On Wed, Nov 13, 2002 at 09:37:44AM +0000, Steven C. Darnold wrote: > > The lowmem 2.4 kernel from Slack 8.1 works on my test PC > > with 8 meg ram, but bare.i does not. > > That is my fault. I accidently included an old version > of loadlin.exe. It does not recognize a bzimage. The > correct loadlin.exe is available in the /kernels directory > of Slackware 8.1.
Got it and now have bare.i kernel 2.4.19 running in 8 meg ram. > Slackware 4.0 used an early 2.2 kernel. The 2.2.19 kernel in > Slackware 8.0 is superior. BTW, the 2.2.19 kernel is better > for low-RAM systems than the 2.4.18 kernel in Slackware 8.1. > I tried a 2.4.18 kernel with 4mb RAM and it was horrible -- > the kernel takes so much RAM that even the startup scripts > have to swap to HD. I haven't seen so much HD thrashing > since I tried to run KDE with 16mb RAM. I'll try 2.4.19 for now, and go back to an earlier one if it seems too slow. I know that I would probably have to use an older kernel on my 386 with 5 meg ram, but after 12 years of service, I think it may finally be time to put "maxa" out to pasture. > > So far, all the programs from the current distribution seem > > to work. > > A 2.2 kernel should run just fine with Slackware 8.1. The > only issues I can think of are: > (1) for a journaling filesystem, you should use a 2.4 kernel > (2) for RAID volume support, you should use a 2.4 kernel > (3) for accelerated 3D graphics, you should use a 2.4 kernel > (4) iptables needs a 2.4 kernel (use ipchains with 2.2) I'm still using kernel 2.2.19 on my main (Debian) box. I just got the set (7) of Woody 3.0 CD's from my local LUG, but don't see any big need for a new kernel. I've kept all the software I use up-to-date over the Internet with apt-get. It might be handy to get a current set (2 I think) of Slackware CD's. I have always used Debian (I'm still no expert), but thanks to BasicLinux, I'm starting to find my way around Slackware. > > The Linux kernels just keep getting bigger. This seems to be > > a major stumbling block for old systems. > > The new kernels are bloated with capabilities that are useless > for old PCs. You really need to recompile them to get the junk > out (although even then they are still bulkier than earlier kernels). This is something I have never done. One of these days... :-) > > Once I had BL installed to my harddrive, I replaced several > > busybox commands with the full ones from the Slack 3.5 CD. > > I hope you didn't have any problems. Trying to replacing busybox > commands can overwrite busybox itself and make every command in > the busybox collection useless. I think I just removed the links. I don't recall having any problems. > > Now that I'm using the older kernel, I don't need the big > > tarball. I can just grab the few small modules that I need. > > It's a pity that Slackware has moved away from that format. In > every distro before 8.1, the modules were available individually > in the /modules directory. However, in 8.1 there is no /modules > directory, the only option is the full 8mb module package. Well, now that the new kernel seems to run on my machine, and I've already installed the big module package, I guess I might as well use it. I imagine I could delete all the modules I don't need. Take care, Howard E. To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
