Kernel upgrade problem.

[massai]

Yes, the extended partition thingy is a low priority and decided to push it back for later (but I will get to it at some point, becasue the general idea is to learn; instead of choosing the path of least resistance and be comfortable)

The are two more issues that are pressing:
a) Configuration of XawTV.
(The darn thing gives me a blue screen. I hear a faint sound in the background. It seems to be stack in one channel and it keeps playing even if I close XawTV. I have to reboot to make it stop)

The card is being detected left and right (it is probably dizzy by too much detection, and cannot perform its duties for me.... poor thing)

Linux video capture interface: v1.00
bttv: driver version 0.9.12 loaded
bttv: using 8 buffers with 2080k (520 pages) each for capture
bttv: Bt8xx card found (0).
PCI: Found IRQ 9 for device 0000:00:0b.0
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 0000:00:07.3
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 0000:00:07.2
PCI: Sharing IRQ 9 with 0000:00:0b.1
bttv0: Bt878 (rev 17) at 0000:00:0b.0, irq: 9, latency: 64, mmio: 0xdddfe000
bttv0: detected: Hauppauge WinTV [card=10], PCI subsystem ID is 0070:13eb
bttv0: using: Hauppauge (bt878) [card=10,autodetected]
bttv0: Hauppauge/Voodoo msp34xx: reset line init [5]
bttv0: Hauppauge eeprom: model=44811, tuner=Temic 4039FR5 (21), radio=yes
bttv0: using tuner=21
bttv0: i2c: checking for MSP34xx @ 0x80... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA9875 @ 0xb0... not found
bttv0: i2c: checking for TDA7432 @ 0x8a... not found
tvaudio: TV audio decoder + audio/video mux driver
tvaudio: known chips: tda9840,tda9873h,tda9874h/a,tda9850,tda9855,tea6300,tea6420,tda8425,pic16c54 (
PV951),ta8874z
tuner: chip found @ 0xc2
tuner: type set to 21 (Temic NTSC (4039 FR5))
registering 0-0061
bttv0: registered device video0
bttv0: registered device vbi0
bttv0: registered device radio0
bttv0: PLL: 28636363 => 35468950 .. ok
Via 686a/8233/8235 audio driver 1.9.1-ac4-2.5
PCI: Found IRQ 10 for device 0000:00:07.5
PCI: Sharing IRQ 10 with 0000:00:0a.0
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:07.5 to 64
ac97_codec: AC97 Audio codec, id: ALG16 (ALC200/200P)

I see that "i2c" cannot be found. Do I smell a kernel "re-compile" coming up?

b) There is one last module (or two? Believe, this is an improvement) that is not being detected, but I don't know which one it is.

These are the very last lines of the dmesg output (everything else before it is CLEAN with no errors.

NET: Registered protocol family 17
ehci_hcd: block sizes: qh 128 qtd 96 itd 128 sitd 64
request_module: failed /sbin/modprobe -- char-major-109-0. error = 256
lp0: using parport0 (polling).
request_module: failed /sbin/modprobe -- char-major-4-64. error = 256
APIC error on CPU0: 00(40)
nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
0: nvidia: loading NVIDIA Linux x86 nvidia.o Kernel Module  1.0-4496  Wed Jul 16 19:03:09 PDT 2003
0: NVRM: AGPGART: unable to retrieve symbol table
atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x7a on isa0060/serio0).
atkbd.c: Unknown key released (translated set 2, code 0x7a on isa0060/serio0).
APIC error on CPU0: 40(40)
request_module: failed /sbin/modprobe -- char-major-5-2. error = 256

I don't know if it is three different modules or if it is one module and the daemon keeps probing for it repeatedly.

Note: that I am focusing on modules right now (I do see some other glitches here and there which will have to wait for their turn)

P.S. What does it say ? ..... "NVIDIA taints kernel" ? What the heck is that? (How come I didn't catch that before ?)

[Stephen]

I get those stupid warnings as well I read a post in the Debian User list about a week ago where the poster said he updated the module-init-tools and got rid of them but I upgraded up to the latest version and it did not do anything for me so I have no idea how to get rid of them. I have no experience with a tv card so I do not think I can be of much help on that one although looking at the output it gets detected and it looks like it initializes without error a couple of things you can check, are you a member of the video group I believe that you have to be one to access the video playback of the card and you may want to check if there are any european settings left over in the config files for xawtv. This may be something to start a new thread on we are pretty far into this one and most people are only going to see the title and not be thinking about a tv card. And the taint the kernel that someone's subtle way of telling you that you are running non-gpl code in the kernel.

[massai]

Hi Stephen,

I think the instalation is stable enough at this point. The major hardles have been ironed and I have you to thank for a lot of it. Your good effort is witnessed and well appreciated !

Maybe this is a good point to wrap-up this thread and I will try to smooth out the rest of the "cosmetic" glitches over the course of time.

It is unbelievable how much information is availble about Linux. Somehow I never feel alone.
There are so many knowledgable people out there, from genious teenagers to seasoned professionals, that they know every bit and every byte like the back of their hand. There are people out there who are combing the manuals and the source code line by line.

Due to such staggering amound of knowledge from the community I feel much more confident in Linux than any propriatery system. (there is no sense of doom when something goes "south"; unlike in a proprietary system).

Despite the technical deficalties my experience so far has been very rewarding !