- Linux kernel release 2.6.xx <http://kernel.org>
+ Linux kernel release 2.6.xx <http://kernel.org/>
These are the release notes for Linux version 2.6. Read them carefully,
as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),
today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and
- UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH,
+ UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,
IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64, AXIS CRIS,
- and Renesas M32R architectures.
+ Cris, Xtensa, AVR32 and Renesas M32R architectures.
Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures
as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the
GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has
also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although
functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.
+ Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a
+ userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).
DOCUMENTATION:
whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be.
- You can also upgrade between 2.6.xx releases by patching. Patches are
- distributed in the traditional gzip and the new bzip2 format. To
+ distributed in the traditional gzip and the newer bzip2 format. To
install by patching, get all the newer patch files, enter the
top level directory of the kernel source (linux-2.6.xx) and execute:
version 2.6.12.2 and want to jump to 2.6.12.3, you must first
reverse the 2.6.12.2 patch (that is, patch -R) _before_ applying
the 2.6.12.3 patch.
+ You can read more on this in Documentation/applying-patches.txt
- Make sure you have no stale .o files and dependencies lying around:
only ask you for the answers to new questions.
- Alternate configuration commands are:
+ "make config" Plain text interface.
"make menuconfig" Text based color menus, radiolists & dialogs.
"make xconfig" X windows (Qt) based configuration tool.
"make gconfig" X windows (Gtk) based configuration tool.
"make oldconfig" Default all questions based on the contents of
- your existing ./.config file.
+ your existing ./.config file and asking about
+ new config symbols.
"make silentoldconfig"
Like above, but avoids cluttering the screen
with questions already answered.
+ "make defconfig" Create a ./.config file by using the default
+ symbol values from arch/$ARCH/defconfig.
+ "make allyesconfig"
+ Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
+ values to 'y' as much as possible.
+ "make allmodconfig"
+ Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
+ values to 'm' as much as possible.
+ "make allnoconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
+ values to 'n' as much as possible.
+ "make randconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
+ values to random values.
+
+ The allyesconfig/allmodconfig/allnoconfig/randconfig variants can
+ also use the environment variable KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG to specify a
+ filename that contains config options that the user requires to be
+ set to a specific value. If KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=filename is not used,
+ "make *config" checks for a file named "all{yes/mod/no/random}.config"
+ for symbol values that are to be forced. If this file is not found,
+ it checks for a file named "all.config" to contain forced values.
NOTES on "make config":
- having unnecessary drivers will make the kernel bigger, and can
- If you compiled the kernel with CONFIG_KALLSYMS you can send the dump
as is, otherwise you will have to use the "ksymoops" program to make
- sense of the dump. This utility can be downloaded from
- ftp://ftp.<country>.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops.
+ sense of the dump (but compiling with CONFIG_KALLSYMS is usually preferred).
+ This utility can be downloaded from
+ ftp://ftp.<country>.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/ .
Alternately you can do the dump lookup by hand:
- In debugging dumps like the above, it helps enormously if you can
If you for some reason cannot do the above (you have a pre-compiled
kernel image or similar), telling me as much about your setup as
- possible will help.
+ possible will help. Please read the REPORTING-BUGS document for details.
- Alternately, you can use gdb on a running kernel. (read-only; i.e. you
cannot change values or set break points.) To do this, first compile the
git.openpandora.org / pandora-kernel.git / blobdiff