Compiled new Kernel......now messed up...need help please!!!

[Nameless]

Hi,
OK, i decided to upgrade my kernel from version 2.2.16 to 2.4.6. I followed thisNHF (http://www.linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/compiling/kernelcomp.html)and it seemed to compile fine. I followed all the instructions error free. But when I go to boot into linux it goes through most of the check things but then it stops with the error:

"open_frame bupper: unable to open /dev/fb0 (no such dev)"

and the screen starts blinking on and off so it is reall hard to read. I have my old kernel in the LILO thing still so I can get into 2.2.16 just 2.4.6 is messed. I tried re-compiling it and I get the same error.

Any help would be great because I am taking this computer to a lan party on wednesday and I would like this new kernel running by then.

Thanks,

[geekchic]

Hi,

I'm not an expert by any means, but I was wondering if you updated the following before you installed 2.4.6:

*gcc
*glibc
*modutils
*binutils
*ksymoops

I tend to miss the obvious stuff, so that's why I'm asking the basic question.

Morgan

[Nameless]

ummm...no i didn't update any of the stuff, i didn't know that i had to. I dont have the slightest clue on how to update that stuff.

By the way I have Slackware 7.1 just in case there are any secret tricks you have to do with slack that i dont know about.
anyways any help would be great asap.

Thanks

[geekchic]

I can't say much about Slackware except that:

*I will switch to it when I know more about what I am doing with Linux, and
*It's a harder distro to learn for newbies that are used to Windows.

How new are you? If you still feel like you have no idea about what you are doing when you work with Linux, I'd recommend switching to easier distros like Red Hat (http://www.redhat.com/) or Linux-Mandrake (http://www.linux-mandrake.com/).

I'm pretty new, and I use Mandrake.

You can go to the INSTALL and README files in the kernel to see what versions you need. You can go to kernel.org (http://www.kernel.org/)
to get modutils and ksymoops.Do a search on Google (http://www.google.com/) to find the others.

I preferred this NHF (http://linuxnewbie.org/nhf/intel/distros/mandrake/mdk_kernel_upgrade.html) to update my kernel. It's meant for Mandrake, but since all of the work is done in a terminal, I bet it will probably work for you, too.

My kernel had some errors in it when it compiled, and that's when I realized I needed to upgrade glibc et al.

I still haven't upgraded everything, yet...It will have to wait till tomorrow. I'm having problems installing the downloads, actually.

So maybe after you download the newest stable versions of all I've mentioned above, we'll be on the same page, and then someone can help us from there.

[antitrustworthy]

All you need to do is read the file 'Changes' under Documentation in the source. Look in /usr/src/linux/Documentation. The 'Changes' file will tell you how to check whether or not you need to update things like modutils and gcc. It will also tell you where to find the files if you need to download any...and you definitely will ;) If it doesnt tell you in 'Changes', look at kernel.org, your distro's site, and do a Google search. Hope this helps :D

[Nameless]

Geekybabe - There is no way in hell that I am going to switch distro's from Slackware!

Well I went to the Slackware website and noticed that Slackware 8.0 has just been released!! So I figure that I will download that (it has kernel 2.4.5) and upgrade from there. Thankyou everyone for your help!

[Tyr-7BE]

Just a shot in the dark, but did you enable the framebuffer options in your kernel config?

[PLBlaze]

You seem to have fb support compiled in but the framebuffer device does not exist on your system.You need to mknod /dev/fb0 thru fb7 see man mknod and read the devices.txt under /usr/src/linux/Documentation for proper char/minor #'s.

Some distros provide a script found under /dev (MKDEV)that can be run to create devices...eg MKDEV -generic fb creates /dev/fb* without you using mknod.I know this topic has been discussed before,try doing a search on the forums.Hope this helps.