Installing a new kernel -> follow-up

[J.F. Gratton]

Hello there :)

I managed to compile the new kernel (no big deal actually !).

The documentation is a bit sketchy... I wanted to be able to keep my old
2.2.12-20 as well as the new 2.2.13.

I went into LILO, created a new entry for the 2.2.13 kernel, but here's
the catch, here's the entry for my old kernel:

image=/boot/vmlinuz
label=old
initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
read-only
root=/dev/hda8

Now....what is this initrd, and why isn't there a similar file for my
new 2.2.13 kernel ?

Also, in the Kernel HOWTO they only mentionned that you need to copy
bzImage (renaming it if you want) into /boot... What about System.map ?
When I rebooted I got plenty of error messages because I don't have a
new System.map (how do I generate one ??)

Many thanks !

Jeff

[Andy Longton]

In linux.redhat.install J.F. Gratton <ji...@videotron.ca> wrote:
: Hello there :)

: I managed to compile the new kernel (no big deal actually !).

: The documentation is a bit sketchy... I wanted to be able to keep my old
: 2.2.12-20 as well as the new 2.2.13.

: I went into LILO, created a new entry for the 2.2.13 kernel, but here's
: the catch, here's the entry for my old kernel:

: image=/boot/vmlinuz
: label=old
: initrd=/boot/initrd-2.2.12-20.img
: read-only
: root=/dev/hda8

: Now....what is this initrd, and why isn't there a similar file for my
: new 2.2.13 kernel ?

It's a boot image that temporarily stores modules so that they don't
need to be dragged off of the boot partition. Usually for SCSI support,
but I haven't ever had to use it.

As usual, when in doubt, man;

man initrd

it comes up with a good description on my system.

: Also, in the Kernel HOWTO they only mentionned that you need to copy

: bzImage (renaming it if you want) into /boot... What about System.map ?
: When I rebooted I got plenty of error messages because I don't have a
: new System.map (how do I generate one ??)

System.map is created as a part of the build. The part of my
kernel_maker.sh script that covers this reads like this;

-------
cp /usr/src/linux/System.map /boot/System.map-2.2.13
cd /boot
rm System.map
ln -s System.map-2.2.13 System.map
-------

...remember to change the "2.2.13" version # each time you compile a
different kernel.