Guide to installing Knoppix 3.4ct with 2.6 kernel

I sucessfully installed to HD the 3.4 ct version with the 2.6 kernel thanks largely to a thread in the "News" section and the wisdom and kindness of Stephen and champagnemojo who posted tips on how to get it to install. As somewhat of a novice myself, I felt it would be nice to put together an installation guide for how to get a HD install of Knoppix 3.4ct up and running with the 2.6 kernel, so here goes:

1. boot the Knoppix Live CD (as the keyboard layout is German by default you'll need to use shift and 0 to get the = sign).
   
   
   Code:

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   knoppix26 lang=us

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2. once in KDE on the live CD open konsole and issue the following commands:
   
   Code:

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   wget http://debian.tu-bs.de/knoppix/insta...lates-0.39.tgz
cp /usr/sbin/knoppix-installer .
sudo ./knoppix-installer

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   this will install the needed missing files, as well it will start the knoppix installation to your HD
   
3. (I used /dev/hda3 so that's the reference point for example i'll use from here on out, please subsititute /dev/hda3 for whatever slice or HD you used). After Knoppix has been sucessfully installed to your HD you'll need to mount the drive you installed. and to save yourself a lot of headache later it's a good idea to download module-init-tools at this point too.
   
   
   Code:

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   sudo mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/hda3
cd /mnt/hda3/boot
sudo wget http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool...re9-1_i386.deb

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   the sudo wget command with the URL following it is all on the same line, not two seperate lines, fyi.
   
4. now that you've got that downloaded, just leave it there, you'll come back to install it later. As for now lilo on your installation drive needs to be updated.
   
   
   Code:

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   sudo chroot /mnt/hda3/ /sbin/lilo -v

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   once this has updated you're ready to reboot and take the CD, go ahead and do this.
   
5. At lilo's boot menu select LinuxOLD (if you boot into linux you get kernel panic errors). Don't be surprised like I was when LinuxOLD boots up and your mouse/network card, etc might not be functioning. We're just botting into linuxOLD to do some text based maintence work. When KDE starts loading go ahead and kill it and drop to console:
   
   
   Code:

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   Cntrl-Alt-F1
(log on)
su
Password:
cd /boot
mkinitrd -o linux-2.6.1.gz

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   this will make an initrd image that WON'T cause a kernel panic when you try to boot into it normally.
   
6. now it's time to add this entry to /etc/lilo.conf. Update /etc/lilo.conf as follows (I used vi but feel free to use the editor of your choice)
   
   
   Code:

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   vi /etc/lilo.conf

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   you'll come to a section looking something like this:
   
   Code:

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   image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.1
        label=Linux
      initrd=/boot/initrd.gz

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   replace the last line (initrd=/boot/initrd.gz) with the one you created earlier:
   
   
   Code:

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   initrd=/boot/linux-2.6.1.gz

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7. you'll need to update lilo again for it to recognize the change you just made, so issue the following command:
   
   
   Code:

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   /sbin/lilo -v

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8. Some last minute prep work we have to do now. remember the module-init-tools package you downloaded earlier? Well now it's time to install it so that your mouse, network card, sound card, etc. will be recognized when you reboot:
   
   
   Code:

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   dpkg -i module-init-tools_3.0-pre9-1_i386.deb

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9. one last thing that needs to be done is to add an entry into /etc/fstab that the 2.6 kernel requires:
   
   
   Code:

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   vi /etc/fstab

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   add the following lines to the file
   
   Code:

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   ## Needed for kernel 2.6
none            /sys            sysfs  defaults                0      0

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   save the file, and then you're all set!
   
10. you should now just have to reboot your computer, and choose Linux from lilo's boot menu, and voila you're up and running with the 2.6 kernel
    

Thank you man. I am not installing kernel 2.6 at this time as my mouse or my keyboard isn`t configured correctly. But I just installed debian and it was smooth. I am up for a next round but right now I am installing Knoppix. I just couldn`t be happier. Thanks :D

thanks for the tutorial. cheers!

Ah beat me to it I threw together a couple of pages here to document my efforts getting it going and one thing I do not have though is the module-init-tools line that you have did you have problems when you rebooted to the 2.6.1 kernel that caused you to have to install it, I had already upgraded the install before I rebooted to 2.6.1 and did not have any problems so it may have upgraded the package without me noticing.

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Originally Posted by Stephen

Ah beat me to it I threw together a couple of pages here to document my efforts getting it going and one thing I do not have though is the module-init-tools line that you have did you have problems when you rebooted to the 2.6.1 kernel that caused you to have to install it, I had already upgraded the install before I rebooted to 2.6.1 and did not have any problems so it may have upgraded the package without me noticing.

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yes as matter of fact I did. It took me 2 installs to get knoppix 2.6.1 up and running. The first time i booted into 2.6.1 my usb mouse and onboard nic card weren;t seen. I figured that module-init-tools had been included since it worked in the live install, but that did not appear to be the case. I ran kudzu after this first install thinking there was just an autodetection problem, but I think that just fubared things mroe than anything. So I decided to scrap that install and start over, and this time a little voice in my head said "try installing module-init-tools while you're in linux old, and to get it there, I used the sudo wget command from the live CD. anyway around 7am I had everying up and running, removed some servers I didn;t need, removed gnome, pulled over my backup copy of sources.list and upgraded to the KDE 3.2 cvs head and all is right as rain.

the new VMware rc3 even works with the 2.6.1 default kernel. I was then also able to successfully compile the 2.6.3rc3 kernel (from source + patch),. Copied the .config file over from the 2.6.1 folder, and ran make oldconfig. then ran make menuconfig (as there's some QT library problem that won;t let me run xconfig). Tried to really clean up the kernel, optimizing it for my Athon Xp processor, removing modules I KNOW I didn;t need, support for stuff like irda, ic2, etc. The end result was a faster system, though VMWare balked at the new kernel modules libraries.. so i think I musta removed too much, I figure I'll give it another shot when the offical 2.6.3 kernel is released, but for now I'm happy with 2.6.1,. WORLDS of impriovement from 2.4.2x, KDE just screams at a freakish BeOS like speed when dragging windows, sound quality is greatly improved with the addition fo ALSA, I'm a happy camper.

(edit)
one thing I did notice though Stephen is there's a few extraneous/un-needed things in your install guide pertaining to /etc//lilo.conf editing.

1. no need to edit installation-drive/etc/fstab after the install when you're in the live CD. by defualt the prompt and timeout variables are as you specified them in your guide. all you need to do is run is (installion-drive)/sbin/lilo -v so that LinuxOLD will be mapped to the 2.4 kernel
   
2. after making the initrd image, no need to comment out that line in /etc/lilo.conf, simply replace the image name with the one you created, you know the first initrd.gz is bad, so wipe it.
   
3. why are you running the knoppix-installer 3 times? Or was this just a rehashing of your discovery that those files needs to be downloaded and copied?

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Originally Posted by Hayabusa

yes as matter of fact I did. It took me 2 installs to get knoppix 2.6.1 up and running.

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Good to know I will have to update the page, the module-init-tools had to of been upgraded along with the other packages then.

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then ran make menuconfig (as there's some QT library problem that won;t let me run xconfig).

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I had the same problem last year when I first started using the 2.6 kernels never bothered to track it down though I've grown rather fond of menuconfig it's much faster using the keyboard rather than a mouse.

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Tried to really clean up the kernel, optimizing it for my Athon Xp processor, removing modules I KNOW I didn;t need, support for stuff like irda, ic2, etc. The end result was a faster system, though VMWare balked at the new kernel modules libraries.. so i think I musta removed too much, I figure I'll give it another shot when the offical 2.6.3 kernel is released, but for now I'm happy with 2.6.1,. WORLDS of impriovement from 2.4.2x, KDE just screams at a freakish BeOS like speed when dragging windows, sound quality is greatly improved with the addition fo ALSA, I'm a happy camper.

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If you want to take a look at my config for 2.6.2 you can see it here I run an Athlon as well so you may get some ideas from it. I use the 3.2 final packages and fast is just not the word for it when combined with a 2.6, their not too shabby on a 2.4 kernel either.

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1. no need to edit installation-drive/etc/fstab after the install when you're in the live CD. by defualt the prompt and timeout variables are as you specified them in your guide. all you need to do is run is (installion-drive)/sbin/lilo -v so that LinuxOLD will be mapped to the 2.4 kernel

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That is strange I did not get a prompt when I originally had the problem with the 2.6.1 and had to edit lilo to get one to be able to boot the old kernel. Perhaps this is because I installed lilo into the / partition instead of the MBR on my test machine and just used an entry that I already had in the MBR lilo to do a chainload boot to the lilo in that partition, I'm going to have to investigate that with a new install I do believe and let it overwrite the MBR this time.

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2. after making the initrd image, no need to comment out that line in /etc/lilo.conf, simply replace the image name with the one you created, you know the first initrd.gz is bad, so wipe it.

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Yeah old habit I always comment out the line when making any changes then recreate with a new line so I can go back to the old if needed at least I left out the comment in the file that is there that I always make for myself so I know why I changed it to start with, it looks like another edit is in order.

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3. why are you running the knoppix-installer 3 times? Or was this just a rehashing of your discovery that those files needs to be downloaded and copied?

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Exactly that, I should probably edit that section again to make it clear with only the needed steps. Thanks for the feedback and for discovering the module-init-tools I would have completely left that out.

Stephen can you shoot me an e-mail to [email protected] .. got some kernel config questions and other misc things i don;t want to clog up the board with

First of all, really nice instructions. I still don't completely understand the LILO step to load the 2.4 kernel. All you had to do was run /sbin/lilo -v without any changes to lilo.conf and it was set back to boot 2.4? Or did you have to uncomment the two lines that Stephen mentioned? I might install it again using both of your instructions...if nothing else, for a learning experience. :)

Also, do you notice a big improvement with the 2.6 kernel? I can't get my netcard working on my 2.6 install, but I've messed around with it a little. I noticed that it booted quicker. Are there other benefits you've noticed?

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Originally Posted by champagnemojo

Also, do you notice a big improvement with the 2.6 kernel? I can't get my netcard working on my 2.6 install, but I've messed around with it a little. I noticed that it booted quicker. Are there other benefits you've noticed?

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Well as you have noticed it is definitely faster, there is no need any more to compile the alsa modules separately and there is more support the newer devices that people have that is about all I can think of at the moment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by champagnemojo

First of all, really nice instructions. I still don't completely understand the LILO step to load the 2.4 kernel. All you had to do was run /sbin/lilo -v without any changes to lilo.conf and it was set back to boot 2.4? Or did you have to uncomment the two lines that Stephen mentioned? I might install it again using both of your instructions...if nothing else, for a learning experience. :)

Also, do you notice a big improvement with the 2.6 kernel? I can't get my netcard working on my 2.6 install, but I've messed around with it a little. I noticed that it booted quicker. Are there other benefits you've noticed?

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I did not have to uncomment out those lines Stephen mention. doing a more /install-drive/etc/lilo.conf both the prompt and timeout commands were already live (i.e. not commented out) by default. Stephen mentioned that he DID need to uncomment/add those lines. good rule of thumb use the mroe command, if those lines are in lilo.conf leave em alone. if not uncomment or add them as the case dictates. Basically you boot into LinuxOLD (2.4 kernel) after installation becase the initrd image created was "bad". you boot into LinuxOLD just long enough to create a workign one, edit lilo.conf to point to the working initrd you just made then rebbot and 2.6.1 works.

As for your network card is it supported by the 2.6.x kernel? I'm assuming you do have module-init-tools installed, if nto installing that might help. If your card is supported by the kernel AND loading the netcard driver as a module doesn't work try recompiling the kernel and selecting Y instead of M for yoru network card. Or do a google search on linux 2.6 and the name of your network card, see if there's anything that's been posted about it.

I must concurr with Stephen on the improvements in the 2.6 kernel, everything runs much faster, ALSA for lack of a better term "just works" which is something I was losing the battle to in the 2.4 kernel. my USB 2.0 card is now recognized, there's built in support now for PS2 mice.. lots of fun stuff, give it a whirl