Well, I got fed up with the bugs in Fedora Core 4 and put Fedora Core 3 back on my computer. FC3 came out a year ago. One of the first things that I noticed was that some of newer programs did not work well with the Selinx policies. Updating the software took sever hours. (All night) This morning, after all of the downloading, I was almost required to install the new kernel first. After that, the bugs of FC4 showed up. They had not been there from the original kernel on the installation CD. They showed up after installing the new kernel. It appears that the bugs associated with FC4 are related to the new kernels being used. The same bugs show up in FC3 when the latest kernel is applied.

Well, I got fed up with the bugs in Fedora Core 4 and put Fedora Core 3 back on my computer. FC3 came out a year ago. One of the first things that I noticed was that some of newer programs did not work well with the Selinx policies. Updating the software took sever hours. (All night) This morning, after all of the downloading, I was almost required to install the new kernel first. After that, the bugs of FC4 showed up. They had not been there from the original kernel on the installation CD. They showed up after installing the new kernel. It appears that the bugs associated with FC4 are related to the new kernels being used. The same bugs show up in FC3 when the latest kernel is applied.

If you like life right on the bleeding egde it is helpful to everyone if you submit bug reports - the sooner they are documented and investigated the sooner they get fixed.

I've posted about this before, without any replies, so here I go again ... I have been unable to get a kernel.org kernel to run correctly on FC4. The same kernel configuration works fine on FC3. The last kernel I tried was 2.6.12.5. I'd appreciate any tips you might have for getting a stock kernel running. Thanks, John

John Wendel wrote: >>Actually, I don't understand why people find the Fedora kernels >>so attractive. >>They are rarely any improvement on the standard kernels >>from http://www.kernel.org . >I've posted about this before, without any replies, so here I go again ... > >I have been unable to get a kernel.org kernel to run correctly on FC4. >The same kernel configuration works fine on FC3. The last kernel I tried >was 2.6.12.5. > >I'd appreciate any tips you might have for getting a stock kernel running. I don't set up as a great expert on kernel compilation (or any computing subject, for that matter). But I guess you are asking me ... First of all, I gather your compilation went OK, but the compiled kernel does not run. If that is so, the problem probably lies in initrd. My procedure, in brief, is make oldconfig xconfig make make modules_install make install The last step runs mkinitrd (under Fedora), installs the initrd*.img in /boot , and adds an appropriate entry to /etc/grub.conf . I think sometimes mkinitrd does not choose the right modules. In that case you could run linux under another kernel (assuming you have one that runs), add the required module(s) to /etc/modprobe.conf and then run mkinitrd yourself. Alternatively, some modules - such as ext2/ext3 and scsi if you have SCSI disks - are better included in the kernel, IMHO, though I think in theory it should always be possible to include them in the initrd. Final remark: I always save all my old .config files, and load the most recent one when I run "make xconfig". This has become very simple with (fairly) recent kernels, with the window that comes up when you "make xconfig" being much easier to use than it used to be. I always say "make oldconfig xconfig", and just answer Yes to all the questions I am asked, and then load my previous config file. I'm not really sure if there is any merit in saying this rather than just "make xconfig". I think there were a couple of kernels some time ago when there were problems if one did not do this. I'd be interested to know if there is in fact any point in still saying "make oldconfig xconfig" (assuming one is going to load an old config anyway), or if it is just a fetish? Re the title "Bugs in new kernels" I've compiled most new kernels for some time, and haven't encountered anything I would describe as a bug.

> It would be much better if he/she just installed the kernel > in the standard way with "make install", > and left it as an extra option for grub.

What is standard about that way of installing. It is rather primitive in my mind to the rpm way.

Well, I got fed up with the bugs in Fedora Core 4 and put Fedora Core 3 back on my computer. FC3 came out a year ago. One of the first things that I noticed was that some of newer programs did not work well with the Selinx policies. Updating the software took sever hours. (All night) This morning, after all of the downloading, I was almost required to install the new kernel first. After that, the bugs of FC4 showed up. They had not been there from the original kernel on the installation CD. They showed up after installing the new kernel. It appears that the bugs associated with FC4 are related to the new kernels being used. The same bugs show up in FC3 when the latest kernel is applied.