[gentoo-alpha] compressed kernel file format?

[gentoo-alpha] compressed kernel file format?

[Jeff Donsbach]

Ok, I'm sure I'm suffering user brain damage, so help
cure me. 

I'm trying to boot my XL 366 (a MILO only machine).
I've got a 2.6 kernel built and I'm trying to boot it
without much success. When I go to boot it, MILO is
telling me "invalid compressed file" (or something
like that; it's not in front of me at the moment) 

I followed the instruction in the current Gentoo
Handbook (Alpha edition), which says to do a "make &&
make modules_install" (after a "make menuconfig" of
course). Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't it used
to be something like "make bzimage" on Alpha? Is the
handbook wrong?

What am I doing wrong? (I'm sure it's something dumb)

Thanks,
Jeff D



	
		
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Re: [gentoo-alpha] compressed kernel file format?

[Jean-Sébastien Guay]

Hi Jeff,

>I followed the instruction in the current Gentoo
>Handbook (Alpha edition), which says to do a "make &&
>make modules_install" (after a "make menuconfig" of
>course). Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't it used
>to be something like "make bzimage" on Alpha? Is the
>handbook wrong?
>  
>
Nope, the handbook isn't wrong. 'make bzImage' was used for 2.4.x 
kernels I believe.

Just to be sure, check that you're copying the right file to your /boot 
partition. it should be /usr/src/linux/arch/alpha/boot/vmlinux.gz . 
Other images you may find in the directory structure seem to be 
intermediate files, including the one that ends up in the kernel's root 
directory (/usr/src/linux), which always struck me as being strange, but 
hey, I'm no Linus Torvalds... :-)

I always do this after a kernel compile (I'm sure it's pretty standard 
stuff, so it could be made into a script of some sort...) :
cp arch/alpha/boot/vmlinux.gz /boot/vmlinux.gz-<version>
cp System.map /boot/System.map-<version>
cp .config /boot/config-<version>
cd /boot
rm vmlinux.gz # remove symlink to old kernel
ln -s vmlinux.gz-<version> vmlinux.gz
rm vmlinux.gz-old # remove symlink to old old kernel (if that makes 
sense...)
ln -s vmlinux.gz-<previous version> vmlinux.gz-old

I always keep entries in AlphaBIOS's boot menu that boot vmlinux.gz and 
vmlinux.gz-old. It's proved to be a useful habit... :-) The third boot 
option is a straight MILO prompt, for times when I need to boot off the 
LiveCD or whatever.

Good luck,

J-S

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Re: [gentoo-alpha] compressed kernel file format?

[Jeff Donsbach]

J-S, et. al,

My compressed kernel problem seems to be something to
do with my MILO! It will load the uncompressed kernel
just fine! Well, it loads it, but it hangs when MILO
tries to jump to the kernel code.... forward progress
anyway.

J-S, can you give me a pointer to the MILO you are
using for your XLT? I've had mine for so long, I don't
know where I got it from anymore.

Could it be that the MILO I have was built with some
version of libz incompatible with current kernels
builds?

Now on to getting it to actually boot.....

Jeff D



		
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Re: [gentoo-alpha] compressed kernel file format?

[Jean-Sébastien Guay]

Hi Jeff,

>J-S, can you give me a pointer to the MILO you are
>using for your XLT? I've had mine for so long, I don't
>know where I got it from anymore.
>  
>
I can send it to you privately if you want. It'll be following this 
mail. I don't really remember by heart which version I use... So it's 
easier to send it to you. :-)

>Could it be that the MILO I have was built with some
>version of libz incompatible with current kernels
>builds?
>  
>
I doubt it... One thing to check : I have found that MILO does some name 
mangling when there are more than one period in the filename. For 
example, even though the initrd's filename on the 2005.0 Gentoo LiveCD 
is gentoo_2.4.igz, I have to type 'initrd=gentoo_2_4.igz' in my boot 
command. Maybe something similar is happening to you? At the MILO 
prompt, try doing an 'ls' on your boot partition / directory to see what 
MILO sees the filenames as.

Other than that, I don't have any other ideas... Generally, if you use 
the filename as seen in an 'ls' from the MILO prompt, the kernel should 
start to load, and after that it all depends on the build options and 
other parameters in the boot command. With my MILO image, anyways, I can 
boot my latest kernels without any problems.

Good luck,

J-S

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