[GRLUG] Hardware changes

[Michael Mol]

Here's something to tide you over.  It's not recent...I haven't
updated it since December 5 of 2004, when I prepared it for a final
presentation in Szymon's UNIX System Administration class. That
said...there are a couple things I want to clarify, since I was on a
time limit in the original presentation:

1. I mention that experimentation is usually safe.  This is, strictly
speaking, true.  I've never heard of x86 hardware getting damaged from
an improperly configured kernel.  At worst, your system might not boot
off the new kernel, and you'll have to use a previously working kernel
to get in and try again.
2. For x86 systems, the kernel image is stored in
kernel_source_directory/arch/i386/boot as the file "bzImage"
3. Unless you're willing to deal with initrd (I'm not), make sure you
compile support for your root filesystem into the kernel, and not as a
module. If your kernel can't read your root filesystem, it won't be
able to find the userspace software needed to load the bulk of your
OS.

Also, for a modern 2.6 kernel, you'll need a version of gcc more
recent than the 2.95.x version I mention. (Really, you should be safe
with the latest gcc version provided by your distro.)

http://grc4.org/lug/linux_kernel.pdf

As I put together the live presentation, I'll update this document.

On 7/14/06, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> A kernel presentation would be useful.
> I've only configured the kernel once,  and
> that was back when Caldera had a decent
> Linux distribution - some 10 years ago.
>
> I'd also put in a plug for a wireless setup
> presentation.
>
> Re /etc/modules,  no.  The only device
> entry is "nvidia".  That's both before and
> after I run the setup script Mandriva provides
>
>
>   -Bob
>
>
> On 7/14/06, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'll put together a presentation on it.  It's not difficult, just time
> > consuming if one doesn't know which kernel options to choose.
> >
> > Question...is your 3c59x driver listed in /etc/modules?
> >
> > On 7/14/06, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Not an option in that I know how to do
> > > it off hand.  For us lower level users,  this
> > > might be another useful topic to confront
> > > if/when the group every has another install
> > > getogether.
> > >
> > >    -Bob
> > >
> > >
> > > On 7/14/06, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > (Sorry about not responding sooner)
> > > >
> > > > If the 3c59x driver isn't loaded until after you run the configuration
> > > > software, then it's not getting loaded on bootup.  I would bet that's
> > > > why the script can't find the hardware.
> > > >
> > > > For Mandriva, I'm not sure how to force the module to load during
> > > > bootup, outside of compiling it into the kernel.  Is that an option?
> > > >
> > > > On 7/13/06, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > During boot I see something called "forcedeth,"
> > > > > and then the statement that the hardware does
> > > > > not seem to be present.
> > > > >
> > > > > Something's not meshing.  Whatever detects
> > > > > the hardware does not seem to execute during
> > > > > boot,  but must run during install,  and also
> > > > > using the manual effort later on.
> > > > >
> > > > >    -Bob
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On 7/13/06, Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > Are you running HAL or udev?  Both can run scripts when they detect hardware.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On 7/13/06, Bob Kline <bob.kline at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > > The scenario is that I set up Linux
> > > > > > > on one machine,  and later move the hard
> > > > > > > drive to another,  with a different set
> > > > > > > of hardware.  Mostly this worked just
> > > > > > > fine.  A tweak here and there.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The one snag has been the Ethernet
> > > > > > > ports.  Each time I boot up I have to
> > > > > > > go through the same routine of running
> > > > > > > a config script to set one of them up
> > > > > > > again.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > How do I get the appropriate files updated
> > > > > > > now,  as they would be during a first install,
> > > > > > > so the configuration is there again the
> > > > > > > next time I boot,  and the Ethernet ports
> > > > > > > function?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >   -Bob
> > > > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
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