Waiting sounds wise- no use in messing up your current setup.
However, if you really wanted to see if it will apply, what you could try is
copying your stock MDK kernel sources directory from /usr/src to it's own
directory in /home. (Compiling there is much safer than doing it as root in
/usr/src, especially for people like me still learning).Then make a backup of
your .config file, and cd in a console (as user) to the new directory in
/home where you copied the MDK kernel sources to, and run mrproper. Then, try
applying the Hz patch. If it applies OK, do a make xconfig and load the copy
of your stock .config file into xconfig., Then change the value of the Hz
line to =1000Hz, and save and exit.
VERY IMPORTANT:Check the makefile extra version line at the top of the file
to see if it added the -ck2 extra version when the patch applied, otherwise
if you do choose to install this kernel and the name (version) is the same,
it will overwrite your original modules directory, and not create a new -ck2
version. In your case, that would be a disaster.
Then you can (as user) do:
make dep
make clean
make bzImage
make modules
If you get through these with no error outs, you are probably OK, and will
then know the patch probably didn't cause any problem. Up to this point,
nothing you have done could possibly affect your current kernel setup.
If you want to actually install, su to root and do:
make modules_install
This will put a new modules directory in /lib/modules with the new -ck2
version name, leaving the original untouched.
I never do the usual final "make install" to call the kernel script after that
if I'm not compiling in /usr/src. I did that once, and had huge problems. I
manually copy System.map and bzImage to /boot, naming them to reflect the
extra version, like System.map-2.4.21-ck2, and bzImage-2.4.21-ck2. I then
edit lilo, and since I don't use an initrd file for the new kernel, I delete
the initrd line in the new kernel's lilo stanza, so it looks like:
image=/boot/bzImage-2.4.21-ck3
label=2421ck3
root=/dev/hda10
append="devfs=mount hdc=ide-scsi acpi=off quiet"
vga=788
read-only
Then save, and run lilo as root.
Of course there's no way to know if doing all this will actually increase
system response in a noticable way, even if the patch applies on the MDK
kernel, without actually doing it. I can report that all the ck patches I've
applied seem to work great on the vanilla 2.4.21.
BTW, when I installed the MDK multimedia kernel and kernel sources rpms, it
worked perfectly. I just put them in their own directory, and did as root:
rpm -ivh *.rpm
That installed everything, and edited lilo too. But like you said, you might
need extra drivers that I didn't have to contend with. You might have to
install the srpm, and patch the source, then rebuild new multimedia rpms. I
think they posted a newer multimedia (-18mdk, up from the -16mdk I used) that
might have updated drivers.
Maybe we can figure out what happen when you tried it. What's the exact
procedure you used?
Robert Crawford
On Saturday 28 June 2003 11:12, Adrian Golumbovici wrote:
> Yikes. I kind of need some of the modules in the mdk kernel. That is what
> is stopping me from geting the vanila kernel. I could try and find and
> compile those modules myself, but I will get more headaches with it than
> solve probs (it would take too long to get it all together again). I have a
> pretty sensitive hardware/drivers configuration (nforce2 mobo + radeon 9700
> pro to start with...). It took me quite a couple of months till all the
> patches/drivers were available, and it took me about 2 weeks of fiddling
> with it till I got the radeon 9700 pro to play nice (to install the driver
> so I would also have openGL). I am pretty reticent in going through all the
> pains again just to gain better response. Last time I tried the multimedia
> kernel, it crashed on my config directly at boot... I hoped I could backup
> my current kernel situation and try a patch... hmmm... Makes my hair raise
> when I think of the option to reinstall all.... :) I think I will wait to
> see if someone reports success with this patch on mdk kernel. Thx for your
> answer.
>
> Best regards,
> Adrian
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Crawford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2003 4:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [expert] Re: New 2.4.21 Variable HZ question.
>
> > Adrian,
> >
> > What little experience I've had patching kernels, and what I've read, has
>
> led
>
> > me to the conclusion it's better to use a vanilla kernel.org version.
> > Mandrake adds quite a few patches for their stock kernel, and it's
>
> possible
>
> > adding more would cause conflicts. What I've been doing is loading the
> > Mandrake stock .config file into xconfig as a starting point with generic
> > kernels, and then customizing that for my hardware. I've wound up with my
>
> own
>
> > .config file, which I use as my starting point on this box when I try a
>
> new
>
> > kernel. It took many configurations in my learning curve to see what
>
> worked
>
> > best with each kernel version- I've used 2.4.19, 2.4.20, 2.4.21pres,
>
> 2.4.21,
>
> > and lots of 2.5.xx's. The 2.4.xx generally work out fine, but all 2.5.xx
>
> are
>
> > still problematic, at least for me.
> >
> > On your Hz question, I think yes, you need that patch to be able to
>
> utilize
>
> > different values for that parameter. Apparently, the Mandrake multi-media
> > kernel is the stock kernel with preemptive and low-latency patches
>
> applied,
>
> > so that implies you might be able to apply the Hz ck patch to a stock MDK
> > kernel, and get away with it. I guess the only way to find out is try
> > it, and change the Hz line in make xconfig to 1000Hz, and see if it
> > works. However, Con Kolivas definitely feels that problems might arise
> > when
>
> trying
>
> > to use his extra patches on a heavily patched kernel like MDK, and
>
> recommends
>
> > the official kernel.org version.
> >
> > I personally like the MDK multimedia kernel over the stock MDK, and the
> > vanilla ck3 patched kernel over the MDK multimedia- but that's only on my
> > specific hardware. Your experience may be different.
> >
> > Robert C.
> >
> > On Saturday 28 June 2003 04:23, Adrian Golumbovici wrote:
> > > Do the Mandrake kernels need that patch too in order to be able to use
>
> that
>
> > > Hz thing, or is it included in the default kernel sources? If it needs
>
> the
>
> > > patch, is there a Mandrake specific patch for kernel-2.4.21 or can we
>
> use
>
> > > the patch in the link you posted without further troubles?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > Adrian
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Robert Crawford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2003 7:24 AM
> > > Subject: Re: [expert] Re: New 2.4.21 Variable HZ question.
> > >
> > > > I found this page that gives pretty good explanations of the subject.
> > >
> > > Makes me
> > >
> > > > want to recompile and try 1000Hz. I did a google search for "variable
>
> Hz
>
> > > > redhat" and it listed a few other good pages.
> > > >
> > > > http://kerneltrap.org/node.php?id=464
> > > >
> > > > Robert
> > > >
> > > > On Saturday 28 June 2003 00:31, Joeb wrote:
> > > > > On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 16:51:28 -0400
> > > > > Robert Crawford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > <snip>
> > > > >
> > > > > > I'd really
> > > > > > be interested in learning about RedHat's thinking on this
> > > > > > subject- can you point us to where you learned about this? I'm
> > > > > > all for
>
> doing
>
> > > anything
> > >
> > > > > > to increase performance.
> > > > >
> > > > > That's my problem, I can't remember where I found it on the web! I
> > > > > know
> > >
> > > it
> > >
> > > > > was back during the 8.0 days of Mandrake. I recall a post, that I
> > >
> > > thought
> > >
> > > > > was on one of the Mandrake lists, but I sure can't find it. The
>
> post
>
> > > > > pointed to an article about increasing the HZ size and how it
>
> improved
>
> > > > > response times for desktop users. It also stated that Redhat was
>
> doing
>
> > > > > this with their kernels, which is why their i386 seemed so snappy
> > >
> > > compared
> > >
> > > > > to Mandrake and Suse. The downside was something about timings
>
> being
>
> > > off
> > >
> > > > > for some tools because the items in /proc weren't aware that the HZ
>
> had
>
> > > > > been changed. It was my understanding with Redhat 9, they
> > > > > continued
> > >
> > > this
> > >
> > > > > practice of changing the HZ but also modified the tools that
>
> calculate
>
> > > the
> > >
> > > > > various things in /proc.
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm sorry I don't have more information, but I have long since
> > > > > given
>
> up
>
> > > > > finding the original article. It seems Google wants to return
>
> 50,000+
>
> > > hits
> > >
> > > > > everytime I try and after a few hundred, I give up.
> > > > >
> > > > > If I ever find my hard copy, I'll type it back in to the list.
> > > > >
> > > > > Joeb
> > > > >
> > > > > p.s. It's also my understanding that the 2.5/2.6 kernel has
>
> increased
>
> > > this
> > >
> > > > > setting.
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >-
>
> -
>
> > >- ----
> > >
> > > > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
> > > > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>- ----
>
> > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
> > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft?
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
