Re: [Hampshire] Debian 3.0 kernel help
On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 15:33, Bob Dunlop bob.dun...@xyzzy.org.uk wrote: I'm having to do a bit of admin style stuff while the company recruits a new Windows/Debian admin. So I have a Debian Squeeze box currently with a 2.6.32-5 kernel on it which I need to update with a 3.+ kernel in order to support a RTL8191SE Wifi interface. The 3.+ kernel image is in Wheezy/testing but how do I persuade Squeeze to update this one package. Everything I've found on the web seems to suggest that I have to upgrade the entire system from Squeeze to Wheezy in a one way trip. I believe the google incantation would be for apt pinning - I read about such ages ago, but have so rarely used the technique I can't remember how it's done. -- Regards, The Honeymonster aka Daniel Llewellyn -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Debian 3.0 kernel help
On Friday 16 December 2011 15:33:54 Bob Dunlop wrote: Is there a way to upgrade a single package? On Gentoo this is trivially easy. Have you tried Squeeze backports, Bob? http://backports-master.debian.org/Instructions/ It works great for any packages that are there. I did search for a 3.x kernel, using various terms and couldn't find one. If the kernel you want is in Wheezy, I am surprised if it is not in backports and my search abilitites fade with my eyesight. But you can, by pinning, use just named packages form Wheezy. I have not tried this and can therefore not tell you how, but it seems to be eminently doable by the competant! The Debian users list would be a good place to ask. There are some real experts on pinning there. But tell them what you want to achieve. There may be a more debianised way of doing it. http://lists.debian.org/ HTH Lisi -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Debian 3.0 kernel help
On 16 December 2011 15:33, Bob Dunlop bob.dun...@xyzzy.org.uk wrote: Hi, Please can anyone help a Gentoo user stuck in a mire of Debian apt-get thingies. I'm having to do a bit of admin style stuff while the company recruits a new Windows/Debian admin. So I have a Debian Squeeze box currently with a 2.6.32-5 kernel on it which I need to update with a 3.+ kernel in order to support a RTL8191SE Wifi interface. The 3.+ kernel image is in Wheezy/testing but how do I persuade Squeeze to update this one package. Everything I've found on the web seems to suggest that I have to upgrade the entire system from Squeeze to Wheezy in a one way trip. Is there a way to upgrade a single package? On Gentoo this is trivially easy. I figure I could download and compile the source from kernel.org and then jam it into grub but I'd really prefer to do it in some standard way so someone else can pick it up in the future. One option would be to role your own. Download the latest stable 3.x kernel from kernel.org Configure it making sure it includes the devices you need. compile it. install it, and create the initrd image. Get grub to boot it. You should then be there. Squeeze should work exactly the same with 2.6.32 and 3.x The API between apps and the kernel has not changed between 2.6.32 and 3.x. All that changes in more devices get added, and performance tweeks happen. I do this when I find a non-supported bit of hardware in Linux. Kind Regards James -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Debian 3.0 kernel help
I believe the google incantation would be for apt pinning - I read about such ages ago, but have so rarely used the technique I can't remember how it's done. Thanks that got me moving forward again. It's amazing how having the right search terms help. Clobber a couple of files to setup pinning and then apt-get -t wheezy install linux-image-3.1.0-1-amd64 worked a charm although I havn't dared reboot yet, still checking. -- Bob Dunlop -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] Debian 3.0 kernel help
Hello Bob, OK, not running Debian (/me on *buntu, actually Mint 12 but that is pretty much 11.10), but I did exactly what you want to do. I feel your pain, Gentoo made this a lot easier. The portage system is just so much easier to manipulate. Anyhow, I managed to grok a way to do this on MintBuntu. In principle it should be similar enough to Debian, so here is what I did - * Pinned all my kernel packages by adding the following fragment to the bottom my /etc/apt/preferences file: ---start--- Package: linux-firmware Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -10 Package: linux-generic Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -10 Package: linux-image-* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -10 Package: linux-headers-* Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -10 Package: linux-libc-dev Pin: release o=Ubuntu Pin-Priority: -10 ---end--- Note: You will have to research the Pin entry a bit to ensure that you put something sensible in there for Debian. * Then I downloaded the 3.1.5 kernel sources from kernel.org, * made sure that the source is in /usr/src/linux-3.1.5, * created a kernel config (see [1]) * did a make all ; make modules_install ; make install * made sure that make install inserted the right bits in my grub.conf * rebooted! :-) The pinning ensures that I can now update the system without having to be scared that my kernel will get clobbered. Footnote [1]: As with building your kernel source on Gentoo, you will have to start the process with a kernel config. I simply copied my 3.0.0-13 running kernel config from /boot/config-3.0.0-13-generic to /usr/src/linux-3.1.5/.config, and rebuilt the config with a make oldconfig before I started the make all bits. Since a lot of things have changed from 3.0.0 to 3.1.5, make oldconfig will ask you what to do for all the newer kernel options. In this particular case I simply accepted the defaults, which seems to work for me. Incidentally I tried the same for kernel 3.2-rc5, but my wireless is not working (I probably need to reconfigure the kernel again with make menuconfig and rebuild it). Also one last tip: make sure you edit the kernel source Makefile and add your bit to the EXTRAVERSION line. Mine looks like this: ---start--- VERSION = 3 PATCHLEVEL = 1 SUBLEVEL = 5 EXTRAVERSION = -jh1 NAME = Divemaster Edition ---end--- Let me know if you want my 3.1.5 kernel config file, and I will mail it to you. Hope this helps! :-) On 16/12/11 15:57, hants...@googlemail.com wrote: On Friday 16 December 2011 15:33:54 Bob Dunlop wrote: Is there a way to upgrade a single package? On Gentoo this is trivially easy. Have you tried Squeeze backports, Bob? http://backports-master.debian.org/Instructions/ It works great for any packages that are there. I did search for a 3.x kernel, using various terms and couldn't find one. If the kernel you want is in Wheezy, I am surprised if it is not in backports and my search abilitites fade with my eyesight. But you can, by pinning, use just named packages form Wheezy. I have not tried this and can therefore not tell you how, but it seems to be eminently doable by the competant! The Debian users list would be a good place to ask. There are some real experts on pinning there. But tell them what you want to achieve. There may be a more debianised way of doing it. http://lists.debian.org/ HTH Lisi -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk -- -- Regards, Jan Henkins -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
