I compiled kernel-2.6.19.1 in CentOS and lived to tell about it...

[Dapper Dan]

OK, so maybe it's not that big a deal but honestly, I'm surprised that everything is working right given that I ultimately didn't follow any RedHat/CentOS "How-Tos" to get it done. Every time I tried the RedHat way, I kept running into all kinds of errors. I finally decided to try to compile the way I learned under Slackware and it worked perfectly.

Needing to have the 8k instead of 4k stack for my wireless card is what necessitated the kernel upgrade. I found I had to install ncurses-devel so as to be able to use menuconfig which I did with yum. After downloading the 2.6.19.1 kernel from kernel.org to /usr/src and unzipping and untarring it to the same directory I did from /usr/src:

Made new symlink to new kernel:

ln -s linux-2.6.19.1 linux

To “get inside” the new kernel:

cd /usr/src/linux
make mrproper

Then copied my existing .config from the most recent CentOS kernel to the new kernel source tree...

cp /usr/src/kernels/2.6.9-42.0.3.EL-i686/.config /usr/src/linux/.config

Went into:

make menuconfig

...to change the stack size from 4k to 8k. Do this by going into Kernel hacking and "uncheck" "Use 4Kb for kernel stacks instead of 8Kb." You can also do whatever other modification(s) may be needed, then save and exit menuconfig. Then:

make dep && make clean bzImage modules modules_install

This takes a while so I had five or ten beers. After it completed:

cp /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.19.1
ln -s /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.19.1 /boot/vmlinuz
cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.19.1
cp .config /boot/config-2.6.19.1
ln -s /boot/System.map-2.6.19.1 /boot/System.map
ln -s /boot/config-2.6.19.1 /boot/config

In console, cd to /boot directory and (if using ext3 which you likely are)...

mkinitrd initrd-2.6.19.1.img 2.6.19.1

Then editing grub becomes necessary. My /root partition is on /dev/hda3, so it looked like this, the part in bold is what I added for the new kernel...

 
Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE:  You do not have a /boot partition.  This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /, eg.
#          root (hd0,2)
#          kernel /boot/vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/hda3
#          initrd /boot/initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,2)/boot/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu

title CentOS (2.6.19.1 custom)
        root (hd0,2)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
        initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.19.1.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-42.0.3.EL)
        root (hd0,2)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-42.0.3.EL ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
        initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-42.0.3.EL.img
title CentOS (2.6.9-42.0.2.EL)
        root (hd0,2)
        kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL ro root=LABEL=/ rhgb quiet
        initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.9-42.0.2.EL.img

When I rebooted, CentOS with my new 2.6.19.1 kernel came right up with no errors much to my complete amazment! It's still early yet so if I run into any complications, I'll post back.

[antidrugue]

Very nice how-to Dapper Dan, thanks for posting !

Simple and right to the point, good.

Must feel like a big change, from 2.6.9 to 2.6.19 ? Did you notice anything obvious ?

[Dapper Dan]

Thanks antidrugue. It could be my imagination but the new kernel does seem more "sprightly."

[bryansmith]

I read the title and thought that maybe you had gone forward in time (2.9.19.1 kernel ).

For me, there is always a sense of accomplishment when you finally compile a new kernel (only if it works though). Have I ever screwed up some kernels before though - no usb support, no networking support...the list goes on.

Good job!

Bryan

[Dapper Dan]

I read the title and thought that maybe you had gone forward in time (2.9.19.1 kernel ).

Dagnabit! And I was trying to be so careful about checking everything before posting! Even with my new found powers, I can't seem to figure out how to edit the title. Do you know how? Thanks for pointing it out.

EDIT: I figured it out.

[Dapper Dan]

How frustrating! I bought a new D-Link DWL-G122 rev. B1 (USB) and it kept dropping out and loosing connection. That's why I built the new kernel without the 4k stack. With 8k stack this device works even worse with ndiswrapper 1.31! It suddenly and without warning slams my machine into a hard lock down! Nothing will free it except a hard reboot! I'll have to drop back to my tried and true Netgear Ma311 802.11b. Oh well, at least I have a lightening fast CentOS box...

[bryansmith]

If you are still interested, it appears that the dlink will indeed work for you. Your wireless adapter has a ralink chipset which is supported by open source drivers.

I found this out here: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_h...php?hostif=USB
This says it is supported and provides links to the drivers.

Hope that helps!

Bryan

[Dapper Dan]

If you are still interested, it appears that the dlink will indeed work for you. Your wireless adapter has a ralink chipset which is supported by open source drivers.

I found this out here: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_h...php?hostif=USB
This says it is supported and provides links to the drivers.

Hope that helps!

Bryan

Thanks Bryan,

I've been using the Ralink drivers for some time with a Linksys WUSB54G and a WMP54G v2. The WUSB54G works perfectly with the RT2570 from serailmonkey, but the WMP54G with the RT2500 has trouble maintaining essid. With this card and Ndiswrapper, it causes unpredictable results including lockups that need re-booting. See here for details on WMP54G and ndiswrapper.

Under the CentOS kernel, Ndiswrapper and the Dlink played well together through installation and configuration, but then it would repeatedly drop connection. I assumed this was because of the 4k stack in the CentOS kerneles. After the lockups it gave me with the new 2.6.19.1 kernel, I immediately went to serialmonkey and downloaded the latest RT2570, and it seems to work although It's having problems with essid. It keeps leaving off the last letter, and now it won't accept any changes in configuration. I'll keep working with it though... Thanks again.

[Freibier]

Hi there,
i've read on some forum that i need to compile my kernel (64bit SMP) with 8k stacks in order to get the nvidia driver working (only kernel-oops'es and black screen now).
unfortunately i can't find the option in 2.6.19.1 anymore.
These are my "Kernel hacking" options:

[ ] Show timing information on printks
[ ] Enable __must_check logic
[ ] Magic SysRq key
[ ] Enable unused/obsolete exported symbols
[ ] Kernel debugging
[ ] Debug Filesystem
[ ] Compile the kernel with frame unwind information
[ ] Run 'make headers_check' when building vmlinux

can somebody give me a hint?

[thomasconor]

First i am not an expert in kernel compilation
But if you have followed the .config copying procedure i guess that could be the reason for the missing "Use 4Kb for kernel stacks instead of 8Kb" option . If you try to build a new kernel from the scratch it will show those options Also 19.2 is out try that to . The same steps worked for me .
Keep cool
Tom