[plug] Mandrake 2.6.6 Kernel

[Craig Ringer]

On Sat, 2004-06-12 at 02:07, Brock Woolf wrote:
> Hi, at the moment i am running Mandrake 10 Official which comes with the
> standard 2.6.3-7mdk Kernel. 
> With the recent release of the 2.6.6 Kernel, I would like to upgrade my
> system. But. I am a true novice in this area and as such I have never
> done it before.
> I do have a fair knowledge of the command line and I could do this but I
> just have never tried before. Could someone please tell me how to get it
> done without rendering by system useless?

Easy way: find an updated kernel RPM and just use that. plf.zarb.org may
be of interest given your distro:
	http://plf.zarb.org/packages.php

This might also be of use:
http://www.digitalhermit.com/linux/Kernel-Build-HOWTO.html

Short version the way I do things, vanilla kernel, should work for any
distro:

	Fetch kernel sources from
http://mirror.wa.3fl.net/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ or another mirror
	Unpack them into your usual build directory (I use $HOME/build for most
things)
	read Documentation/Changes
	Set the KVERSION env var to something like "2.6.6-1"
(The last number is your build revision - it's a good idea to use so
you're not overwriting older kernel builds. We'll use that same revision
number in the kernel Makefile too. This isn't a requirement of the build
process but helps reduce typo problems when copying the kernel in.)
	Edit the main Makefile and set the EXTRAVERSION variable to "-1"
(where "1" is your local build number)
	configure the kernel with "make menuconfig"
(If the above scares you, it's good to know that with stable kernels
it's hard to unwittingly set anything that'll damage your system, so the
worst you can usually do is build a non-bootable kernel. If you're still
not convinced, it might be an idea to stick with an upgrade RPM for now
and do some more reading.)
	Build the main kernel with "make bzImage"
	Build modules with "make modules"
The following commands will actually install the kernel and modules.
With the copy commands, I strongly advise you NEVER to answer yes if you
are prompted to replace a file, unless you are 100% certain you really
know you want to replace it.
	"make modules_install"
	"cp -i arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-$KVERSION"
	"cp -i System.map /boot/System.map-$KVERSION"
	"cp -i .config /boot/config-$KVERSION"
Then add a suitable entry to your bootloader configuration (usually
/boot/grub/menu.lst) and reboot. DO NOT REPLACE ANY EXISTING BOOT LOADER
ENTRY. It's pretty easy to just copy, paste and tweak an existing but
it's a good idea to skim "info grub" anyway.

Very short version:
	STFA and STFW ;-)
This is FAQ and there's plenty of info out there. Don't take the above
as being grumpy (beyond normal 2:30am still-at-work grumpiness). People
_are_ more willing to help you if you show you've made an effort to find
out yourself first, though.

Anyway, back to bashing my head against Eudora 6.1 (pure evil with IMAP)
and WinXP (not so nice either) while trying to finish the website update
... *sigh*.

Craig Ringer