Hi Guys,

I'm a pretty new to linux, and have ben trying to upgrade my kernel. I have a dual boot system with winxp pro & Redhat 9 Shrike. kernel 2.4.20 am I right in thinking I should be trying to do this.
If so could so one please guide me through this, many thanks in anticipation.
Oh I can't use up2date because it run out.

hunkykernel

ahhhhhhh...i guess i have to write a long reply..i`ll tell u the way i do it when i compile my kernel...i`ll recommend u to try compiling kernel 2.4.22 rather than 2.6.* ( i didnt have good experience with 2.6.*)

alright baby..lets go

Note: I have written all commands in red

lets go step by step....

1. download kernel source .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 format from www.kernel.org
for example there will be file like linux-2.4.22.tar.gz

2. copy it to /usr/src by following command:

cp filename.tar.gz /usr/src

3. cd to the /usr/src directory

cd /usr/src

4. issue the following command to uncompress the file

tar -xzf linux-2.4.22.tar.gz

it will extract kernel sources to /usr/src directory

right now directory for 2.4.22 will be

/usr/src/linux-2.4.22

5. create a symbolic link /usr/src/linux to point to /usr/src/linux-2.4.22
using the ln -s command:

cd /usr/src
ln -s linux-2.4.22 /usr/src/linux

6. cd to /usr/src/linux

cd /usr/src/linux

7. now issue following command

make xconfig

this will start a gui based configuration tool...where u will select the kernel options.Make sure you set fat, vfat and ntfs support and other required options.

Also it is recommended, that when the configuration is complete, you save the settings to a file on the hdd using the save to file option, so that the next time you recompile, you can directly load the configuration from the saved file and proceed to the next step

8. issue following command

make dep

9. issue following command

make clean

10. issue following command

make modules

11. issue following command

make modules_install

12. issue following command

make bzImage

now when make bzImage is done. open your grub.conf and make a backup copy of it, just to be careful forexample i did this cp /etc/grub.conf /etc/grub.backup.

13 . issue following command

make install

after make install is complete. open /etc/grub.conf and check if the entry of old kernel is still there or not. if its not there, open the backup of grub.conf that we created and copy and paste the entry of old kernel into grub.conf. if the old kernel entry is already there, thats great.

now reboot your system and enjoy new kernel.

Note: There is a way to compile kernel through rpms, but doing it source way lets u experience some cool speed plus totally your own kernel configurations, so i prefer this

The easiest way is by apt-get rpm. It will update the kernel for you.

...And if you go with Outstream's method, and you happen to have lilo as your bootloader, not grub, make sure to run lilo before rebooting/restarting the system. See step #6 at the following article;

http://www.justlinux.com/nhf/Compiling_K...ed_Systems.html

okay fellas,

Which way would you choose, the easy option or the more difficult option? Bearing in mind I'm thinking of the auto upgrade, cos there's less to mess up. What's the worst thing that can happen if I mess up. Will it cause my linux system to not boot up?
I'm very grateful for all your replys.
What a steep learning curve this seems to be.

Thanks Again

hunkykernel

I do it with apt-get, and the latest updated kernel always works well for me. Unless there are special things you want to compile into it, apt-get will fix things for you with very little effort. Do you have apt-get installed?

Don't know! if I have apt-get where would yer find it?

You have to install it. Go here and download the two binary packages. Installation should give no problems. Then open a terminal and as root type:

apt-get update [enter]

When it finishes, do the above again.

Then type:

apt-get install synaptic [enter]

after it finishes, type:

synaptic [enter]

The Synaptic gui should then come up. Type in the name of packages you want to install in the search box and press enter. Follow the intuitive gui instructions. You can install many apps for Red Hat 9 using this, and it will solve all dependency problems for you! Good Luck!