[vox-tech] Kernel compiles with a dash of debian magic

[Peter Jay Salzman]

Hi Richard,

On Wed 26 Jan 05,  1:54 PM, Richard Burkhart <richard at khanfusion.net> said:
> I'm trying to learn the arcane art of kernel compiles

You need to get this out of your head -- there's nothing arcane about
compiling a kernel.  It should be a very common and natural thing for you to
do.

The arcane part is done by the developers, namely writing the code and
getting the dependencies straight.

Although I'm sure there are developers who'd say that I should get THAT
notion out of my head...

> ... my goal is to get ndiswrapper compiled as a module, operational, and
> driving a linksys wireless card.

> Thanks to a guide at http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=2949 I've 
> got the 'compile' part down, using make-kpkg to build the kernel image 
> as a .deb file and automagically install it.
> 
> Of *course* there's something I'll do wrong.  Last night's attempt to 
> build a trimmed 2.4.29 kernel is kernel panic'ing in the boot process.  

You should really tell us when in the boot process it panics.

I've found the most common reasons for panics during the boot phase of a
home compiled kernel:

   * you forgot to type "lilo".
   * something important was built as a module and it shouldn't have
      (no more initrd).
   * forgot to build your root filesystem's filesystem into the kernel.
   * forgot to include the proper IDE / mobo chipset support.

That's an exhaustive list as far as my personal experience goes.  I'm sure
there's others.

> Sooo ... time to try again. Except --  how do I get rid of the damaged 
> kernel & modules so I can try again? 
>
> The guide at  http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/system/kernel-pkg.html 
> suggests the command "dpkg -P /boot/(kernel image name)" to uninstall 
> it.  That didn't work  
> 
> Trying to remove the kernel through 'dpkg (-r / -P) [kernel image .deb 
> name]' isn't doing anything either.  (I read the dpkg manpage and 
> guessed at that part).
> 
> So I've googled ... I've read manpages ... I've R T'ed the effing M ... 
> and I'm still wondering:
> 
> - Is there a way through dpkg to clear out my damaged 2.4.29 kernel (w) 
> any of its other wreckage (modules, etc).
> 
> or
> 
> - Where on the filesystem do I need to go through to manually remove 
> the flipping thing?  (The kernel image, the modules directory, the 
> entries in GRUB, etc.)?
 
You can see what dpkg installed on your system with:

   dpkg -L packagename

I myself don't use the Debian Way for kernel compiles.  Probably because at
this point, I'm an old dog who doesn't want to learn a new trick.

But to answer your question, your kernel is likely to be in /boot with a
symlink to /.

Your modules are located in /lib/modules/x.y.z.

Pete

-- 
The mathematics of physics has become ever more abstract, rather than more
complicated.  The mind of God appears to be abstract but not complicated.
He also appears to like group theory.  --  Tony Zee's "Fearful Symmetry"

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