pile up. For
|
|
example, one 1.1.51 tree I had was once last cleaned out at 1.1.48.
|
|
Removing the .orig files saved over a half a meg.
|
|
<verb>
|
|
find . -name '*.orig' -exec rm -f {} ';'
|
|
</verb>
|
|
will take care of it for you. Versions of <tt>patch</tt> which use
|
|
<tt>#</tt> for rejects use a tilde instead of <tt>.orig</tt>.
|
|
<p>
|
|
There are better ways to get rid of the <tt>.orig</tt> files, which
|
|
depend on GNU <tt>xargs</tt>:
|
|
<verb>
|
|
find . -name '*.orig' | xargs rm
|
|
</verb>
|
|
or the ``quite secure but a little more verbose'' method:
|
|
<verb>
|
|
find . -name '*.orig' -print0 | xargs --null rm --
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Other patches <p>
|
|
|
|
There are other patches (I'll call them ``nonstandard'') than the
|
|
ones Linus distributes. If you apply these, Linus' patches may not work
|
|
correctly and you'll have to either back them out, fix the source or
|
|
the patch, install a new source tree, or a combination of the above. This
|
|
can become very frustrating, so if you do not want to modify the source (with
|
|
the possibility of a very bad outcome), back
|
|
out the nonstandard patches before applying Linus', or just install a new
|
|
tree. Then, you can see
|
|
if the nonstandard patches still work. If they don't, you are either
|
|
stuck with an old kernel, playing with the patch or source to
|
|
get it to work, or waiting (possibly begging) for a new version of
|
|
the patch to come out.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
How common are the patches not in the standard distribution? You will
|
|
probably hear of them. I used to use the noblink patch
|
|
for my virtual consoles because I hate blinking cursors (This patch
|
|
is (or at least was) frequently updated for new kernel releases.). With
|
|
most newer device drivers being developed as loadable modules, though, the
|
|
frequecy of ``nonstandard'' patches is decreasing significantly.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Additional packages<p>
|
|
Your linux kernel has many features which are not explained in the
|
|
kernel source itself; these features are typically utilized through
|
|
external packages. Some of the most common are listed here.<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>kbd<p>
|
|
The linux console probably has more features than it deserves. Among these
|
|
are the ability to switch fonts, remap your keyboard, switch
|
|
video modes (in newer kernels), etc. The kbd package has programs which
|
|
allow the user to do all of this, plus many fonts and keyboard maps
|
|
for almost any keyboard, and is available from the same sites that carry
|
|
the kernel source.<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>util-linux<p>
|
|
Rik Faith (<tt>faith@cs.unc.edu</tt>) put together a large collection of
|
|
linux utilities which are, by odd coincidence, called util-linux. These are
|
|
now maintained by Andries Brouwer (<tt>util-linux@math.uio.no</tt>).
|
|
Available via
|
|
anonymous ftp from sunsite.unc.edu in <tt>/pub/Linux/system/misc</tt>, it
|
|
contains programs such as <tt>setterm</tt>, <tt>rdev</tt>, and
|
|
<tt>ctrlaltdel</tt>, which are relevant to the kernel. As Rik says, <it>do
|
|
not install without thinking;</it> you do not need to install everything in
|
|
the package, and it could very well cause serious problems if you do.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>hdparm<p>
|
|
As with many packages, this was once a kernel patch and support programs.
|
|
The patches made it into the official kernel, and the programs
|
|
to optimize and play with your hard disk are distributed separately.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>gpm<p>
|
|
gpm stands for general purpose mouse. This program allows you to cut and
|
|
paste text between virtual consoles and do other things with a large
|
|
variety of mouse types.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Some pitfalls <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>make clean <p>
|
|
If your new kernel does really weird things after a routine kernel upgrade,
|
|
chances are you forgot to <tt>make clean</tt> before compiling the new
|
|
kernel. Symptoms can be anything from
|
|
your system outright crashing, strange I/O problems, to crummy
|
|
performance. Make sure you do a <tt>make dep</tt>, too.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Huge or slow kernels <p>
|
|
If your kernel is sucking up a lot of memory, is too large,
|
|
and/or just takes forever to compile even when you've got your new
|
|
Quadbazillium-III/4400 working on it, you've probably got lots of unneeded
|
|
stuff (device drivers, filesystems, etc) configured. If you don't use it,
|
|
don't configure it, because it does take up memory.
|
|
The most obvious symptom of kernel bloat is extreme swapping in and out of
|
|
memory to disk; if your disk is making a lot of noise and it's not one of
|
|
those old Fujitsu Eagles that sound like like a jet landing when turned
|
|
off, look over your kernel configuration.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
You can find out how much memory the kernel is using by taking the
|
|
total amount of memory in your machine and subtracting from it the
|
|
amount of ``total mem'' in <tt>/proc/meminfo</tt> or the output of the command
|
|
`<tt>free</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>The parallel port doesn't work/my printer doesn't work<p>
|
|
Configuration options for PCs are: First, under the category `General Setup',
|
|
select `Parallel port support' and `PC-style hardware'. Then under
|
|
`Character devices', select `Parallel printer support'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
Then there are the names. Linux 2.2 names the printer devices differently
|
|
than previous releases. The upshot of this is that if you had an <tt>lp1</tt>
|
|
under your old kernel, it's probably an <tt>lp0</tt> under your new one.
|
|
Use `<tt>dmesg</tt>' or look through the logs in <tt>/var/log</tt> to find
|
|
out.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Kernel doesn't compile <p>
|
|
|
|
If it does not compile, then it is likely that a patch failed, or your
|
|
source is somehow corrupt. Your version of gcc also might not
|
|
be correct, or could also be corrupt (for example, the include files
|
|
might be in error). Make sure that the symbolic links which
|
|
Linus describes in the <tt>README</tt> are set up correctly. In general, if
|
|
a standard kernel
|
|
does not compile, something is seriously wrong with the system, and
|
|
reinstallation of certain tools is probably necessary.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
In some cases, gcc can crash due to hardware problems. The error
|
|
message will be something like ``xxx exited with signal 15'' and it will
|
|
generally look very mysterious. I probably would not mention this, except
|
|
that it happened to me once - I had some bad cache memory, and the compiler
|
|
would occasionally barf at random. Try reinstalling gcc first if you
|
|
experience problems. You should only get suspicious if your kernel compiles
|
|
fine with external cache turned off, a reduced amount of RAM, etc.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
It tends to disturb people when it's suggested that their hardware has
|
|
problems. Well, I'm not making this up. There is an FAQ for it -- it's at
|
|
<tt>http://www.bitwizard.nl/sig11/</tt>.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>New version of the kernel doesn't seem to boot<p>
|
|
|
|
You did not run LILO, or it is not configured correctly. One thing that
|
|
``got'' me once was a problem in the config file; it said `<tt>boot =
|
|
/dev/hda1</tt>'
|
|
instead of `<tt>boot = /dev/hda</tt>' (This can be really annoying at first,
|
|
but once you have a working config file, you shouldn't need to
|
|
change it.).
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1> You forgot to run LILO, or system doesn't boot at all<p>
|
|
|
|
Ooops! The best thing you can do here is to boot off of a floppy disk or
|
|
CDROM and
|
|
prepare another bootable floppy (such as `<tt>make zdisk</tt>' would do).
|
|
You need to know where your root (<tt>/</tt>) filesystem is and what type
|
|
it is (e.g. second extended, minix). In the example below, you also need
|
|
to know what filesystem your <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt> source
|
|
tree is on, its type, and where it is normally mounted.<p>
|
|
|
|
In the following example, <tt>/</tt> is <tt>/dev/hda1</tt>, and the
|
|
filesystem which holds <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt>
|
|
is <tt>/dev/hda3</tt>, normally mounted at <tt>/usr</tt>. Both are
|
|
second extended filesystems. The working kernel image in
|
|
<tt>/usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot</tt> is called <tt>bzImage</tt>.<p>
|
|
|
|
The idea is that if there is a functioning
|
|
<tt>bzImage</tt>, it is possible to use that
|
|
for the new floppy. Another alternative, which may or may not work better
|
|
(it depends on the particular method in which you messed up your system) is
|
|
discussed after the example.<p>
|
|
|
|
First, boot from a boot/root disk combo or rescue disk, and
|
|
mount the filesystem which contains the working kernel image:<p>
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
mkdir /mnt
|
|
mount -t ext2 /dev/hda3 /mnt
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
If <tt>mkdir</tt> tells you that the directory already exists, just ignore
|
|
it. Now, <tt>cd</tt> to the place where the working kernel image was. Note
|
|
that
|
|
<verb>
|
|
/mnt + /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot - /usr = /mnt/src/linux/arch/i386/boot
|
|
</verb>
|
|
Place a formatted
|
|
disk in drive ``A:'' (not your boot or root disk!), dump
|
|
the image to the disk, and configure it for your root filesystem:<p>
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
cd /mnt/src/linux/arch/i386/boot
|
|
dd if=bzImage of=/dev/fd0
|
|
rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/hda1
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<tt>cd</tt> to <tt>/</tt> and unmount the normal <tt>/usr</tt> filesystem:<p>
|
|
<verb>
|
|
cd /
|
|
umount /mnt
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
You should now be able to reboot your system as normal from this floppy.
|
|
Don't forget to run lilo (or whatever it was that you did wrong) after
|
|
the reboot!<p>
|
|
|
|
As mentioned above, there is another common alternative. If you
|
|
happened to have a working kernel image in <tt>/</tt> (<tt>/vmlinuz</tt>
|
|
for example), you can use that for a boot disk. Supposing all of the above
|
|
conditions, and that my kernel image is <tt>/vmlinuz</tt>, just make these
|
|
alterations to the example above: change
|
|
<tt>/dev/hda3</tt> to <tt>/dev/hda1</tt> (the <tt>/</tt> filesystem),
|
|
<tt>/mnt/src/linux</tt> to
|
|
<tt>/mnt</tt>, and <tt>if=bzImage</tt> to <tt>if=vmlinuz</tt>. The
|
|
note explaining how to derive <tt>/mnt/src/linux</tt> may be ignored.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Using LILO with big drives (more than 1024 cylinders) can cause problems.
|
|
See the LILO mini-HOWTO or documentation for help on that.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>It says `warning: bdflush not running' <p>
|
|
|
|
This can be a severe problem. Starting with a kernel release
|
|
after 1.0 (around 20 Apr 1994), a program called `<tt>update</tt>' which
|
|
periodically flushes out the filesystem buffers, was upgraded/replaced. Get
|
|
the sources to `<tt>bdflush</tt>'
|
|
(you should find it where you got your kernel source), and install it (you
|
|
probably want to run your system under the old kernel while doing this). It
|
|
installs itself as `<tt>update</tt>' and after a reboot, the new kernel
|
|
should no longer complain.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>I can't get my IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drive to work<p>
|
|
Strangely enough, lots of people cannot get their ATAPI drives working,
|
|
probably because there are a number of things that can go wrong.
|
|
<p>
|
|
If your CD-ROM drive is the only device on a particular IDE
|
|
interface, it must be jumpered as ``master'' or ``single.'' Supposedly,
|
|
this is the most common error.
|
|
<p>
|
|
Creative Labs (for one) has put IDE interfaces on their sound cards now.
|
|
However, this leads to the interesting problem that while some people only
|
|
have one interface to being with, many have two IDE interfaces built-in to
|
|
their motherboards (at IRQ15, usually), so a common practice is to make the
|
|
soundblaster interface a third IDE port (IRQ11, or so I'm told).
|
|
<p>
|
|
This causes problems with linux in that versions 1.2.x don't support a third
|
|
IDE interface (there is support in starting somewhere in the 1.3.x series
|
|
but that's development, remember, and it doesn't auto-probe). To get around
|
|
this, you have a few choices.<p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you have a second IDE port already, chances are that you are not using
|
|
it or it doesn't already have two devices on it. Take the ATAPI drive off
|
|
the sound card and put it on the second interface. You can then disable the
|
|
sound card's interface, which saves an IRQ anyway.
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you don't have a second interface, jumper the sound card's interface
|
|
(not the sound card's sound part) as IRQ15, the second interface. It should
|
|
work.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>It says weird things about obsolete routing requests <p>
|
|
|
|
Get new versions of the <tt>route</tt> program and any other programs
|
|
which do route manipulation.
|
|
<tt>/usr/include/linux/route.h</tt> (which is actually a file in
|
|
<tt>/usr/src/linux</tt>) has changed.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Firewalling not working in 1.2.0<p>
|
|
Upgrade to at least version 1.2.1.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>``Not a compressed kernel Image file''<p>
|
|
Don't use the <tt>vmlinux</tt> file created in <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt> as
|
|
your boot image; <tt>[..]/arch/i386/boot/bzImage</tt> is the right
|
|
one.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Problems with console terminal after upgrade to 1.3.x<p>
|
|
Change the word <tt>dumb</tt> to <tt>linux</tt> in the console termcap
|
|
entry in <tt>/etc/termcap</tt>. You may also have to make a terminfo entry.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1> Can't seem to compile things after kernel upgrade<p>
|
|
The linux kernel source includes a number of include files (the things that
|
|
end with <tt>.h</tt>) which are referenced by the standard ones in
|
|
<tt>/usr/include</tt>. They are typically referenced like this (where
|
|
<tt>xyzzy.h</tt> would be something in <tt>/usr/include/linux</tt>):
|
|
<verb>
|
|
#include <linux/xyzzy.h>
|
|
</verb>
|
|
Normally, there is a link called <tt>linux</tt> in <tt>/usr/include</tt> to
|
|
the <tt>include/linux</tt> directory of your kernel source
|
|
(<tt>/usr/src/linux/include/linux</tt> in the typical system). If this link
|
|
is not there, or points to the wrong place, most things will not compile at
|
|
all. If you decided that the kernel source was taking too much room on the
|
|
disk and deleted it, this will obviously be a problem. Another way it might
|
|
go wrong is with file permissions; if your <tt>root</tt> has a umask
|
|
which doesn't allow other users to see its files by default, and you
|
|
extracted the kernel source without the <tt>p</tt> (preserve filemodes)
|
|
option, those users also won't be able to use the C compiler. Although you
|
|
could use the <tt>chmod</tt> command to fix this, it is probably easier to
|
|
re-extract the include files. You can do this the same way you did the
|
|
whole source at the beginning, only with an additional argument:<p>
|
|
<verb>
|
|
blah# tar zxvpf linux.x.y.z.tar.gz linux/include
|
|
</verb>
|
|
Note: ``<tt>make config</tt>'' will recreate the <tt>/usr/src/linux</tt>
|
|
link if it isn't there.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Increasing limits<p>
|
|
The following few <it>example</it> commands may be helpful to those
|
|
wondering how to increase certain soft limits imposed by the kernel:
|
|
<verb>
|
|
echo 4096 > /proc/sys/kernel/file-max
|
|
echo 12288 > /proc/sys/kernel/inode-max
|
|
echo 300 400 500 > /proc/sys/vm/freepages
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Note for upgrade to version 2.0.x, 2.2.x<p>
|
|
Kernel versions 2.0.x and 2.2.x introduced quite a bit of changes for kernel
|
|
installation. The file <tt>Documentation/Changes</tt> in the 2.0.x source
|
|
tree contains information that you should know when upgrading to either of
|
|
these versions. You will most likely need to upgrade several key packages,
|
|
such as gcc, libc, and SysVInit, and perhaps alter some system files, so
|
|
expect this. Don't panic, though.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Modules<p>
|
|
Loadable kernel modules can save memory and ease configuration. The scope
|
|
of modules has grown to include filesystems, ethernet card drivers, tape
|
|
drivers, printer drivers, and more.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Installing the module utilities<p>
|
|
The module utilities are available from wherever you got your kernel
|
|
source as <tt>modutils-x.y.z.tar.gz</tt>; choose the highest
|
|
patchlevel <tt>x.y.z</tt> that is equal to or below that of your current
|
|
kernel. Unpack it with `<tt>tar zxvf modutils-x.y.z.tar.gz</tt>',
|
|
<tt>cd</tt> to the directory it creates (<tt>modutils-x.y.z</tt>), look
|
|
over the <tt>README</tt>, and carry out its installation instructions
|
|
(which is usually something simple, such as <tt>make install</tt>). You
|
|
should now have the programs
|
|
<tt>insmod</tt>, <tt>rmmod</tt>, <tt>ksyms</tt>, <tt>lsmod</tt>,
|
|
<tt>genksyms</tt>, <tt>modprobe</tt>, and <tt>depmod</tt> in
|
|
<tt>/sbin</tt>. If you wish,
|
|
test out the utilities with the ``hw'' example driver in <tt>insmod</tt>; look
|
|
over the <tt>INSTALL</tt> file in that subdirectory for details.
|
|
<p>
|
|
<tt>insmod</tt> inserts a module into the running kernel. Modules
|
|
usually have a <tt>.o</tt> extension; the example driver mentioned above
|
|
is called <tt>drv_hello.o</tt>, so to insert this, one would say
|
|
`<tt>insmod drv_hello.o</tt>'. To see the modules that the kernel is
|
|
currently using, use <tt>lsmod</tt>. The output looks like this:
|
|
<verb>
|
|
blah# lsmod
|
|
Module: #pages: Used by:
|
|
drv_hello 1
|
|
</verb>
|
|
`<tt>drv_hello</tt>' is the name of the module, it uses one page (4k) of
|
|
memory, and no other kernel modules depend on it at the moment. To remove
|
|
this module, use `<tt>rmmod drv_hello</tt>'. Note that <tt>rmmod</tt>
|
|
wants a <it>module name,</it> not a filename; you get this from
|
|
<tt>lsmod</tt>'s listing. The other module utilities' purposes are documented
|
|
in their manual pages.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Modules distributed with the kernel<p>
|
|
As of version 2.0.30, most of everything is available as a loadable
|
|
modules. To use
|
|
them, first make sure that you don't configure them into the regular
|
|
kernel; that is, don't say <tt>y</tt> to it during `<tt>make config</tt>'.
|
|
Compile a new kernel and reboot with it. Then, <tt>cd</tt> to
|
|
<tt>/usr/src/linux</tt> again, and do a `<tt>make modules</tt>'. This
|
|
compiles all of the modules which you did not specify in the kernel
|
|
configuration, and places links to them in <tt>/usr/src/linux/modules</tt>.
|
|
You can use them straight from that directory or execute `<tt>make
|
|
modules_install</tt>', which installs them in
|
|
<tt>/lib/modules/x.y.z</tt>, where <tt>x.y.z</tt> is the kernel release.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
This can be especially handy with filesystems. You may not use the minix
|
|
or msdos filesystems frequently. For example, if I encountered an msdos
|
|
(shudder) floppy, I would <tt>insmod /usr/src/linux/modules/msdos.o</tt>,
|
|
and then <tt>rmmod msdos</tt> when finished. This procedure saves about
|
|
50k of RAM in the kernel during normal operation. A small note is in order for
|
|
the minix filesystem: you should <it>always</it> configure it directly into the
|
|
kernel for use in ``rescue'' disks.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Tips and tricks <p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Redirecting output of the make or patch commands <p>
|
|
|
|
If you would like logs of what those `<tt>make</tt>' or `<tt>patch</tt>'
|
|
commands did, you can redirect output to a file. First,
|
|
find out what shell you're running:
|
|
`<tt>grep root /etc/passwd</tt>' and look for something like
|
|
`<tt>/bin/csh</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If you use sh or bash,
|
|
<verb>
|
|
(command) 2>&1 | tee (output file)
|
|
</verb>
|
|
will place a copy of <tt>(command)</tt>'s output in the
|
|
file `<tt>(output file)</tt>'.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
For csh or tcsh, use
|
|
<verb>
|
|
(command) |& tee (output file)
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
For rc (Note: you probably do not use rc) it's
|
|
<verb>
|
|
(command) >[2=1] | tee (output file)
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Conditional kernel install <p>
|
|
Other than using floppy disks, there are several methods of testing out a new
|
|
kernel without touching the old one. Unlike many other Unix flavors, LILO has
|
|
the ability to boot a kernel from anywhere on the disk (if you have a
|
|
large (500 MB or above) disk, please read over the LILO documentation on
|
|
how this may cause problems). So, if you add something similar to
|
|
<verb>
|
|
image = /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage
|
|
label = new_kernel
|
|
</verb>
|
|
to the end of your LILO configuration file, you can choose to run a newly
|
|
compiled kernel without touching your old <tt>/vmlinuz</tt> (after running
|
|
<tt>lilo</tt>, of course). The easiest way to tell LILO to boot a new
|
|
kernel is to press the shift key at bootup time (when it says
|
|
<tt>LILO</tt> on the screen, and nothing else), which gives you a prompt.
|
|
At this point, you can enter `<tt>new_kernel</tt>' to boot the new kernel.
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you wish to keep several different kernel source trees on your system at
|
|
the same time (this can take up a <it>lot</it> of disk space; be careful), the
|
|
most common way is to name them <tt>/usr/src/linux-x.y.z</tt>, where
|
|
<tt>x.y.z</tt> is the kernel version. You can then ``select'' a source
|
|
tree with a symbolic link; for example, `<tt>ln -sf linux-1.2.2
|
|
/usr/src/linux</tt>' would make the 1.2.2 tree current. Before creating a
|
|
symbolic link like this, make certain that the last argument to
|
|
<tt>ln</tt> is not a real directory (old symbolic links are fine); the
|
|
result will not be what you expect.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Kernel updates <p>
|
|
Russell Nelson (<tt>nelson@crynwr.com</tt>) summarizes the changes in new
|
|
kernel releases. These are short, and you might like to look at them
|
|
before an upgrade. They are available with anonymous ftp from
|
|
<tt>ftp.emlist.com</tt> in <tt>pub/kchanges</tt> or through the URL
|
|
<verb>
|
|
http://www.crynwr.com/kchanges
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Other relevant HOWTOs that might be useful<p>
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Sound-HOWTO: sound cards and utilities
|
|
<item> SCSI-HOWTO: all about SCSI controllers and devices
|
|
<item> NET-2-HOWTO: networking
|
|
<item> PPP-HOWTO: PPP networking in particular
|
|
<item> PCMCIA-HOWTO: about the drivers for your notebook
|
|
<item> ELF-HOWTO: ELF: what it is, converting..
|
|
<item> Hardware-HOWTO: overview of supported hardware
|
|
<item> Module mini-HOWTO: more on kernel modules
|
|
<item> Kerneld mini-HOWTO: about kerneld
|
|
<item> BogoMips mini-HOWTO: in case you were wondering
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
<sect>Misc<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Author <p>
|
|
|
|
The author and maintainer of the Linux Kernel-HOWTO is Brian Ward
|
|
(<tt>bri@cs.uchicago.edu</tt>). Please send me any comments, additions,
|
|
corrections (Corrections are, in particular, the most important to me.).
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
You can take a look at my `home page' at one of these URLs:
|
|
<verb>
|
|
http://www.math.psu.edu/bri/
|
|
http://blah.math.tu-graz.ac.at/~bri/
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Even though I try to be attentive as possible with mail, please remember
|
|
that I get a <it>lot</it> of it every day, so it may take a little time to
|
|
get back to you. Especially when emailing me with a question, please try
|
|
extra hard to be clear and detailed in your message. If you're writing
|
|
about non-working hardware (or something like that), I need to know what
|
|
your hardware configureation is. If you report an error, don't just say
|
|
``I tried this but it gave an error;'' I need to know what the error was.
|
|
I would also like to know what versions of the kernel, gcc, and libc you're
|
|
using. If you just tell me you're using this-or-that distribution, it won't
|
|
tell me much at all. I don't care if you
|
|
ask simple questions; remember, if you don't ask, you may never get an
|
|
answer! I'd like to thank everyone who has given me feedback.
|
|
<p>
|
|
If your question does not relate to the kernel, or is in some language that
|
|
I don't understand, I may not answer.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
If you mailed me and did not get an answer within a resonable amount of
|
|
time (three weeks or more), then chances are that I accidentally deleted your
|
|
message or something (sorry). Please try again.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
I get a lot of mail about thing which are actually hardware problems or
|
|
issues. That's OK, but please try to keep in mind that I'm not familiar
|
|
with all of the hardware in the world. I use AMD processors, Adaptec and
|
|
Sybios SCSI controllers, and IBM SCSI disks.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Version -0.1 was written on October 3, 1994. This document is available in
|
|
SGML, PostScript, TeX, roff, and plain-text formats.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>To do<p>
|
|
The ``Tips and tricks'' section is a little small. I hope to expand on it
|
|
with suggestions from others.<p>
|
|
So is ``Additional packages.''<p>
|
|
More debugging/crash recovery info needed.<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Contributions <p>
|
|
A small part of Linus' README (kernel hacking options) is inclusive.
|
|
(Thanks, Linus!)
|
|
<p>
|
|
<tt>uc@brian.lunetix.de</tt> (Ulrich Callmeier): patch -s and xargs.<p>
|
|
<tt>quinlan@yggdrasil.com</tt> (Daniel Quinlan): corrections and
|
|
additions in many sections.<p>
|
|
<tt>nat@nat@nataa.fr.eu.org</tt> (Nat Makarevitch): mrproper, tar -p, many
|
|
other things<p>
|
|
<tt>boldt@math.ucsb.edu</tt> (Axel Boldt): collected descriptions of
|
|
kernel configuration options on the net; then provided me with the list<p>
|
|
<tt>lembark@wrkhors.psyber.com</tt> (Steve Lembark): multiple boot
|
|
suggestion<p>
|
|
<tt>kbriggs@earwax.pd.uwa.edu.au</tt> (Keith Briggs): some corrections and
|
|
suggestions<p>
|
|
<tt>rmcguire@freenet.columbus.oh.us</tt> (Ryan McGuire): makeables
|
|
additions<p>
|
|
<tt>dumas@excalibur.ibp.fr</tt> (Eric Dumas): French translation<p>
|
|
<tt>simazaki@ab11.yamanashi.ac.jp</tt> (Yasutada Shimazaki): Japanese translation<p>
|
|
<tt>jjamor@lml.ls.fi.upm.es</tt> (Juan Jose Amor Iglesias): Spanish translation<p>
|
|
<tt>mva@sbbs.se</tt> (Martin Wahlen): Swedish translation<p>
|
|
<tt>jzp1218@stud.u-szeged.hu</tt> (Zoltan Vamosi): Hungarian translation<p>
|
|
<tt>bart@mat.uni.torun.pl</tt> (Bartosz Maruszewski): Polish translation<p>
|
|
<tt>donahue@tiber.nist.gov</tt> (Michael J Donahue): typos, winner of the
|
|
``sliced bread competition''<p>
|
|
<tt>rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu</tt> (Richard Stallman):
|
|
``free'' documentation concept/distribution notice<p>
|
|
<tt>dak@Pool.Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.DE</tt> (David Kastrup): NFS thing<p>
|
|
<tt>esr@snark.thyrsus.com</tt> (Eric Raymond): various tidbits<p>
|
|
|
|
The people who have sent me mail with questions and problems have also been
|
|
quite helpful.
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<sect1>Copyright notice, License, and all that stuff<p>
|
|
Copyright © Brian Ward, 1994-1999.<p>
|
|
Permission is granted to make and distribute copies of this manual provided
|
|
the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
|
|
copies.<p>
|
|
|
|
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
|
|
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the derived
|
|
work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to
|
|
this one. Translations fall under the catagory of ``modified versions.''
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
Warranty: None.<p>
|
|
|
|
Recommendations:
|
|
Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, it is
|
|
strongly recommended that the redistributor contact the author before the
|
|
redistribution, in the interest of keeping things up-to-date (you could
|
|
send me a copy of the thing you're making while you're at it). Translators
|
|
are also advised to contact the author before translating. The printed
|
|
version looks nicer. Recycle.<p>
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<chapt change> Other Formats of this Document
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect> Other Formats of this Document
|
|
<p>
|
|
This section is written by
|
|
<htmlurl url="mailto:alavoor[AT]yahoo.com"
|
|
name="Al Dev">
|
|
(at site <url url="http://www.aldev.8m.com">
|
|
mirrors at
|
|
<url name="angelfire" url="http://www.angelfire.com/country/aldev0">,
|
|
<url name="geocities" url="http://www.geocities.com/alavoor/index.html">,
|
|
<url name="virtualave" url="http://aldev0.virtualave.net">,
|
|
<url name="Fortunecity" url="http://members.fortunecity.com/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Freewebsites" url="http://aldev.freewebsites.com">,
|
|
<url name="Tripod" url="http://members.tripod.lycos.com/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="101xs" url="http://www.101xs.com/101xs/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Freeservers" url="http://aldev.freeservers.com">,
|
|
<url name="50megs" url="http://aldev0.50megs.com">,
|
|
<url name="Terrashare" url="http://aldev.terrashare.com">,
|
|
<url name="Escalix" url="http://www.escalix.com/freepage/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Httpcity" url="http://www.httpcity.com/aldev/index.html">,
|
|
)
|
|
|
|
This document is published in 14 different formats namely - DVI, Postscript,
|
|
Latex, Adobe Acrobat PDF,
|
|
LyX, GNU-info, HTML, RTF(Rich Text Format), Plain-text, Unix man pages, single
|
|
HTML file, SGML (Linuxdoc format), SGML (Docbook format), MS WinHelp format.
|
|
|
|
This howto document is located at -
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org"> and click on HOWTOs and search
|
|
for howto document name using CTRL+f or ALT+f within the web-browser.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
You can also find this document at the following mirrors sites -
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.caldera.com/LDP/HOWTO">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.linux.ucla.edu/LDP">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/linux/LDP">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP">
|
|
|
|
<item> Other mirror sites near you (network-address-wise) can be found at
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/mirrors.html">
|
|
select a site and go to directory /LDP/HOWTO/xxxxx-HOWTO.html
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>
|
|
You can get this HOWTO document as a single file tar ball in HTML, DVI,
|
|
Postscript or SGML formats from -
|
|
<url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Plain text format is in: <url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Single HTML file format is in:
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p> Single HTML file can be created with command (see man sgml2html) -
|
|
sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Translations to other languages like French, German, Spanish,
|
|
Chinese, Japanese are in
|
|
<url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
Any help from you to translate to other languages is welcome.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
The document is written using a tool called "SGML-Tools" which can be got from -
|
|
<url url="http://www.sgmltools.org">
|
|
Compiling the source you will get the following commands like
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate html file)
|
|
<item>sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html file)
|
|
<item>sgml2rtf xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate RTF file)
|
|
<item>sgml2latex xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate latex file)
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Acrobat PDF format <label id="acrobatpdf">
|
|
<p>
|
|
PDF file can be generated from postscript file using
|
|
either acrobat <bf>distill</bf> or <bf>Ghostscript</bf>.
|
|
And postscript file is generated
|
|
from DVI which in turn is generated from LaTex file.
|
|
You can download distill software from <url url="http://www.adobe.com">. Given below
|
|
is a sample session:
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ man sgml2latex
|
|
bash$ sgml2latex filename.sgml
|
|
bash$ man dvips
|
|
bash$ dvips -o filename.ps filename.dvi
|
|
bash$ distill filename.ps
|
|
bash$ man ghostscript
|
|
bash$ man ps2pdf
|
|
bash$ ps2pdf input.ps output.pdf
|
|
bash$ acroread output.pdf &
|
|
</code>
|
|
Or you can use Ghostscript command <bf>ps2pdf</bf>.
|
|
ps2pdf is a work-alike for nearly all the functionality of
|
|
Adobe's Acrobat Distiller product: it
|
|
converts PostScript files to Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
|
|
<bf>ps2pdf</bf> is implemented as a very small command script
|
|
(batch file) that invokes Ghostscript, selecting a special "output device"
|
|
called <bf>pdfwrite</bf>. In order to use ps2pdf, the pdfwrite
|
|
device must be included in the makefile when Ghostscript was compiled;
|
|
see the documentation on building Ghostscript for details.
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Convert Linuxdoc to Docbook format <label id="linuxdoc2docbook">
|
|
<p>
|
|
This document is written in linuxdoc SGML format. The Docbook SGML format
|
|
supercedes the linuxdoc format and has lot more features than linuxdoc.
|
|
The linuxdoc is very simple and is easy to use. To convert linuxdoc SGML
|
|
file to Docbook SGML use the program <bf>ld2db.sh</bf> and some perl scripts.
|
|
The ld2db output is not 100% clean and you need to use the <bf>clean_ld2db.pl</bf>
|
|
perl script. You may need to manually correct few lines in the document.
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Download ld2db program from <url url="http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rrt/docbook.html">
|
|
or from <url name="Al Dev site" url="http://www.aldev.8m.com/cppsrc.html">
|
|
<item> Download the cleanup_ld2db.pl perl script from
|
|
from <url name="Al Dev site" url="http://www.aldev.8m.com/cppsrc.html">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
The ld2db.sh is not 100% clean, you will get lots of errors when you run
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ ld2db.sh file-linuxdoc.sgml db.sgml
|
|
bash$ cleanup.pl db.sgml > db_clean.sgml
|
|
bash$ gvim db_clean.sgml
|
|
bash$ docbook2html db.sgml
|
|
</code>
|
|
And you may have to manually edit some of the minor errors after
|
|
running the perl script. For e.g. you may need to put closing tag <
|
|
/Para> for each <
|
|
Listitem>
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Convert to MS WinHelp format <label id="mswinhelp">
|
|
<p>
|
|
You can convert the SGML howto document to Microsoft Windows Help file,
|
|
first convert the sgml to html using:
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate html file)
|
|
bash$ sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html file)
|
|
</code>
|
|
Then use the tool <url name="HtmlToHlp" url="http://javadocs.planetmirror.com/htmltohlpe.html">.
|
|
You can also use sgml2rtf and then use the RTF files for generating winhelp files.
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
<sect1> Reading various formats <label id="readformats">
|
|
<p>
|
|
In order to view the document in dvi format, use the xdvi program. The xdvi
|
|
program is located in tetex-xdvi*.rpm package in Redhat Linux which can be
|
|
located through ControlPanel | Applications | Publishing | TeX menu buttons.
|
|
To read dvi document give the command -
|
|
<tscreen><verb>
|
|
xdvi -geometry 80x90 howto.dvi
|
|
man xdvi
|
|
</verb></tscreen>
|
|
And resize the window with mouse.
|
|
To navigate use Arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down keys, also
|
|
you can use 'f', 'd', 'u', 'c', 'l', 'r', 'p', 'n' letter
|
|
keys to move up, down, center, next page, previous page etc.
|
|
To turn off expert menu press 'x'.
|
|
|
|
You can read postscript file using the program 'gv' (ghostview) or
|
|
'ghostscript'.
|
|
The ghostscript program is in ghostscript*.rpm package and gv
|
|
program is in gv*.rpm package in Redhat Linux
|
|
which can be located through ControlPanel | Applications | Graphics menu
|
|
buttons. The gv program is much more user friendly than ghostscript.
|
|
Also ghostscript and gv are available on other platforms like OS/2,
|
|
Windows 95 and NT, you view this document even on those platforms.
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>Get ghostscript for Windows 95, OS/2, and for
|
|
all OSes from <url url="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
To read postscript document give the command -
|
|
<tscreen><verb>
|
|
gv howto.ps
|
|
ghostscript howto.ps
|
|
</verb></tscreen>
|
|
|
|
You can read HTML format document using Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet
|
|
explorer, Redhat Baron Web browser or any of the 10 other web browsers.
|
|
|
|
You can read the latex, LyX output using LyX a X-Windows front end to latex.
|
|
<!--
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
************ End of Section ***************
|
|
*******************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
</article>
|