Compile Kernel 2.6 under Debian Sarge

This is a little bit different from compiling a kernel 2.6 on Debian Woody because Sarge uses grub as the boot loader (instead of lilo) and because module-init-tools, initrd-tools, procps are already installed. After all it's similar to http://www.howtoforge.com/howto_linux_kernel_2.6_compile_debian. This is how you do it:

Code:

apt-get install kernel-package libncurses5-dev fakeroot wget bzip2
cd /usr/src
wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.11.7.tar.bz2
tar xjf linux-2.6.11.7.tar.bz2
cd linux-2.6.11.7/
make menuconfig

It is normally a good idea to take the configuration of your existing (working!) kernel 2.6 as a starting point for the configuration of your new kernel. Usually the current kernel configuration is saved in a file under /boot, e.g. /boot/config-2.6.3. I will load this configuration and then do the changes I desire. If you do not have the config file of a working kernel 2.6 this one might help you: http://www.falkotimme.com/howtos/debian_kernel2.6_compile/config-2.6.8.1

Code:

make-kpkg clean
fakeroot make-kpkg --initrd --revision=custom.1.0 kernel_image

If the compilation stops with an error, run

Code:

make clean

and then re-run the previous commands starting with

Code:

make menuconfig

Go ahead with

Code:

cd ../
dpkg -i kernel-image-2.6.11.7_custom.1.0_i386.deb

This will install your new kernel (including a ramdisk) and also update grub. You can now reboot your system, and you should then have a new kernel. You can check that by running:

Code:

uname -a

 

Nice walkthrough, thanks!

tyler

 

some errors

after running the apt-get update with these sources:
deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://secure-testing.debian.net/debian-secure-testing testing/security-updates main contrib non-free
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ stable main contrib non-free
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
deb http://debian.kcore.org/ ./

I started following the instructions. On the first line

apt-get install kernel-package ncurses-dev fakeroot wget bzip2
I encountered 2 errors. First, it informed me that:
Reading Package Lists...
Building Dependency Tree...
Package ncurses-dev is a virtual package provided by:
libncurses5-dev 5.4-9
You should explicitly select one to install.
and it installed none of the packages

so, I removed the ncurses-dev from the install list and tried again. this time, all packages were installed, but it prompted me for if I wanted to stop gdm before I installed glibc. This was slightly weird, because I logged in as "repair" from grub. also, I don't believe gdm was running, because ps -A yielded:

PID TTY TIME CMD
1 ? 00:00:00 init
2 ? 00:00:00 ksoftirqd/0
3 ? 00:00:00 events/0
4 ? 00:00:00 khelper
5 ? 00:00:00 kacpid
35 ? 00:00:00 kblockd/0
45 ? 00:00:00 pdflush
46 ? 00:00:00 pdflush
48 ? 00:00:00 aio/0
47 ? 00:00:00 kswapd0
184 ? 00:00:00 kseriod
293 ? 00:00:00 kjournald
346 ? 00:00:00 udevd
1452 ? 00:00:00 khubd
2731 ? 00:00:00 dhclient
2736 ? 00:00:00 portmap
3083 tty1 00:00:00 init
3101 tty1 00:00:00 bash
3497 tty1 00:00:00 ps

I chose to install glibc anyway, but can easily start over if I need to.

Thanks,
Dylan Evans

 

Have you been successful in installing your new kernel, or did you encounter problems?

 

sorta...

My kernel compiled completely with some warnings. When I rebooted, it gave me a

Code:

VFS: Cannot open root device "hdb1" or unknown block (0,0)
kernel panic: not syncing: unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

I have two physical HDs, one 6.4 gig (primary slave) with / and a swap on it, and a 80 gig with windows and /home and a swap. I believe the ramdrive installed correctly (at least no errors popped up) and I used my earlier kernel as a start point, and it boots fine. Any ideas?

Dylan

 

What's in /boot/grub/menu.1st?

 

Code:

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.13.4 
root		(hd1,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.13.4 root=/dev/hdb1 ro 
savedefault
boot

+ an identical (recovery mode)

and my vanilla kernel

Dylan

 

I need to see the whole file, not just an excerpt.

 

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
# grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 5

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specifiv kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/hdb1 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd1,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery mode) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## ## End Default Options ##

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.13.4
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.13.4 root=/dev/hdb1 ro
savedefault
boot

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.13.4 (recovery mode)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.13.4 root=/dev/hdb1 ro single
savedefault
boot

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.8-2-k7
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-k7 root=/dev/hdb1 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.8-2-k7
savedefault
boot

title Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.8-2-k7 (recovery mode)
root (hd1,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.8-2-k7 root=/dev/hdb1 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.8-2-k7
savedefault
boot

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
# on /dev/hda1
title Microsoft Windows XP Professional
root (hd0,0)
savedefault
makeactive
chainloader +1

 

You have no initrd line for your new kernel. Maybe that causes the error.

 

You're right!

I added a initrd line to my menu.lst, and it booted wonderfully - thanks a bunch! However, when compiling, I had installed the latest gcc (4.0) and g++, but it said it would use the earlier 3.3 version to compile the kernel. does this mean if I compile any modules (like the latest nvidia driver), they will use gcc/g++ 4.0, and won't be compatible with my kernel? Is there a way to check (to see if I'm wrong) which g++/gcc compiler I used?

Dylan

 

I don't think so. I'd try it.

 

I went through the whole process of upgrading to kernel 2.6 and I made sure that the initr-img was in the right place, but when I loaded with the new kernel 2.6 it gave me another error. The boot was trying to find /sbin/init/ and /dev/console/ where would those be entered in so that the kernel can load?

 

Works great except I had to

apt-get install yaird

aswell

 

Are you sure you have your root FS compiled in kernel?

Hi,
I had the same problem with my upgrade to 2.6.8.
At first the kernel didn't boot at all, but after i
did mkinitrd and added the initrd image to grub menu.lst I had the same results as you had written.
As it turned out, I forgot to compile ext3 support into the kernel, which is needed if you have ext3 as the root fs (/).

Hope this helps someone.

 

Check the command you typed. It should be "libncurses5-dev" not "ncurses-dev"

 

Do you know the type of file system on your boot drive? It must be complied in the kernel and *not* as a module. This is set in the kernel configuration.

If you boot file system is ext3 then when you configure the kernel then the ext3 file system must be marked to be compiled in the kernel.

 

Ill get this error,
Pivot_root: No such file or directory
/sbin/init: 432: cannot open dev/console: No such file
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init:

This is my /boot/grub/menu.lst

Code:

# menu.lst - See: grub(8), info grub, update-grub(8)
#            grub-install(8), grub-floppy(8),
#            grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
#            and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.           
default		0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout		20

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line)  and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
#      password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title		Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root		(hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader	+1
#
# title		Linux
# root		(hd0,1)
# kernel	/vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specifiv kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
# kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=(hd0,0)

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
##      alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
##      lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
##      altoptions=(recovery mode) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
##      howmany=7
# howmany=all

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
##      memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## ## End Default Options ##

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.15.6 
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15.6 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.15.6
savedefault
boot

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.15.6 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.15.6 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.15.6
savedefault
boot

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.11.7 
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.7 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.11.7
savedefault
boot

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.11.7 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.11.7 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.11.7
savedefault
boot

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386 
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
savedefault
boot

title		Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.4.27-2-386 (recovery mode)
root		(hd0,0)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.27-2-386 root=/dev/hda1 ro single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-2-386
savedefault
boot

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title		Other operating systems:
root

Can you help me?

 

Can you post your /etc/fstab here?

 

This is my /etc/fstab

Code:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/hda1       /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/hda5       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/hdc        /media/cdrom0   iso9660 ro,user,noauto  0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0
/dev/hdb1       /home           ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1