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jimlynch11 Guru
Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 590 Location: massachusetts
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:22 am Post subject: new kernel update? how necessary is this? |
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ok so i pretty much just got my system running within the last week or so. and im damn happy with gentoo compared to other distro's i have tried (redhat, mandrake, lindows, elx). Anyway I did an emerge -up world just to see if everything was up to date, and it tells me there has been a new kernel released (gentoo-sources-2.4.20-r1) while I am running 2.4.19-r10. I also noticed that rc3 was recently released (i believe i installed rc2)My system is pretty stable right now but i guess my question comes in two parts:
1.) What do i gain from updating either the kernel, or the gentoo release. how often do these updates get released, how necessary are they, and what do they get me?
2.) How do i do it? is it possible to update to rc3 without rebuilding my system? Is installing a replacement kernel really necessary so frequently, or did i just time it bad?
Thanks for the input |
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Target Apprentice
Joined: 25 Apr 2002 Posts: 200
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:40 am Post subject: |
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It isn't critical this time. Updating the kernel involves building & installing it and any modules it uses (including nvidia-kernel if you have an nvidia card), then booting into the new kernel.
As for myself- Something in the iptables API changed and broke a couple of my NATing rules, so I'm just sticking with 2.4.19-r10. |
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dreamer3 Guru
Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 553
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:43 am Post subject: Re: new kernel update? how necessary is this? |
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jimlynch11 wrote: | 2.) How do i do it? is it possible to update to rc3 without rebuilding my system? |
Releases just have to do with the install CDs... if you're keeping updated technically you're already running "rc3"... |
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jimlynch11 Guru
Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 590 Location: massachusetts
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:46 am Post subject: |
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the emerge system supposedly installs the kernel...do i then just follow the same steps as i did when i built my first kernel for the original install? is there somewhere that will tell me a list of changes so that i know whether i should or shouldn't do it? |
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dreamer3 Guru
Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 553
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 5:59 am Post subject: |
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jimlynch11 wrote: | the emerge system supposedly installs the kernel...do i then just follow the same steps as i did when i built my first kernel for the original install? is there somewhere that will tell me a list of changes so that i know whether i should or shouldn't do it? |
Emerge will simply install the source... hardly scary. Then you'll need to do as the install guide said with regard to setting the kernel options, compiling, copying to boot, using lilo or grub, etc... Maybe check out the kernel compiling how to at www.tldp.com... Make sure you set it up so you can still boot the old kernel if you run into any problems. |
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Target Apprentice
Joined: 25 Apr 2002 Posts: 200
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 6:00 am Post subject: |
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Actually, this is one of the times where emerge does NOT compile the software for you. You just have the sources in /usr/src now.
The selection of kernel option is too complex to be handled by a build script. You'll need to configure and build it yourself. That said, though... there's really not much point to upgrading if 2.4.19-r10 is running fine for you.
You should only really upgrade if it's a security fix, or if the new kernel does something new that you need. |
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jufoa Apprentice
Joined: 10 Dec 2002 Posts: 213 Location: Rovaniemi, Finland
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 8:41 am Post subject: |
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i think that if everything works with that 2.4.19 kernel. there is no reason to upgrade to 2.4.20. there isn't so much new that it is worth it. |
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cederberg Guru
Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 349 Location: Stockholm / Sweden
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Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2003 10:31 am Post subject: |
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It is not so hard to update the kernel. The Gentoo elders have already done it so many times, that they actually decided to document it... :-) |
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