4 This document is designed to provide a list of the minimum levels of
5 software necessary to run the 2.4 kernels, as well as provide brief
6 instructions regarding any other "Gotchas" users may encounter when
7 trying life on the Bleeding Edge. If upgrading from a pre-2.2.x
8 kernel, please consult the Changes file included with 2.2.x kernels for
9 additional information; most of that information will not be repeated
10 here. Basically, this document assumes that your system is already
11 functional and running at least 2.2.x kernels.
13 This document is originally based on my "Changes" file for 2.0.x kernels
14 and therefore owes credit to the same people as that file (Jared Mauch,
15 Axel Boldt, Alessandro Sigala, and countless other users all over the
18 The latest revision of this document, in various formats, can always
19 be found at <http://cyberbuzz.gatech.edu/kaboom/linux/Changes-2.4/>.
21 Feel free to translate this document. If you do so, please send me a
22 URL to your translation for inclusion in future revisions of this
25 Smotrite file <http://oblom.rnc.ru/linux/kernel/Changes.ru>, yavlyaushisya
26 russkim perevodom dannogo documenta.
28 Visite <http://www2.adi.uam.es/~ender/tecnico/> para obtener la traducción
29 al español de este documento en varios formatos.
31 Eine deutsche Version dieser Datei finden Sie unter
32 <http://www.stefan-winter.de/Changes-2.4.0.txt>.
34 Last updated: February 13, 2002
36 Chris Ricker (kaboom@gatech.edu or chris.ricker@genetics.utah.edu).
38 Current Minimal Requirements
39 ============================
41 Upgrade to at *least* these software revisions before thinking you've
42 encountered a bug! If you're unsure what version you're currently
43 running, the suggested command should tell you.
45 Again, keep in mind that this list assumes you are already
46 functionally running a Linux 2.2 kernel. Also, not all tools are
47 necessary on all systems; obviously, if you don't have any PCMCIA (PC
48 Card) hardware, for example, you probably needn't concern yourself
51 o Gnu C 2.95.3 # gcc --version
52 o Gnu make 3.77 # make --version
53 o binutils 2.9.1.0.25 # ld -v
54 o util-linux 2.10o # fdformat --version
55 o modutils 2.4.14 # insmod -V
56 o e2fsprogs 1.25 # tune2fs
57 o jfsutils 1.0.12 # fsck.jfs -V
58 o reiserfsprogs 3.6.3 # reiserfsck -V 2>&1|grep reiserfsprogs
59 o xfsprogs 2.6.0 # xfs_db -V
60 o pcmcia-cs 3.1.21 # cardmgr -V
61 o quota-tools 3.09 # quota -V
62 o PPP 2.4.0 # pppd --version
63 o isdn4k-utils 3.1pre1 # isdnctrl 2>&1|grep version
71 The gcc version requirements may vary depending on the type of CPU in your
72 computer. The next paragraph applies to users of x86 CPUs, but not
73 necessarily to users of other CPUs. Users of other CPUs should obtain
74 information about their gcc version requirements from another source.
76 The recommended compiler for the kernel is gcc 2.95.x (x >= 3), and it
77 should be used when you need absolute stability. You may use gcc 3.0.x
78 instead if you wish, although it may cause problems. Later versions of gcc
79 have not received much testing for Linux kernel compilation, and there are
80 almost certainly bugs (mainly, but not exclusively, in the kernel) that
81 will need to be fixed in order to use these compilers. In any case, using
82 pgcc instead of egcs or plain gcc is just asking for trouble.
84 Note that gcc 2.7.2.3 is no longer a supported kernel compiler. The kernel
85 no longer works around bugs in gcc 2.7.2.3 and, in fact, will refuse to
86 be compiled with it. egcs-1.1.2 has register allocation problems in very
87 obscure cases. We have ensured the kernel does not trip these in any known
88 situation. The 2.5 tree is likely to drop egcs-1.1.2 workarounds.
90 The Red Hat gcc 2.96 compiler subtree can also be used to build this tree.
91 You should ensure you use gcc-2.96-74 or later. gcc-2.96-54 will not build
94 gcc 4 is not supported.
96 In addition, please pay attention to compiler optimization. Anything
97 greater than -O2 may not be wise. Similarly, if you choose to use gcc-2.95.x
98 or derivatives, be sure not to use -fstrict-aliasing (which, depending on
99 your version of gcc 2.95.x, may necessitate using -fno-strict-aliasing).
104 You will need Gnu make 3.77 or later to build the kernel.
109 Linux on IA-32 has recently switched from using as86 to using gas for
110 assembling the 16-bit boot code, removing the need for as86 to compile
111 your kernel. This change does, however, mean that you need a recent
114 If you can, upgrade to the latest 2.9.5 or 2.1x binutils release. Older
115 releases such as 2.8, 2.8.xx, and the FSF's 2.9.1 should be avoided if
116 at all possible. The later releases of 2.9.1.0.x (anything where x >= 22)
117 can and do compile the kernel properly, but there are many benefits in
118 upgrading to 2.9.5 or 2.1x if you're up to it.
123 Architectural changes
124 ---------------------
126 DevFS is now in the kernel. See Documentation/filesystems/devfs/* in
127 the kernel source tree for all the gory details.
129 The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is now in the kernel. If you want to
130 use this, you'll need to install the necessary LVM toolset.
132 32-bit UID support is now in place. Have fun!
134 Linux documentation for functions is transitioning to inline
135 documentation via specially-formatted comments near their
136 definitions in the source. These comments can be combined with the
137 SGML templates in the Documentation/DocBook directory to make DocBook
138 files, which can then be converted by DocBook stylesheets to PostScript,
139 HTML, PDF files, and several other formats. In order to convert from
140 DocBook format to a format of your choice, you'll need to install Jade as
141 well as the desired DocBook stylesheets.
146 New versions of util-linux provide *fdisk support for larger disks,
147 support new options to mount, recognize more supported partition
148 types, have a fdformat which works with 2.4 kernels, and similar goodies.
149 You'll probably want to upgrade.
154 If the unthinkable happens and your kernel oopses, you'll need a 2.4
155 version of ksymoops to decode the report; see REPORTING-BUGS in the
156 root of the Linux source for more information.
161 Upgrade to recent modutils to fix various outstanding bugs which are
162 seen more frequently under 2.4.x, and to enable auto-loading of USB
163 modules. In addition, the layout of modules under
164 /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ has been made more sane, and EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL
165 also requires that you upgrade to a recent modutils.
170 These changes to the /lib/modules file tree layout also require that
171 mkinitrd be upgraded.
176 The latest version of e2fsprogs fixes several bugs in fsck and
177 debugfs. Obviously, it's a good idea to upgrade.
182 The jfsutils package contains the utilities for the file system.
183 The following utilities are available:
184 o fsck.jfs - initiate replay of the transaction log, and check
185 and repair a JFS formatted partition.
186 o mkfs.jfs - create a JFS formatted partition.
187 o other file system utilities are also available in this package.
192 The reiserfsprogs package should be used for reiserfs-3.6.x
193 (Linux kernels 2.4.x). It is a combined package and contains working
194 versions of mkreiserfs, resize_reiserfs, debugreiserfs and
195 reiserfsck. These utils work on both i386 and alpha platforms.
200 The latest version of xfsprogs contains mkfs.xfs, xfs_db, and the
201 xfs_repair utilities, among others, for the XFS filesystem. It is
202 architecture independent and any version from 2.0.0 onward should
203 work correctly with this version of the XFS kernel code (2.6.0 or
204 later is recommended, due to some significant improvements).
210 PCMCIA (PC Card) support is now partially implemented in the main
211 kernel source. Pay attention when you recompile your kernel ;-).
212 Also, be sure to upgrade to the latest pcmcia-cs release.
217 Support for 32 bit uid's and gid's is required if you want to use
218 the newer version 2 quota format. Quota-tools version 3.07 and
219 newer has this support. Use the recommended version or newer
220 from the table above.
225 A driver has been added to allow updating of Intel IA32 microcode,
226 accessible as both a devfs regular file and as a normal (misc)
227 character device. If you are not using devfs you may need to:
230 mknod /dev/cpu/microcode c 10 184
231 chmod 0644 /dev/cpu/microcode
233 as root before you can use this. You'll probably also want to
234 get the user-space microcode_ctl utility to use with this.
236 If you have compiled the driver as a module you may need to add
239 alias char-major-10-184 microcode
241 to your /etc/modules.conf file.
246 If you are running v0.1.17 or earlier, you should upgrade to
247 version v0.99.0 or higher. Running old versions may cause problems
248 with programs using shared memory.
256 The IP firewalling and NAT code has been replaced again. The new
257 netfilter software (including ipfwadm and ipchains backwards-
258 compatible modules) is currently distributed separately.
260 If you have advanced network configuration needs, you should probably
261 consider using the network tools from ip-route2.
266 The PPP driver has been restructured to support multilink and to
267 enable it to operate over diverse media layers. If you use PPP,
268 upgrade pppd to at least 2.4.0.
270 If you are not using devfs, you must have the device file /dev/ppp
271 which can be made by:
273 mknod /dev/ppp c 108 0
277 If you build ppp support as modules, you will need the following in
278 your /etc/modules.conf file:
280 alias char-major-108 ppp_generic
281 alias /dev/ppp ppp_generic
282 alias tty-ldisc-3 ppp_async
283 alias tty-ldisc-14 ppp_synctty
284 alias ppp-compress-21 bsd_comp
285 alias ppp-compress-24 ppp_deflate
286 alias ppp-compress-26 ppp_deflate
288 If you use devfsd and build ppp support as modules, you will need
289 the following in your /etc/devfsd.conf file:
296 Due to changes in the length of the phone number field, isdn4k-utils
297 needs to be recompiled or (preferably) upgraded.
299 Getting updated software
300 ========================
305 egcs 1.1.2 (gcc 2.91.66)
306 ------------------------
307 o <ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/gcc/releases/egcs-1.1.2/egcs-1.1.2.tar.bz2>
311 o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/gcc-2.95.3.tar.gz>
315 o <ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/make/make-3.77.tar.gz>
319 o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/devel/binutils/>
326 o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>
330 o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/ksymoops/v2.4/>
334 o <ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/modutils/v2.4/>
338 o <ftp://rawhide.redhat.com/pub/rawhide/SRPMS/SRPMS/>
342 o <http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs-1.25.tar.gz>
346 o <http://jfs.sourceforge.net/>
350 o <http://www.namesys.com/pub/reiserfsprogs/reiserfsprogs-3.6.3.tar.gz>
354 o <ftp://oss.sgi.com/projects/xfs/download/>
358 o <http://www.sistina.com/lvm/>
362 o <ftp://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/pub/pcmcia-cs/pcmcia-cs-3.1.21.tar.gz>
366 o <http://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxquota/>
370 o <ftp://ftp.jclark.com/pub/jade/jade-1.2.1.tar.gz>
374 o <http://nwalsh.com/docbook/dsssl/>
378 o <http://www.urbanmyth.org/microcode/>
382 o <http://powertweak.sourceforge.net/>
389 o <ftp://ftp.samba.org/pub/ppp/ppp-2.4.0.tar.gz>
393 o <ftp://ftp.isdn4linux.de/pub/isdn4linux/utils/isdn4k-utils.v3.1pre1.tar.gz>
397 o <http://netfilter.filewatcher.org/iptables-1.2.tar.bz2>
398 o <http://netfilter.samba.org/iptables-1.2.tar.bz2>
399 o <http://netfilter.kernelnotes.org/iptables-1.2.tar.bz2>
403 o <ftp://ftp.inr.ac.ru/ip-routing/iproute2-2.2.4-now-ss991023.tar.gz>
405 Suggestions and corrections
406 ===========================
408 Please feel free to submit changes, corrections, gripes, flames,
409 money, etc. to me <chris.ricker@genetics.utah.edu>. Happy Linuxing!