Re: Installing new kernel
J.S.Sahambi wrote:
Sorry, I meant kernel-image-2.4.19-686 (I think this is the latest!)
Currently I have kernel 2.4.18-bf2.4. If I install the new kernel image
with the command:
apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.19-686 ,
There are several kernel-image packages available that have been
optimized for various processors. The above package is for the
PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV processors. If you have one of these
processors then the command is correct.
Note: the 2.4.19 kernels are only available in "testing" at the moment.
They will work fine in a "stable" install, but just make sure your
sources.list file is pointed at "testing" instead of woody or stable.
1) will it install the kernel in a saparate dir and not mess up the dir
of older kernel?
Yes. Those parts of the package that need a separate directory (mainly
the /lib/modules/...) will have a separate directory created and leave
the current one untouched.
2) will it add one more item inthe lilo for the new kernel and so that
In can select the older kernel at boot time, in case I want?
Yes. If you select the option to "add all OSes found" it will also add
Windows, etc. Your new lilo "labels" will look something like"
Linux
Linux.old
{other oses}
3) and will I be able to remove this new kerenl in case I want and still
have the older kernel on the system.
Yes. Packages are designed to be added or removed as an entity without
disturbing the rest of the system. If you manually change something
within the package before removal, then all bets are off.
4) do I have to install any other package apart from
kernel-image-2.4.19-686? like kernel-header, etc?
The kernel-header package matching the new kernel is only needed if you
plan to compile some external programs. It isn't required to get the
system to boot into the new kernel. Also, if you later install the
kernel-source package and set it up, then you don't need the
kernel-header package. Personally, I prefer the latter since most of
the compiling I do here is on the kernel.
I did exactly what you want to do about 2 weeks ago. I had the bf2.4
kernel from the initial install and "upgraded" to the 2.4.19-k6
kernel-image package. About the only "gotcha" that I would warn about
is that the bf2.4 kernel package has some of the drivers "built-in",
whereas the more generic kernel-image packages have these drivers as
modules. This mainly affected the NIC driver in my case. I needed to
add my driver module for my NIC to /etc/modules to get my network back
after the upgrade. My ext3 partitions setup during the initial install
were automatically recognized by the new kernel.
Cheers & Good Luck!
-Don Spoon-
Reply to: