[FAQF] KC: Kernel Compilation

rac · Last edited by rac on Wed Feb 12, 2003 9:06 pm; edited 7 times in total

This thread is to collect information for the Kernel Compilation section of the new FAQ forum. Feel free to add answers to any of the questions here, or submit new questions that you think should be included in the Kernel Compilation section. Here are some questions to get us started:

Q1. I made a mistake compiling my kernel and now my computer won't boot. What can I do now?

Q2. What is devfs? Do I really need it in my kernel? How do I enable it?

Q3. Networking worked during installation, but now that I compiled my own kernel, it doesn't work anymore. What's wrong?

Q4. I compiled a new kernel, but my changes aren't taking effect. How do I install my new kernel?

Q5. I get errors about unresolved symbols when I'm compiling my kernel. How do I get rid of them?

Q6. Which of the various kernel sources (gentoo-sources, vanilla-sources, etc.) are right for me?

Q7. How do I know when to compile something into the kernel, and when should I compile it as a module?

Q8. How do I install a new kernel while still keeping my current one around so that I can use it if necessary?

Q9. How do I install multiple kernel versions alongside one another without causing problems?

Q10. I'm upgrading my kernel sources. Can I use my old configuration? If so, how?

Q11. I've never compiled a kernel before and I'm totally lost. Are there any good guides? How do I get information about what all these options mean?

Q12. I've changed some hardware in my computer. What changes do I need to make to my kernel?

Q13. I just installed a new kernel and now I'm getting a panic at boot time trying to mount the root partition. How do I fix this?

Q14. Why isn't the kernel being compiled with the CFLAGS that I set in /etc/make.conf?

Q15. I just compiled a new kernel and now my computer reboots instantly at startup. Why and how do I fix it?

NOTE: Questions that are links have candidate answers already in their own threads.
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yokem55 · Guru Joined: 18 Apr 2002 Posts: 360 Location: Oregon

Q7. How do I know when to compile something into the kernel, and when should I compile it as a module?

First of all, if the option is required to boot the system, then it needs be compiled into the kernel. This includes drivers for your ide or scsi controller and the filesystem driver for your root filesystem. If these options are not built into the kernel, then the kernel can't access your hard drives to continue booting the system. Other options that *should* be compiled into the kernel include acpi or apm support (you cannot have both in the kernel at the same time). Pretty much everything else that can be compiled as a module can be used as a module without much problem.

rbacon2 · n00b Joined: 19 Sep 2002 Posts: 21

Q8. How do I install a new kernel while still keeping my current one around so that I can use it if necessary?

Once your new kernel is compiled, rename your current one to something snappy like bzImage_old then copy your new one from the source tree to the boot partition.
open /boot/grub/grub.conf or /boot/grub/menu.lst for editing and add a section for your old kernel.
That's it at the next power up you'll be able to choose the kernel you need.
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rbacon2 · n00b Joined: 19 Sep 2002 Posts: 21

Q10. I'm upgrading my kernel sources. Can I use my old configuration? If so, how?

In /usr/src/linux you'll find the configuration file stored as .config, copy this to the new source tree before running your chosen kernel config.

Run through all the kernel sections anyway as there may be more suitable selections in your new sources, but most of the work will already be done.
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rac · Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2002 6:48 pm Post subject:

Thanks a lot to everybody who has participated so far. This was much more much sooner than expected. A couple of general comments: please address only one question per post. Eventually, once these posts are formatted and finished, they will be split into their own threads in the FAQ forum, and having multiple questions in a single post makes that more complicated.

Although focusing on GRUB is understandable and reasonable, I think it would be good if we could incorporate a few comments for people who are using other bootloaders, such as LILO and yaboot (those are the only others I've seen mention of on the forums - the Sparc and Alpha people might be using something else).

@rbacon2, it might be nice to make some mention of the "oldconfig" target and its function in the answer to Q10.

EDIT: yokem55's first answer to Q1 has been split. See first post.
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rac · Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2002 8:29 pm Post subject:

phypor, for KC8 and KC9, can you add some stuff about how /lib/modules directories work, and potential pitfalls of having things conflicting in there?
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_SkeLeToN_ · Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2002 9:57 pm Post subject:

ebrostig · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 1:36 am Post subject:

rac · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 7:16 am Post subject:

I think Skeleton is talking about the fact that some kernel module ebuilds (alsa, nvidia-kernel, lm-sensors) rely on /usr/src/linux pointing to the sources for the kernel to build with, and if that points to different sources than you're running, bad things happen.
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pilla · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 6:34 pm Post subject:

Q13. I just installed a new kernel and now I'm getting a panic at boot time trying to mount the root partition. How do I fix this?

First, you'll need to boot again using a previous kernel backup (or the installation CD, if you haven't made a backup of your kernel). Then, you must verify if your kernel configuration has the correct file system for your root partition. For example, if your / file system is ext3, you need to activate it in File Systems->Ext3 journalling file system support. Make sure it is not compiled as a module but inside the kernel. Compile your kernel again and install it following the regular instructions.

pilla · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 6:35 pm Post subject:

I think that this is the most usual situation, but I may be wrong. I didn't want to make it overly complex, so I kept it very basic. If you think it is not enough, I can try to be more comprehensive.

pilla · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 6:45 pm Post subject:

Q12. I've changed some hardware in my computer. What changes do I need to make to my kernel?

You may disable support for hardware that you don't have anymore and enable support for the new hardware. Keep a backup of your kernel configuration (.config), so you can compare to your new configuration if any problems arise.

phypor · n00b Joined: 25 Jun 2002 Posts: 68 Location: Texas

rac · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 8:24 pm Post subject:

pilla · Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2002 8:59 pm Post subject:

But critical hardware support necessary to boot is usually inside the kernel (at least for Gentoo, has somebody found mkinitrd somewhere?). I think that the sollution for this problem should be resolved by the ebuild that installed the sources.

UnderDog138 · Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2002 5:34 am Post subject:

If anybody cares, I had a problem with the /usr/src/symlink messing up my NVdriver module when I switched kernels and I notice other people have similar problems so I wrote this little diddy. Run it before rebooting when switching to another kernel.

_SkeLeToN_ · Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2002 5:17 am Post subject:

UnderDog138 · Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2002 5:52 am Post subject:

I considered doing that but I couldn't figure out how so I just wrote a shell script to do it before I reboot.
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carambola5 · Apprentice Joined: 10 Jul 2002 Posts: 214

To keep track of what your kernels do and when they were used, I suggest creating a text file in your /boot partition that keeps track.

SeJo

Q15. I just compiled a new kernel and now my computer reboots instantly at startup. Why and how do I fix it?

You might have forgoten to update your bootloader. Most of the time this happens after upgrading a kernel version.
boot using install-cd or bootupdisk
mount your / and your /boot partition.
chroot to your / partition.
configure your bootloader.

lilo: as root: nano /etc/lilo.conf and make sure you set the link to the correct kernel
grup: as root: grub, make sure you set the link to the correct kernel

Also you might want to heck if the bzImage in the /boot section is the correct one. I always use a ls -all /boot/bzImage and check the time and the size..

Sargonas · Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2003 6:53 pm Post subject:

I wrote this because of a not exsisting one in the faq but didnt see the previous post until searching for a place to put this. Sorry.

[faq] KC10: I'm upgrading my kernel sources. Can I use my old configuration? If so, how?

Once you have emerged the new kernel there are several new ways to use your old config for you your new kernel pending that you have saved you your .config file from your old kernel or havent deleted the source from your last install.

First thing to do is copy ( /usr/src/linux-2.(old version)/.config or /boot/config-(version) ) to /usr/src/linux-2.(spify new version)/.config

This will give you access to your old config.

Now if you do any of the make *config you should have the ability to load that config:

make oldconfig: This will configure the kernel from an old configuration file .config if it exsist otherwise will use arch/<your arch>/depconfig recommended that you run menu or x config after this to check for any changes.

make menuconfig: Will first attempt to load .config, that failing it will load arch/<your arch>/depconfig This provides you with an easier option of configuring and has option for loading configs and saving.

make xconfig: Will load .config, failing will load defaults, this is probably the easiest for beginners because it will show everything in a nice pretty format.

Note on xconfig: requires xfree86 to be started + tcl/tk and wish

after you have loaded that up then just continue compiling as normal:

i.e. make clean dep bzImage modules modules_install install

Note: clean and install are not required but are recommended:

clean: clears all previously compiled modules and kernels from this source

install: moves bzImage to /boot and names it according to the kernel name and will attempt to update lilo for you.( I dont use lilo so I anwser no to this ) this will also copy your config to /boot/config-kernelname that way you will still have it no matter what you do to /usr/src/linux* and if this is a recompile of an old kernel that is already in boot it will move it to vmlinuz-(version).old

Be sure to update /etc/modules.autoload adding any modules ( that you have changed ) you want loaded at boot.

update grub or lilo and reboot. Enjoy your spify new kernel!
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rac · Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2003 8:54 pm Post subject:

Apologies to all participants in this thread, especially Sesshomaru. I must have fallen asleep and not noticed the last several posts. We've decided to go with IWBCMAN's KC10.

@SeJo: for KC15 I was basically looking for https://forums.gentoo.org/faq.php#15.
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buckyball · n00b Joined: 28 Oct 2002 Posts: 14 Location: Fremont, CA

Something that I haven't seen mentioned here is how you maintain multiple, serial copies of kernels (and their associated modules) built from the same source tree so that you can incrementally "tweak" the config of your kernel while maintaining one or more working "fallback" copies.

The way I do it is to modify the "EXTRAVERSION = " line in /usr/src/linux/Makefile to have something like:

dimde · n00b Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 2

Please add https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=8407&highlight=inital+console to KC15.

I moved my working gentoo installation to another HD and forgot to copy /dev.
So I messed around with new Kernels, etc... for more than a week until I found this thread about the empty /dev directory.

Here's what you have to do:

discomfitor · l33t Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 927 Location: None

Q5. I get errors about unresolved symbols when I'm compiling my kernel. How do I get rid of them?

From what I've seen, this is usually caused by a dependency problem. You've probably enabled some option (like mousedev) without enabling another option that it depends on (like keybdev) and so it fails to compile. Check over your configuration and see if you're missing something.

Also, if this (unresolved symbols) happens to your modules when you try to load them, you can fix it by doing: