Ok, so because someone more Evil than Seitan sent me a set of Debian install disks, and I am easily swayed, I ended up putting the system on my desktop machine. It replaced a seriously updated Red Hat 7.2 + Ximian Gnome install (and despite what the support pages say, Ximian works fine with the current[ish] Debian). I'd used ext3 for the linux partitions with Red Hat, and Debian reads 'em fine, but isn't using the journaling info since they're currently mounted as ext2. The default kernel doesn't have ext3 support compiled in.
Lost most of the readership with the first sentence, didn't I?
Anyhow, am getting the 2.4.19 source and headers using all-the-rumors-are-true dselect, and will actually be following the simple, clear instructions from Debian Reference Chapter 7 - The Linux kernel under Debian. Instead of my usual, I don't need no stinkin' docs method of screwing up my system. Wacky idea, I know.
The really, truly important bit is:
cp /boot/config-2.4.18-386 .config # get current config as default
Never did that before with a new kernel, meaning I always ended up setting every friggin' option in a (usually unsuccessful) attempt to re-create the current config with whatever new feature I was looking to include. Supposedly, doing it this way, I only gots to turn on ext3, ignore everything else (meaning less chance of, say, losing the ability connect to the 'net, which yes, I've done in the past, because I Am Dumb), and let make-kpkg clean do it's thing, and be all set.
But I'm making a boot floppy just in case.
And I'm still wondering why my BIOS now thinks lilo is a virus, and warns me whenever I try to start either Linux or Windows, when it ignored such things under Red Hat. . .
And obviously, I write and post this before the attempt, in case I lose the ability to connect to the 'net. And because, like everyone else, I always say I'm going to fully document this sort of thing for posterity/next time I do an install, and never, ever do.
Although someone more Crueler than Cruella claims he'll be doing just that with the refurb laptop.
Update: Yep, I'd say the link to Lesbian GNU/Linux proves my characterization of the man as more Cooler than Jesus.
Update II: Or, if I'd just scrolled down further, I would have seen that I don't need to recompile at all. Did I mention that I Am Dumb? Ah well, since I also turned on ACPI support, guess it's not a complete loss. . .
Ah, the brilliance of kernel images... Most people seem to like to compile kernels to keep the unnecessary flab out. I've done it a million times but I always forget something and end up without some kind of hardware support. If your hardware isn't ancient it doesn't hurt to have the kernel modules available anyhow. I've got my eye on some wireless stuff...
What puzzles me is, the people who seem most enthusiastic about recompiling have tons of memory and drive space, and blazing-fast processors to begin with. I'm not sure the speed increase & space savings would make it worth my while to leave the 486 laptop running overnight compiling an optimized-to-hell kernel; how much an improvement are we talking about?
Naturally, the one time I take all the precautions and prepare for the traditional, "You forgot the initrd image, dumbass" kernel panic, the thing went off without a hitch.
Seeing as I'm not constantly swapping out the sound or network cards, does it make sense to have them as modules, rather than compiled in?
All you really _have_ to compile in is drivers to allow you to read your initial root filesystem. I usually leave as many things as I can modular, as it helps to keep the size of the kernel more manageable. makes it easier to do things like boot off a floppy with it. never much cared for debian, myself though. dselect is just too big a pain in the ass, and the meta packages were for shit the last time I installed. the new redhat beta is exceptionally pretty, but i'd hesistate to install it on anything slower than 300Mhz or with less than 128 MB of RAM.
oh, and if you use a lot of modules, those parts of the kernel don't have to be recompiled again until you get a newer codebase. I leave 'em as modules on my boxes.
just another unsolicited comment from a another ignorant ass alabama cracka.;-)
poobie
Well, yeah, but you're actually informative. . .
Forgot about how you don't have to recompile modules with the right flag set. That might make it worth trying another one on the laptop. Hadn't realized how crucial apm support is, until I tried using the power button to put the thing in sleep mode, and linux totally freaked when I turned it back on. Oops.
If you're the standard for 'bamas these days, I might have to reconsider visiting my grandma in Muscle Shoals.
Nah, that's crazy talk.
I like Pie...It make my tummy happy.
What was the question?
Did I mention I somehow lucked into seeing The Flaming Lips and De La Soul w/Black Sheep for free?
There is an easier way. If you have a CD burner and software that can write bootable images, surf over to http://people.debian.org/~blade/XFS-Install/ and grab the bootable image there. As an additional bonus, you can go with XFS if you tire of EXT3.
You just had to mention the cd burner, didn't you?
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to convincing the system that, honest, that IDE drive is actually a SCSI drive. . .
Thanks for the tip. And hey, boot-floppies with PPPoE (DSL) extension. Now that would have helped.
Modconf has what you're looking for if you used one of the kernel images. I have two IDE cd drives and both of them are recognized as SCSI devices. Just scsi-ide, I swear.
Y'know, if you're smart enough to use a symbolic link to /dev/cdrom in fstab, rather than /dev/hdc, so when the drive comes up as SCSI you get error messages out the. . .
Never mind. How do you know when they're serious about that "Generated file - do not edit by hand" and when they're joking? I always figure they're joking.
This may explain most of my problems.
well, I don't so much care for north alabama, myself, but I might have to make an exception for family...
Seriously, it's really not that bad here. it's no Chicago, but that cuts both ways. at least with the 'necks, you know where you stand.
if you dig the punk rock, there're actually a couple of places to go see shows down hmmya too.
poobie