[noob] multiple kernels / (advanced) boot, hardware ?

[Johnny Bubonic]

thought i'd save clutter and ask all my questions in one thread (sorry, mods)

okay. so i currently have gentoo (and winxp pro dual-boot) on my dell inspiron 1300 laptop, everything's running beautifully...but, like everyone, i want MORE! (more power, more flexibility, more modern, more tacos, subsitute what you will).

some background info about me- i started using linux in january. i started with, as i believe all n00bs ought to, with ubuntu. i then advanced to kubuntu a week after. then i set up a webserver/teamspeak server, getting the hang of that- it runs debian. now, for my laptop (and, later, my desktop), i want to get to using gentoo on a regular basis.

1. i know i can install multiple kernels, but i'm still a little unclear because i'm still quite a bit n00bish (but don't worry- i learn fast. which is why i want to use gentoo). i already read this thread:

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=25384

but i'm having some trouble..comprehending it? i'm still a little unclear on how to actually INSTALL the kernel. i.e. the kernel i am using now is genkernel'd, it's version 2.6.15-gentoo-r5. i want to use the current stable, 2.6.16.20. (i've done a manual kernel install before, i jsut wanted to genkernel this time to save time)

once i install it, it seems faily easy to set up to boot in GRUB.

2. aaaand my second question. i have an external USB hdd (seagate 40gb). i want to get gentoo on it for my desktop..but my motherboard doesn't support booting from USB. so here's my question- is it possible to create a boot cd/livecd or boot floppy i can set up in GRUB so that whenever the floppy/cd is inserted, it goes straight to gentoo (or gives me the grub menu to choose, i don't care either way)? i feel almost certain there is.... at the least, set up some type if initialization script from a livecd embedded into it that chroots into the external USB hdd automatically...

[bryansmith]

For the 2nd question, you can indeed make a boot cd with grub installed. Check here: http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/man...ble-CD_002dROM

Bryan

[Javasnob]

To install the kernel, take the following steps:

cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig
make
make modules_install
cp arch/<architecture>/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz<suffix>

where <architecture> is your system's architecture (for me on a Pentium 4 this is i386), and <suffix> is a custom suffix of your choosing.

For example, I always have 2 kernels in /boot: One that I know works fine, and another to test new things out, like if I want to slim my kernel down. So I have vmlinuz and vmlinuz-new in my /boot.

[Johnny Bubonic]

aw man, thank you both so much! i'm gonna try this out over the following weekend/week

[spencerf]

If you want to install your own kernel probably the easiest way would be to use gentoo-sources ~x86 kernel. It's 2.6.16-r9 right now.

just:

nano /etc/portage/package.keywords
[add this line]
sys-kernel/gentoo-sources ~x86
emerge gentoo-sources

cd /usr/src
ln -sfn linux linux-2.6.16-r9
cd /usr/src/linux
make menuconfig
make && make modules_install
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/nameofkernel

be sure to upgrade your grub.conf with your new kernel name