kernel upgrade again

[possumpuss]

hi
i'm on rh7.1, i want to upgrade my kernel from 2.4.2-2 to 2.4.6
here are the steps i've followed so far:
1. d/l linux-2.4.6.tar.gz from kernel.org
2. gzip -cd linux-2.4.6.tar.gz | tar xvf -
3. cd to /usr/src. there is a new directory in /usr/src now, /usr/src/linux. previously there was only /usr/src/linux-2.4.2 and a shortcut to it called /usr/src/linux-2.4.
4. cd to the new dir /usr/src/linux
5. make config, make dep, make clean, make bzImage
6. 2 new files pops up, called /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage, and /usr/src/linux/vmlinux
7. make modules, make modules_install
8. copy /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage and /usr/src/linux/vmlinux to /boot
9. rename /boot/bzImage to /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.6
10. edit /etc/lilo.conf. here's how my lilo.conf file looks now:

boot=/dev/hda5
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
linear
default=linux
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.2-2
label=linux.bak(i renamed this file myself from 'linux' to 'linux.bak')
read-only
root=/dev/hda5
(i added the lines below)
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.6
label=linux
read-only
root=/dev/hda5

11. ran 'lilo' from a prompt
12. reboot. it reboots fine, however at my text mode login, it still references kernel2.4.2, same when i type uname -a

what did i miss? don't tell me to read the howto, i've read it like 4 times already...
damn i'm frustrated.

thanks if anyone has advice
possum
:(

[bdg1983]

I think you should have created a new symlink.

cd /usr/src
rm linux
untar source as normal
mv linux linux-2.4.6
ln -s linux-2.4.6 linux

Then continue on. Probably the old symlink was still pointing to linux-2.4.2 and you recompiled your current kernel.

[possumpuss]

thanks, i tried a 2nd time. here are the steps i followed the 2nd time:

1. cd /usr/src
rm linux
gzip -cd linux-2.4.6.tar.gz | tar xvf -
mv linux linux-2.4.6
ln -s linux-2.4.6 linux

2. cd to the new dir /usr/src/linux-2.4.6
3. make config, make dep, make clean, make bzImage
4. a file called 'bzImage' is generated in /usr/src/linux-2.4.6/arch/i386/boot, a file called 'vmlinux' is generated in /usr/src/linux-2.4.6
5. make modules, make modules_install
6. copy /usr/src/linux-2.4.6/arch/i386/boot/bzImage and /usr/src/linux-2.4.6/vmlinux to /boot
7. rename /boot/bzImage to /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.6
8. mv /boot/vmlinuz /boot/vmlinuz.bak
9. ln -s /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.6 /boot/vmlinuz
10. edit /etc/lilo.conf. here's how my lilo.conf file looks now:

boot=/dev/hda5
map=/boot/map
install=/boot/boot.b
prompt
timeout=50
message=/boot/message
linear
default=linux
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.2-2
label=linux.old(i renamed this file myself from 'linux' to 'linux.old')
read-only
root=/dev/hda5
(i added the lines below)
image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.6
label=linux
read-only
root=/dev/hda5

11. i rebooted, reboots fine. however, text mode login still references kernel2.4.2. same w uname-a.

i'm probably just missing something very basic.

[godot]

i don't know what that vmlinux file is, i think you only need the System.map and the bzImage files

[bdg1983]

Looking it over again, I don't see where you reran /sbin/lilo to write the changes to disk.

If you copied the necessary files over to /boot, make the symlinks and edited /etc/lilo.conf to include the 2.4.6 kernel, then that must be what you are missing. Did you get the option upon reboot to boot the new kernel?

[possumpuss]

yes i reran lilo, forgot to put that in...
and no i didn't get the option to boot to the new kernel

the problem is i don't know what files and/or symlinks should be in /boot and what files should be in /usr/src...

[bdg1983]

Your lilo.conf looks fine. It's set to boot the new kernel, so it should be correct.

Anything else you can run to verify? systeminfo or is it sysinfo. Perhaps something has gone wrong with uname due to the upgrade.

You press tab at the lilo prompt and select linux or just let it default to linux and the system boots ok, but it's still reporting the old kernel.

Any features that the 2.4.6 has that the old didn't that you can check to see if they are working?

[possumpuss]

i'm trying it again, reading the documentation and howto's as i go along.
one thing i didn't do was copy the bzImage to a floppy disk, as i boot off of a floppy, and not the hard drive typically...

[possumpuss]

third attempt, this time i got kernel2.4.6 to show up during my text mode login.

i ran through the above steps, but this time, instead of copying bzImage to /boot, i copied it to the floppy i boot off of and renamed it 'vmlinuz' (i deleted the vmlinuz file that was previously on this floppy) - it is able to boot successfully to this new file on the floppy, however, there are problems:

-i get 2 error messages during the boot up process: turning on process accounting accton: function not implemented FAILED
and
bringing up interface eth0 FAILED
-another thing i noticed was that my sound didn't work when i booted to the 2.4.6 kernel and also i couldn't bring up any webpages anymore. restoring the original vmlinuz file on the boot floppy allowed me to restore my computer to the way it was before, but i'm still booting to the 2.4.2 kernel...


where did i screw up this time? make xconfig?

[armando86]

Originally posted by possumpuss:
<STRONG>
-i get 2 error messages during the boot up process: turning on process accounting accton: function not implemented FAILED
</STRONG>
It sounds like you forgot to compile BSD process accounting in your kernel. It's somewhere in the General Setup section.
<STRONG>bringing up interface eth0 FAILED</STRONG>
Did you compile support for your NIC in the networking section?
I think you get the idea ;)

[possumpuss]

is there a quick way to run make xconfig, while preserving your original settings, but adding only a couple of extra ones, without having to run make xconfig from scratch?

[armando86]

Originally posted by possumpuss:
<STRONG>is there a quick way to run make xconfig, while preserving your original settings, but adding only a couple of extra ones, without having to run make xconfig from scratch?</STRONG>

Yeah, I think so, if you run make xconfig again all the settings should stlil be the same.

[possumpuss]

THANK YOU everyone! kernel recompilation successful. :)

[armando86]

Originally posted by possumpuss:
<STRONG>THANK YOU everyone! kernel recompilation successful. :)</STRONG>

Feels great doesn't it? :D

[sans-hubris]

Just a thought for next time. You can make the compilation copy the kernel itself and then run lilo right away by doing bzlilo instead of bzImage.

If you want everything after the make config to be done in one command, try this:
make dep clean bzlilo modules modules_install