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On 10/31/2009 06:52 PM, Harry Putnam wrote: |
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> Looking at the kernel upgrade pages at |
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> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/kernel-upgrade.xml |
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> |
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> Its a bit confusing about the symlink creation. I've wondered about |
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> it a few times. |
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> |
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> At the top, you're told how to get the sources and then a discussion |
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> of the symlink follows. |
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> |
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> It appears you are expected to change the symlink to the newly |
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> installed sources. |
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> |
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> But then it says: |
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> 4. Updating the /usr/src/linux symbolic link |
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> |
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> "Gentoo requires that the /usr/src/linux symbolic link points to the |
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> sources of the kernel you are running." |
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> |
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> So if gentoo `requires' the symlink to point to the running kernel |
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> why are we changing it to the newly installed but not yet compiled or |
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> started kernel? |
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> |
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> And in fact does it really matter if its pointing at the newly |
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> installed or actual running kernel, when kernel compiling operations |
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> take place? |
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The link is created only if you have the "symlink" USE flag enabled. |
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Also, "Gentoo requires that the [...] symbolic link points to the |
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sources of the kernel you are running" is not entirely correct. It is |
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required only when you want to build something against that kernel. |
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Obviously, you need to create the symlink if you want to build the newly |
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installed kernel, even though the system is still running an older one. |
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And, btw, the symlink is changed easily with eselect: |
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|
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eselect kernel list |
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|
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to get a list and: |
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eselect kernel set N |
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to point the symlink to the Nth kernel. |
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So, to sum it up, when you update to a new kernel, first update the |
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symlink (or let the ebuild take care of it), build the kernel, boot it, |
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*then* rebuild external modules (like ati-drivers). If you know what |
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you're doing, you don't need to reboot before rebuilding external |
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modules, for example I do: |
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|
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ebuild /usr/portage/x11-drivers/ati-drivers/ati-drivers-N.ebuild compile |
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mkdir /lib/modules/KERNEL_VERSION/video |
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cp |
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/var/tmp/portage/x11-drivers/ati-drivers-N/work/common/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/2.6.x/fglrx.ko |
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/lib/modules/KERNEL_VERSION/video/ |
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|
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But it general, just boot the new kernel and emerge external modules |
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again; safer and more straight forward. |
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