Installing LinuxPPC-2000 Q4 on the IBM RS/6000 43P model 7248 HOWTO
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12. Linux-2.4

In this chapter we will see how to install the latest and greatest (and most unstable) kernel. Linux version 2.4 has been around for some months, and there is active development also on the PowerPC branch. To get a working kernel, we'll have to use a development tree with a lot of patches that hasn't got into Linus' official source yet. To state this explicitly: You may NOT use the official Linux 2.4 source tree, at least not without third party patches.

12.1. Get the 2.4 source

First we must get the working 2.4 source. To get this, we'll use the rsync tool, so check that you have it installed. Some nice people have set up an rsync server of the BitKeeper Linux/PPC development tree at source.mvista.com. Thanks so very much to them, remember them in your heart and prayers. Warning: Don't do this over a low-end link, like a modem. It'll take forever. So, let's rock and roll. Issue these commands:

        cd /usr/src
        mv linux linux.old
        mkdir linux-2.4
        ln -s linux-2.4 linux
        cd linux
        rsync -avz --delete source.mvista.com::linuxppc_2_4_devel .
        chown -R root.root .

Note that you'll probably have to wait for some minutes to rsync over all the sources. This is normal.

12.2. Compile the 2.4 kernel

All right, so we have the source. Now, let's do some configuring, and then compile a brand new kernel.

        make ibmchrp_config
        make menuconfig

Note that we don't need to apply any pathces as most of the patches mentioned earlier are merged into this tree. Now configure the kernel as you like. Most of the stuff mentioned earlier should work. The very exception is the frame buffer for the graphics card, so don't expect a graphical workstation with 2.4, at least not yet, unlesss, though, someone gets a vanilla graphics card working with the usual XFree86 drivers. I haven't tested this yet.

All done? Good. Now issue the usual command series to build the kernel:

         make dep && make clean && make zImage && make modules && make modules_install

12.3. Install the 2.4 kernel

To install the 2.4 kernel, we use the same method as with the 2.2 kernel. Note that the zImage has changed name and location in the source tree.

        cp arch/ppc/boot/images/zImage.prep /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.9
        cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.4.9
        dd if=/boot/vmlinuz-2.4.9 of=/dev/sda1

Note that these commands are for a 2.4.9 kernel. If your kernel source is newer, it's good behaviour to use it's correct version and patchlevel in the name of the kernel image. You can find the correct kernel version and patchlevel with the command

        head Makefile

Now again: Reboot and pray. If all goes well, you'll be up running in a few seconds. If it doesn't work, just reboot with the floppy disk as described earlier.

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