Re: Bug#23143: make-kpkg fails on Alpha
Hi,
>>"Christopher" == Christopher C Chimelis <chris@beezer.med.miami.edu> writes:
Christopher> On 4 Jun 1998, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
Christopher> I can describe a possible solution, if you're willing at
Christopher> this point to put time into it. I can also put time
Christopher> into testing whatever changes you make prior to making
Christopher> an "official" modification to the package (and
Christopher> hopefully, by that time, I can hold off RL enough to
Christopher> patch some myself).
I have been graciously offered access to an alpha box; I'll
see what I can do about modifying the package so that people can
actually test the modifications (I think testing a new kernel without
access to the console is tempting fate)
Christopher> FYI, MILO is much different than LILO and would require
Christopher> some user intervention at reboot time to enable a new
Christopher> kernel unless it was named the same as the old one with
Christopher> the exact same location. MILO is more like a bootloader
Christopher> that also loads PALcode than a boot-block-based boot
Christopher> manager.
I see. Well, we can use something that is done for boot
loaders on other architectures; assuming that MILO does not choke on
symbolic links. On other architectues, kernel-image makes /vmlinuz a
symlink to the latest kernel image, and /vmlinuz.old is a link to the
previous kernel image. After the symlinks are changed, LILO/SILO are
rerun.
Christopher> FYI, Alpha kernels are generated as gzipped files, but
Christopher> are named vmlinux.gz for some odd reason. They are
Christopher> located in arch/alpha/boot (same as other arch's
Christopher> basically). MILO doesn't care about the file name as
Christopher> long as it can find the file itself (it still has
Christopher> problems following links, unfortunately).
If MILO does not care about file names, but it has a problem
with symbolic links, I can arrange for hard links to be created, I
think. Hmm. abstractions, abstractions.
Christopher> Here's an albeit brief solution for make-kpkg:
Christopher> 1. Find a way to check the build architecture (dpkg
Christopher> --print-architecture works, but may be inefficient to
Christopher> call. It does return just "alpha", though, so if
Christopher> that helps...if you need more info, let me know and
Christopher> I'll find a command to get it for you)
Well, since this is just done once during a kernel compile, I
don't think the inefficiency shall be noticeable ;-). make-kpkg
already calls this, I just wasn't sure what it rteturns on an
alpha. This is good. I can now separate stuff for the alpha based on
this.
I am not using anything as sophisticated as a lookup table in
the rules file, I'll just special case the alpha as requiring
"boot". This is easy.
Christopher> There are other problems with building a kernel on the
Christopher> Alphas, but they relate more to the existing
Christopher> kernel-source packages and not with make-kpkg
This is good.
Christopher> I'll retest symlinks with MILO hopefully this week (I
Christopher> need to resolve that issue for myself as well, so I
Christopher> would like to know for sure if improvements have been
Christopher> made since last year about this). Either way, links may
Christopher> or may not be important when it comes to Alphas since
Christopher> MILO will let you boot different images without needing
Christopher> the same filename. I could point you towards some MILO
Christopher> docs if you'd like, but be warned that they're sketchy
Christopher> at times. Also, without console access to an Alpha, you
Christopher> would never be able to see MILO in action to see what I
Christopher> am describing, unfortunately.
Well, let me know. Would be nice if symlinks were resolved,
would save me some coding. In the meanwhile, I can make sure the
correct commands are generated for the alpha, and that we move the
correct file into /boot; it shall be called /boot/vmlinuz-VERSION for
consistency.
That would mean that the package would work for people, the
only issue remaining whether MILO can be fed a consistent file name
so people do not have to manually remember to change stuff.
Once we have stuff tested, we can see about getting it into
Hamm (we may just need to have different versions in hamm for the
alpha vs other architectures if it proves hard to get the new
versions into the freeze, but that is something we can tackle when we
get this working).
manoj
ps: I am not subscribed to the alpha list, so please CC me any
responses you wish me to read ;-)
--
...difference of opinion is advantageious in religion. The several
sects perform the office of a common censor morum over each other.
Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and
children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt,
tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch
towards uniformity. Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on Virginia"
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@acm.org> <http://www.datasync.com/%7Esrivasta/>
Key C7261095 fingerprint = CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-alpha-request@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
Reply to: