HOWTO: Kernel Compilation for Newbies

[tseliot]

tseliot, can you provide some insight on this kernel issue I can't figure out:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=62800

Thanks.

Check your thread

[tseliot]

Hi!

Well I'm having a little problem because of my own stupidity... I forgot to change my graphic driver from ati to vesa and now i gat a blank screen on boot...
Is there any way to simply change that or I have to recompile again? It lasted almost 2 hours on my laptop....

thanks, Miha

1) I suppose it boots to the command line. If it does:
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

set ati to vesa

CTRL+O to overwrite the file
CTRL+X to exit

startx or reboot

2) if instead it doesn't boot at all:
as soon as you turn on your computer after the bios you will see a the word "GRUB" etc. press ESC until it gets you to Grub boot menu and select your previous kernel from the list and press enter.
After you boot in Ubuntu set xorg to vesa.
and Reboot


In the end you have to install ati drivers again for your new kernel

[myha]

Hi!

Well i decided to compile again... I did everything exactly acc to this how-to and it works great... Except for 1 thing.... When linux boots I dont see anything, I have black screen untill login screen appears.... I cant use virtual consoles either because it shows nothing.... Black screen....

edit: Ok I got it working now, the problem was I edited grub config and added vga=792 and now I removed it and its ok but with smaller resolution... Why 792 isnt working? It works on previous kernel image but not on new one...

Thanks, Miha

[tseliot]

Hi!

Well i decided to compile again... I did everything exactly acc to this how-to and it works great... Except for 1 thing.... When linux boots I dont see anything, I have black screen untill login screen appears.... I cant use virtual consoles either because it shows nothing.... Black screen....

edit: Ok I got it working now, the problem was I edited grub config and added vga=792 and now I removed it and its ok but with smaller resolution... Why 792 isnt working? It works on previous kernel image but not on new one...

Thanks, Miha

A kernel bug? I really don't know.

[TakisX]

I compiled the new 2.6.13 kernel with your How To (very good)

Where i can find more info in order to remove elements from kernel to make it beter ?

When a new kernel is out is there a reason to get it if your hardware works ?

I must compile the nvidia drivers again now ?

[tseliot]

I compiled the new 2.6.13 kernel with your How To (very good)

Where i can find more info in order to remove elements from kernel to make it beter ?

When a new kernel is out is there a reason to get it if your hardware works ?

I must compile the nvidia drivers again now ?

1) Google? Really I'm looking for a good (free) guide too

2) No, unless you want to test the new kernel release

3) definitely yes

[WiLLiE]

Hi!

Well i decided to compile again... I did everything exactly acc to this how-to and it works great... Except for 1 thing.... When linux boots I dont see anything, I have black screen untill login screen appears.... I cant use virtual consoles either because it shows nothing.... Black screen....

edit: Ok I got it working now, the problem was I edited grub config and added vga=792 and now I removed it and its ok but with smaller resolution... Why 792 isnt working? It works on previous kernel image but not on new one...

Thanks, Miha

Yeah, with vga=792 all I get is a black screen at boot. (It seemes that it is continuing as usual b'coz I can hear the drive work. And ctrl+alt+del works.)

If I remove vga=792 I get the normal output, except it's like 640x480. (And Splashy doesn't work.)

How to fix this?

[tseliot]

Yeah, with vga=792 all I get is a black screen at boot. (It seemes that it is continuing as usual b'coz I can hear the drive work. And ctrl+alt+del works.)

If I remove vga=792 I get the normal output, except it's like 640x480. (And Splashy doesn't work.)

How to fix this?

I admit I've never used splash but I think you could try different resolutions:

put vga=791 for 1024*768 or vga=794 for 1280*1024 to your grub menu.lst

Tell me if it works

[greyhound4334]

TSeliot,

Thanks for the great guide. I have 2 questions for you. I have an AMD64 3200+ processor, but I'm currently running 32-bit ubuntu. So,

1. You wrote:

If you have more than 900MB RAM then you'll definitely need this, otherwise (or if you are using Ubuntu 64 bit) skip this step:
Scroll down the text until you find “High Memory Support”.
Select it.
You'll have three possible choices:
Off
4GB (if you have no more than 4GB RAM)
64GB (if you have more than 4GB RAM)
Select one of these functions and press enter.
Press the right arrow and select exit

While running menuconfig and looking at the built-in help, it said "if you have a 32-bit processor AND more than 1GB RAM...". So I'm a little unsure of which choice to make. Should I be considered 32-bit (my OS) or 64-bit (my processor)?

2. On a related note, I chose AMD64 as my processor type. I assume choice only affects kernel optimization, but I was slightly worried/confused over whether that might conflict with the rest of the distro being 32-bit. Just wanted to double check that choosing "AMD64" was the right move there.

Thanks in advance!

[tseliot]

TSeliot,

Thanks for the great guide. I have 2 questions for you. I have an AMD64 3200+ processor, but I'm currently running 32-bit ubuntu. So,

1. You wrote:
While running menuconfig and looking at the built-in help, it said "if you have a 32-bit processor AND more than 1GB RAM...". So I'm a little unsure of which choice to make. Should I be considered 32-bit (my OS) or 64-bit (my processor)?

2. On a related note, I chose AMD64 as my processor type. I assume choice only affects kernel optimization, but I was slightly worried/confused over whether that might conflict with the rest of the distro being 32-bit. Just wanted to double check that choosing "AMD64" was the right move there.

Thanks in advance!

1) You use Ubuntu 32bit so you have to consider it as such (even if your processor is a 64bit one.

2) If you use an AMD64 in a 32bit then you should chose "k7" processor type.

I should add these explanation to the guide. Thanks for making me notice the flaws.