[H-GEN] Kernel Woes

[R&J Stuart]

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Scott Pullen wrote:
> 
> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
> [ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]
> 
> Firstly let it be said that I am an idiot.  Now with that out of the way
> hopefully someone can help me with this problem.
> 
> The distro I am using is RH 7.3 .  I have tried their site and can find
> nothing that would suggest they have a problem with the Makefile.

First off, we need to know if you are using the default RH 7.3 (or
updated) kernels or if you have downloaded 2.4.18 or higher from
somewhere.


> I want to create backups of my boxes.  So I tried to use my cd-rw with no
> success as I didn't have scsi-ide emulation compiled into the kernel, module
> or hardcoded.  SO I decided to try and make a custom kernel to support the
> modules necessary to allow me to burn cd's.

If you are using the RH kernels then scsi-ide is set up already.  You
will probably need to check that lines similar to these are in your
/etc/modules.conf:

options ide-cd ignore=hdc
alias scd0 sr_mod
pre-install sg modprobe ide-scsi
pre-install sr_mod modprobe ide-scsi
pre-install ide-scsi modprobe ide-cd

these (or similar) are normally added by the installer or by kudzu.

> What is the first thing that they say when playing with the kernel????
> Backup!!!!!!  Bit of a catch 22.  So I played anyway.  Some fits and starts
> and then the worst thing I could imagine ... well almost ... the Makefile
> somehow glitched (probably user error) and wiped all previous working
> versions of the kernel(3) that I had.

Are you using grub or lilo?  I use both in different circumstances. 
make install in the kernel source tree will add an entry for your new
kernel lines in grub.conf (I'm sure of this one) and I think lilo too
(not so sure).


> So the situation now is that I have a kernel that is incomplete.  It now
> does have the scsi-ide emulation support if I read kmesg right but does not
> have socket support.  The line in kmesg reads something like:
> 
> sd - not supported in kernel!!!

sd usually == Scsi Disk.


> Or words to that effect.
> 
> This, of course, tends to make networking a little difficult.  I have double
> checked all the options when using the make xconfig command when in the
> /usr/src/linux-2.4 directory.  I have tried using the help in the GUI and I
> have read the tips from three different books and they all seem to agree
> with the options I have selected.
> 
> Any suggestions as to the line I should look for in the .config file to see
> if the option is at least requested.  Then I will work my way up to try and
> workout were the process fails.  All helpful :~)3 suggestions appreciated.
> 
> Oh and by the way, why doesn't the Makefile support installation of the new
> image using grub as well as lilo?  Grub seems to be the recommended
> bootloader for this version of the distro?


My suggestions for doing new kernels:
1. If you don't feel comfortable doing compiling them, use the standard
RH 7.3 updated kernels, they are pretty good, but a little bloated. 
They will do ide scsi emulation, but you may need to fiddle with your
modules.conf.

2. Take a backup copy of /etc/grub.conf (I've never had a problem so I
don't bother - I can recreate one if needed from another machine).

3. download kernel 2.4.19 from your local mirror
(mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4)

4. extract kernel into /usr/src/linux-2.4.19 and symlink linux to this
dir.

5. If you have a previous config, do:
cd /usr/src/linux; make mrproper; cp /some/previous/.config.2.4.18-test
.config

6. make oldconfig  this will sometimes ask you questions about stuff
that is new in the newer kernel.

7. make menuconfig (or xconfig) and check things look ok.  all scsi
stuff should be modules - you definitely need scsi generic and cdrom, I
tend to just make everything there a module and you won't have a
problem.  Obviously you need ide-scsi emulation.

8. make dep;make install;make modules;make modules_install

9. check your grub.conf looks ok, usually the new kernel will NOT be the
default.

10. reboot and play with your burner.

As a side note, RH seems to turn off DMA on ALL ide RO type devices
(/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit) which is really annoying if you have a burner or
dvd drive.

Good luck.

Robert

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