In the Intel version of Slackware we have 60 precompiled kernels that you
can pick from. These are offered after package installation if you are
installing from CD (not offered for floppy or NFS installs). If you skip
that step or are not offered that step, you have the option of using one
of the two kernels in the A series. These are:
ide.tgz A vmlinuz with IDE support
scsi.tgz A vmlinuz with IDE and SCSI support
If you do a full install, you will end up with scsi.tgz, which is good.
That will work on a wider range of machines than the IDE-only kernel.
On the SPARC, I have another problem...
I offer 4 precompiled kernels in the SPARC version. There are two for
32-bit SPARC machines (one single CPU and one SMP) and two kernels for
UltraSPARC machines (one single CPU and one SMP). You are offered the
selection of one of these after package installation, just like the Intel
setup program does. But I also offer two kernel packages in the A series.
They are the single CPU kernels for 32-bit and 64-bit machines.
Here's where the problem comes in...if a user does a full install, it will
dump a 64-bit kernel on the system. A pick-and-choose install offers the
opportunity to pick the right kernel, but if the user just hits Enter,
we're back to square one again. Of course, this can be avoided if people
install from CD and do the kernel pick thing at the end of the setup
program.
This would not be a problem if all users had UltraSPARCs, but I can't
assume that. What I'm wondering is, would it be reasonable to have the
setup program detect and automatically install the correct kernel from the
A series on the system, so that in the event that the user does a full
install and skips the kernel selection stage, he/she is guaranteed a
working kernel on the system?
That kind of goes against Slackware's guiding philosophy, but I don't see
any other way to handle it. The SPARC platform has two architechtures and
the kernels are only compatible on the machines they were intended for.
Perhaps I could only enable the detection if a full, menu, or verbose install
is done? That would leave expert mode open to full control by the user.
I'm not really sure of the best way to approach this. Anyone have any
ideas?
--
David Cantrell | david@slackware.com *
KG6CII | Slackware Linux Project
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Sep 19 2002 - 11:00:02 PDT