Re: Drop in kernel replacement?
On Wed, 31 Jul 2002 22:25:40 +0200
"Robert Ian Smit" <robian@wanadoo.nl> wrote:
> I have seen quite a few messages on this list concerning kernel
> upgrades. Since I have been using the bf2.4 kernel since
> installation time, I tried to install an optimized i686 kernel.
>
> I was hoping that after apt-get, lilo + initrd and reboot everything
> would be fine.
>
> It wasn't. I have yet to investigate what is missing. But I would
> like some general information about the process of selecting and
> installing a kernel.
You'll need to modify lilo to use the initrd.img for the new kernel (see
previous thread about SMP).
> Why install initrd? To enable kernel selection at boot time (and get
> the old system back when something fails)?
The use of initrd images allows for drivers necessary for starting the
system to be compiled as modules and yet made available to the kernel
while the system is starting.
> Is bf2-4 a kernel with everything imaginable enabled and will I have
> to load extra modules for my system when using the i686 kernel?
Yes, drivers for certain hardware may not be loaded after the move to one
of the kernel-images because before they were internal to the kernel and
now they are external modules. So, some NICs and other devices may need
you to specifically load their modules (adding them to /etc/modules will
load then on each boot).
> Apart from the fun of trying out new stuff and learning, will there
> be a real world performance difference when I use an optimized
> kernel?
Really depends on what you use the system for and/or whether or not you
have two processors.
--
Jamin W. Collins
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