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From: Stephen Powell on 13 Aug 2010 09:50
On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:07:19 -0400 (EDT), Ravi Roy wrote:
>
> I am installing new debian machine debian 5.0 - 64-bit. Everything goes
> well; as a part of installation using presseding, I am installing new kernel
> 2.6.33.3 into this machine, but I can not make to boot the maching using
> this kernel. It only boots from old kernel.
>
> Can somebody help here on this ?

I seem to recall seeing something on the lists about an incompatibility between
the 2.6.32 kernel used by Squeeze and the version of udev which runs on Lenny.
I assume that the same incompatibility exists with the 2.6.33 kernel. If you
need a 2.6.33 kernel, I suggest you install Squeeze rather than Lenny.

--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
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From: Stephen Powell on 13 Aug 2010 11:00
On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:37:04 -0400 (EDT), Jordan Metzmeier wrote:
> On 08/13/2010 09:47 AM, Stephen Powell wrote:
>>
>> I seem to recall seeing something on the lists about an incompatibility between
>> the 2.6.32 kernel used by Squeeze and the version of udev which runs on Lenny.
>> I assume that the same incompatibility exists with the 2.6.33 kernel. If you
>> need a 2.6.33 kernel, I suggest you install Squeeze rather than Lenny.
>
> This is backwards. The udev in squeeze requires a newer kernel with
> CONFIG_SYSFS_DEPRECATED=n . The squeeze kernel works fine in lenny, and
> is even available in Lenny backports. You just can not go the other way
> around (Lenny kernel on a squeeze machine).
>
> The .32 kernel is also available in the kmuto Lenny installer.

Thanks for setting me straight, Jordan. That's what I get for going from
memory instead of bothering to look it up.

As for the OP, please provide more information, such as:

(1) Where did you get your 2.6.33 kernel? Backports? Experimental?
Custom built? etc. How did you install it?

(2) What bootloader do you use? grub? (version 1) grub-pc (version 2),
lilo? extlinux? etc.

(3) What is the contents of /etc/kernel-img.conf?

(4) What is the contents of your boot loader configuration file?
(/etc/lilo.conf for lilo, /boot/grub/menu.lst for grub version 1,
etc.)

(5) What scripts exist in /etc/kernel/postinst.d, /etc/kernel/postrm.d,
and /etc/initramfs/post-update.d?

(6) Are symbolic links used for the kernel, such as vmlinuz,
and vmlinuz.old? And what about the initial RAM file systems?
Are symbolic links used for them too? (initrd.img, initrd.img.old)
If so, where are these symbolic links? (/, /boot, etc.)

(7) What exactly are the symptoms of failure when you attempt to
boot the 2.6.33 kernel?

--
.''`. Stephen Powell
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From: Stephen Powell on 13 Aug 2010 14:00
On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:21:55 -0400 (EDT), Ravi Roy wrote:
> On 8/13/10, Stephen Powell <zlinuxman(a)wowway.com> wrote:
>> As for the OP, please provide more information, such as:
>>
>> (1) Where did you get your 2.6.33 kernel? Backports? Experimental?
>> Custom built? etc. How did you install it?
>
> it is custom built kernel, compiled by a colleague some time ago, it is
> basically a debian package which is installed
> Installation is being triggered as late command in preseed.cfg

OK, you have a custom kernel built by someone else.
>>
>> (2) What bootloader do you use? grub? (version 1) grub-pc (version 2)?
>> lilo? extlinux? etc.
>
> I use grub version 0.97

OK, that's grub version 1 (grub in Lenny, grub-legacy in Squeeze)
>>
>> (3) What is the contents of /etc/kernel-img.conf?
>
> Will try installation again and let you know.

How is it that you do not know? Can't you examine that file
while running the old kernel? Did you re-format the hard drive
already?
>>
>> (4) What is the contents of your boot loader configuration file?
>> (/etc/lilo.conf for lilo, /boot/grub/menu.lst for grub version 1,
>> etc.)
>
> menu.lst contains two entries for kernel 2.6.26.2, which boots perfectly.

Well, that's good. But is that all? Are there no entries for the
2.6.33 kernel? If that is the case, then update-grub didn't get
run when you installed the new kernel. Check /etc/kernel-img.conf.
If this is a standard Lenny install, there should be lines at the
end that look like this:

postinst_hook = update_grub
postrm_hook = update_grub

If those lines are there, then the kernel maintainer script for your
newly-installed kernel does not respect those hooks. I would really
like to know how the kernel was built. The kernel maintainer scripts
for a kernel image package created by make-kpkg would respect those hooks.
The kernel maintainer scripts for a kernel image package created by
"make deb-pkg" probably wouldn't. If that is the case, and you
can't persuade your colleague to build the kernel image package with
make-kpkg, you can circumvent this problem with the two zz-bootloader
hook scripts, properly installed, that I provide on my web site
(see below). If you do that, then you should remove the above two
lines from the end of /etc/kernel-img.conf.
>>
>> (5) What scripts exist in /etc/kernel/postinst.d, /etc/kernel/postrm.d,
>> and /etc/initramfs/post-update.d?
>
> Have to try to install it again and will let you know.

Again, I don't see why you can't check that, unless you reformatted
the disk after being unable to get the 2.6.33 kernel to boot.
>>
>> (6) Are symbolic links used for the kernel, such as vmlinuz,
>> and vmlinuz.old? And what about the initial RAM file systems?
>> Are symbolic links used for them too? (initrd.img, initrd.img.old)
>> If so, where are these symbolic links? (/, /boot, etc.)
>
> When I boot with old kernel under /boot, i can not see initrd.img for
> 2.6.33.3;
> means it is missing nor links exists.

If the symbolic link is missing, that is one thing. That really doesn't
matter with grub version 1, since grub version 1, as installed and
configured in Debian, does not use symbolic links. If the initial RAM
file system is missing, that's another thing. It could be that the
custom kernel doesn't use or need an initial RAM file system. That would
depend on how the kernel was configured by the person who built the
custom kernel. But if the kernel needs an initial RAM file system,
and one didn't get created during installation, then that's a problem.
Under Lenny, the kernel maintainer scripts are expected to create the
initial RAM file system during installation. A kernel image package
created by the Lenny version of make-kpkg on a Lenny system would
contain a maintainer script that creates an initial RAM file system,
if built properly. If the kernel needs an initial RAM file system,
but the maintainer script does not create one, then you will need
to copy the initramfs-tools hook scripts from a Squeeze system
(/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools and
/etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools, respectively) to the corresponding
directories on your Lenny system. Make sure they are marked
executable.
>>
>> (7) What exactly are the symptoms of failure when you attempt to
>> boot the 2.6.33 kernel?
>
> At installation time it does not give any error and system reboots and
> boots with old kernel.

Does the 2.6.33 kernel show up in the boot menu? If it shows up in
the boot menu, all you have to do is select it explicitly. If you
just let it time out, it will boot the default kernel, which may still
be the 2.6.26 kernel. On the other hand, if the 2.6.33 kernel does
not show up in the boot menu, that's further evidence that update-grub
did not get run.

>
> I think first issue is initrd.img is missing for 2.6.33.3 and that is the
> reason menu list also not being updated.

First, I don't know if you're talking about the symbolic link or the
actual initial RAM file system. Second, a missing initial RAM file system
and the kernel being missing from the boot menu are two separate issues.
Both are related to proper customization of the kernel installation
environment. Both you and your colleague may benefit from my Debian kernel
building web site:

http://www.wowway.com/~zlinuxman/Kernel.htm

Pay particular attention to
"Step 10: Customizing the Kernel Installation Environment". This site is
specific to Debian, but Lenny and Squeeze are very different in how the
kernel installation environment works. The devil is in the details, which
is why this web page is so long. I tried to document all the "gotchas"
I could think of.

By the way, if all you want to do is to run a Squeeze kernel in Lenny,
I suggest http://www.backports.org, which supplies 2.6.32 kernels that
are suitable for Lenny. For example, linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-686
or linux-image-2.6.32-bpo.5-amd64, depending on your architecture.

--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-


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