On Wed, Nov 09, 2005 at 10:28:04AM -0500, Philip Webb wrote: > 051109 Holly Bostick wrote: > > Can someone tell me on what basis this *needs* to be done > > as a standard operation? Not getting it at all. > > How many kernels does one keep in a bootable state, anyway > > -- and use commonly, without needed external modules, no less -- > > that this would be necessary? > > Really, truly, not getting the point. > > Switching kernels is not like using a different browser or editor. > I now have 2.6.14 working ok (still ~x86), > but am keeping 2.6.12 & (may be soon to go) 2.6.9 around > in case something unexpected happens with 2.6.14 . > However, if I want to use 2.6.12 , I will have to recompile Nvidia > & reset the display for Gkrellm & might even find something else needs doing. > Some apps do depend on the version of the kernel you are using. > > Maybe I'm not getting what you're not getting ... (smile) >
Why do you have to recompile NVidia? Every time I do a kernel upgrade, I compile NVidia against the kernel. But so long as you don't remove the old kernel module or do a new compile of the old kernel, you should be able to book back into the old kernel just fine. On my laptop for example, /lib/modules/2.6.7-(something) and /lib/modules/2.6.10-(something) both exist and each contains its version of bcm5700, ipw2200. With the exception that I use the Xorg drivers for radeon on .10 and fglrx on .7, the setup is identical. The small difference can be easily overcome by commenting out some lines in modules.autoload.... /usr/src/linux is not used AT ALL in the boot process. There's no need to change that symlink if you just need to boot into another kernel to troubleshoot your machine. It is purely compile-time, and aside from kernel-hackers, most of us usually only compile one kernel one time followed by ext. modules. So I agree with Holly that changing the symlink on every boot is silly and a waste of effort SO LONG AS you (the user) remember to update the symlink before you compile stuff against the kernel. W -- "Yan Can Cook" and George Lucas have a new joint-venture web site, titled "eWok". Sortir en Pantoufles: up 6 days, 17:15 -- gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
