Kernel

Resources

• Laptop kernels: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/laptopkernel/
• Jens Axboe's patch: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=105308502622064&w=2

Installation history

Boot screen and boot splash

17 May 2004: I found two Debian packages to create a really cool lilo boot screen,

lilo_22.2-thermoman-1_i386.deb
gfxboot_1.6-thermoman-1_i386.deb

Installing the 2.6 kernel

Under Device drivers | I2C support (I guess I don't need this),

ALI 1535 (I2C_ALI1535)

If you say yes to this option, support will be included for the SMB Host controller on Acer Labs Inc. (ALI) M1535 South Bridges. The SMB controller is part of the 7101 device, which is an ACPI-compliant Power Management Unit (PMU).

This driver can also be built as a module. If so, the module will be called i2c-ali1535.

ALI15X3: IDE controller at PCI slot 0000:00:10.0
ACPI: No IRQ known for interrupt pin A of device 0000:00:10.0
ALI15X3: chipset revision 196
ALI15X3: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later

ISA bridge: ALi Corporation M1533 PCI to ISA Bridge [Aladdin IV]

Agere SoftModem Version 2.1.14, AMR ALi1535p MB

/dev/agpgart (AGP Support)
ALI chipset support

agpgart: Found an AGP 2.0 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 4x mode
agpgart: Putting AGP V2 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 4x mode

Installing the 2.5 kernel

In late April 2003 I installed the 2.5.69 kernel on Sigillo; battery detection is working perfectly. Note that PPP dialup may not be working -- the pcmcia card is not detected? Not fully tested yet.

Compiling the kernel in Debian.

I first installed Package: kernel-source-2.4.19 2.4.19-5

It unpacks automatically in /usr/src/linux, erasing anything that used to
be there (that happens only if you install a kernel with the same number
as the current one, not if you upgrade from 2.4.19 to 2.4.20 say)

I configured the kernel and wrote /boot/kernel-2.4.19_5.config

Note that you need the sr_mod module, SCSI CD. I had left this out
the first time I compiled 2.4.20, and this is why I didn't get the
new location for the CD drive!

[Note that you can use xxdiff to compare configurations -- extremely
elegant! I did xxdiff kernel-2.4.19_5.config kernel-2.4.19-5.config
kernel-2.4.19.config ]

When I noticed that the trident.c driver had seen major updates last
summer for the ALi5451 chipset, I did wajig install
kernel-image-2.4.20-686 which went great. See
http://packages.debian.org/unstable/base/kernel-image-2.4.20-686.html

1. You need Package: kernel-package
2. make-kpkg -rev Custom.x kernel_image
(I used make-kpkg -rev 5 kernel_image)
3. dpkg --install /usr/src/kernel-image-X.X.X_Custom.x_i386.deb
(I used dpkg --install /usr/src/kernel-image-2.4.19_5_i386.deb)
4. sync; shutdown -r now (resets all I/O and brings it back up-to-date, then restarts)

It may that that I need to simply call it kernel-image-2.4.19-686 to
retain compatibility with other programs.

First kernel installation, 2.4.19-5:

The kernel I made got named kernel-image-2.4.19_5_i386.deb

Before installing the new kernel I mv /lib/modules/2.4.19
/lib/modules/2.4.19_Libranet

/vmlinuz does not exist. Installing from scratch, eh?
Or maybe you don't want a symbolic link here. Hmm? Lets See.
I notice that you do not have vmlinuz symbolic
link. I can create one for you, and it shall be
updated by newer kernel image packages. This is
useful if you use a boot loader like lilo.
Do you want me to create a link from /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.19 to vmlinuz? [Yn]

A new kernel image has been installed at /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.19
(Size: 918kB)

It assumed I had Lilo.

Memorable boot details:

No local APIC present or hardware disabled

Note that this is APIC and not ACPI!! Here comes the real thing:

ACPI: Core Subsystem version [20011018]
ACPI breakpoint: Executed AML Breakpoint opcode
ACPI: Subsystem enabled
ACPI: System firmware supports S0 S3 S4 S5
Processor[0]: C0 C1 C2
ACPI: Battery socket found, battery absent
ACPI: AC Adapter found
ACPI: Power Button (FF) found
ACPI: Multiple power buttons detected, ignoring fixed-feature
ACPI: Power Button (CM) found
ACPI: Lid Switch (CM) found

So this is looking moderately good -- the system tray now shows it on
battery, and 0% charged! "Battery absent"...

Later I got:

apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.16)
apm: overridden by ACPI.
apm: BIOS version 1.2 Flags 0x03 (Driver version 1.16)
apm: overridden by ACPI.
insmod: /lib/modules/2.4.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/apm.o: init_module: No such device
insmod: Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg
insmod: /lib/modules/2.4.19/kernel/arch/i386/kernel/apm.o: insmod char-major-10-134 failed

So some startup script -- list of modules, simply? -- is calling for APM.

Promise Fasttrak(tm) Softwareraid driver 0.03beta: No raid array found
Highpoint HPT370 Softwareraid driver for linux version 0.01
No raid array found

This must be in some startup script and should be removed.

I had to run the nVidia and alsa scripts from Libranet all over again,
which includes some recompilation of the kernel (or rather making modules
using kernel headers).

Second kernel installation, kernel-source-2.4.20 2.4.20-3:

I used the configuration I just did for 2.4.19-5.

1. make-kpkg -rev Custom.x kernel_image
(I used make-kpkg -rev 3 kernel_image)
2. dpkg --install /usr/src/kernel-image-X.X.X_Custom.x_i386.deb
(I used dpkg --install /usr/src/kernel-image-2.4.20_3_i386.deb)
3. sync; shutdown -r now (resets all I/O and brings it back up-to-date,
then restarts)