help! YDL on 8100

[Markus Deistler]

Hi,

On 04.02.2003 Aaron wrote:

> Hey!
> After finally installing with the MachKernel_YDL23_2.4.19-rc2 kernel,
> rebooting and changing to the regular kernel for post install, and
> changing the lilo.conf file i can't quite boot up linux. getting an
> error..
> can't find /lib/modules/2.4.21-pre3/modules.dep
> i searched for it and all i can find is
> lib/modules/2.4.19-4a/modules.dep
> i tried changing its name to fool it, but can't. also can't find a
> 2.4.19-4a kernel.
> any ideas?
> Aaron
> aarondl@mac.com


The "Machkernel" isn't a real Mach kernel (like MacOS X or MkLinux), but a
Linux kernel version 2.4.21-pre3 that has been compressed and renamed in
order to fool the Apple MkLinux Booter (the MkLinux Booter was designed to
boot the real Mach Kernels of MkLinux). The other bootloader for
Old-World-machines, BootX, isn't always working on NubusPmacs.

On Nubus-Pmacs you'll never find the kernel-in-use on the Linux partition.
It is in the extension folder of your MacOS-Volume (as 'Mach Kernel'). Thos=
e
versions of BootX which do work on a Nubus-Pmac need a 'vmlinux'-file here:
'Systemfolder:Linux Kernels'.

Usually any kernel looks for loadable modules in /lib/modules/'uname -r'/
....  the command 'uname -r' will probably give '2.4.21-pre3' in your case.

The YDL-installer for Nubus-Pmacs is just the plain YDL-installer+kernel pu=
t
into a 'Mach Kernel'-file again. It was built when 2.4.19-4a was the most
current PPC-kernel (for all non-Nubus-Pmacs). It assumes you are going to
run the "most current" kernel, and creates a modules-directory
'lib/modules/2.4.19-4a', which is not the directory your 2.4.21-pre3-kernel
looks for! Just renaming that 2.4.19-4a directory to '2.4.21-pre3' will not
work, as you have found, because the kernel (usually) also looks at the
modules' version number, to avoid crashing by loading
dated/buggy/incompatible drivers.

If you use a prebuilt kernel (eg one you have got from Ekato's ftp-site) yo=
u
may just ignore that error-message at startup, because all important driver=
s
have been compiled into the Nubus-kernel (and are always loaded and
consuming RAM). The error just tells you that your kernel cannot load any
modules (if there were any), because the modules directory is missing...;

You may also compile and install a customized kernel (smaller, e.g. you may
do away with IDE-drive- and Performa-SCSI-support on a PPC8100) *and* the
proper 2.4.21-pre3-modules from kernel source, if seeing [FAILED] at startu=
p
depresses you [search the linuxppc-nubus mail list's archive
(http://lists.linuxppc.org/).]

Hmmh, RH-based distros should replace that [FAILED] with something more
positive... suggestions welcome.

Best Regards
-- =20
|MARKUS DEISTLER                        msdeistler@freenet.de |
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