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The Linux Kernel HOWTO

Brian Ward bri@cs.uchicago.edu

v3.0, 15 July 2001

This is a detailed guide to kernel configuration, compilation, upgrades, and troubleshooting for ix86-based systems.

1. Introduction

• 1.1 Read this first! (I mean it)
• 1.2 A word on style

2. Quick Steps - Kernel Compile

• 2.1 Troublshoot Common Mistakes
• 2.2 Post Kernel Building
• 2.3 Sample lilo.conf

3. Important questions and their answers

• 3.1 What does the kernel do, anyway?
• 3.2 Why would I want to upgrade my kernel?
• 3.3 What kind of hardware do the newer kernels support?
• 3.4 What version of gcc and libc do I need?
• 3.5 What's a loadable module?
• 3.6 How much disk space do I need?
• 3.7 How long does it take?

4. How to actually configure the kernel

• 4.1 Getting the source
• 4.2 Unpacking the source
• 4.3 Configuring the kernel
• 4.4 Now what? (The Makefile)

5. Compiling the kernel

• 5.1 Cleaning and depending
• 5.2 Compile time
• 5.3 Other ``make''ables
• 5.4 Installing the kernel

6. Patching the kernel

• 6.1 Applying a patch
• 6.2 If something goes wrong
• 6.3 Getting rid of the .orig files
• 6.4 Other patches

7. Additional packages

• 7.1 kbd
• 7.2 util-linux
• 7.3 hdparm
• 7.4 gpm

8. Some pitfalls

• 8.1 make clean
• 8.2 Huge or slow kernels
• 8.3 The parallel port doesn't work/my printer doesn't work
• 8.4 Kernel doesn't compile
• 8.5 New version of the kernel doesn't seem to boot
• 8.6 You forgot to run LILO, or system doesn't boot at all
• 8.7 It says `warning: bdflush not running'
• 8.8 I can't get my IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drive to work
• 8.9 It says weird things about obsolete routing requests
• 8.10 Firewalling not working in 1.2.0
• 8.11 ``Not a compressed kernel Image file''
• 8.12 Problems with console terminal after upgrade to 1.3.x
• 8.13 Can't seem to compile things after kernel upgrade
• 8.14 Increasing limits

9. Note for upgrade to version 2.0.x, 2.2.x

10. Modules

• 10.1 Installing the module utilities
• 10.2 Modules distributed with the kernel

11. Tips and tricks

• 11.1 Redirecting output of the make or patch commands
• 11.2 Conditional kernel install
• 11.3 Kernel updates

12. Other relevant HOWTOs that might be useful

13. Misc

• 13.1 Author
• 13.2 To do
• 13.3 Contributions
• 13.4 Copyright notice, License, and all that stuff

14. Other Formats of this Document

• 14.1 Acrobat PDF format
• 14.2 Convert Linuxdoc to Docbook format
• 14.3 Convert to MS WinHelp format
• 14.4 Reading various formats

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