New Kernel Survival Strategies

Tim Burgess tim.burgess at blazie.co.uk
Tue Oct 2 14:01:06 EDT 2001 

Hi again,

Do you have the URL for Bill's site and does he have such disks for
Slackware (7.1 in my case)?

Thanks yet again.

Tim


-----Original Message-----
From: speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca
[mailto:speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca]On Behalf Of Janina Sajka
Sent: 02 October 2001 18:18
To: speakup at braille.uwo.ca
Subject: RE: New Kernel Survival Strategies


Hi, Tim:

Best avenue back to your broken linux system may well be a speakup enabled
floppy that can take you into rescue mode. You could do this with the
Redhat installation boot floppies on Bill's site, for example:

vmlinuz -s speakup_synth=ltlk

or perhaps:

vmlinuz rescue speakup_synth=dectlk

Obviously, you would specify the correct synth you have.

If you can get the machine up this way, your lilo.conf can be fixed.

On Tue, 2
Oct 2001, Tim Burgess wrote:

> Hi and thanks.
>
> I'll give it a study and try again - this time I got as far as a
successful
> compile based on 2.2.18 with SpeakUp 0.10a.  However I got a kernel panic
> that's killed me and I don't know how to boot back to my /boot/vmlinuz.old
> as I messed up lilo.conf.  Looks like another rebuild.  If it's true that
we
> learn by our mistakes then I'm going to wind up a real guru at this rate.
>
> Best wishes.
>
> Tim
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca
> [mailto:speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca]On Behalf Of Janina Sajka
> Sent: 02 October 2001 16:49
> To: speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> Subject: RE: New Kernel Survival Strategies
>
>
> On Tue, 2 Oct 2001, Tim Burgess wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > This sounds like an excellent strategy to me.  Would you be willing to
> > provide your lilo.conf as a reference for us newbies who have just
fallen
> > foul of getting lilo.conf wrong?
> >
> No problem. Here it is. Beware, though, that your circumstances may be
> different, i.e. lba32, vga=,  initrd's, and such things.
>
> The other important survival tool is a bootable floppy disk. Here's my
> /etc/lilo.conf:
>
> boot=/dev/hda
> map=/boot/map
> install=/boot/boot.b
> compact
> prompt
> timeout=500
> message=/boot/message
> lba32
> default=current
> serial=0,9600N8
>
> image=/boot/new
> label = new
> alias = n
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img-new
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> image = /boot/current
> label=current
> alias = c
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> image = /boot/current
> label=express
> alias = x
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "speakup_synth=dectlk hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> image = /boot/current
> label=litetalk
> alias = l
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "speakup_synth=ltlk hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> image = /boot/current
> label=bns
> alias = b
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "speakup_synth=bns hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> image = /boot/previous
> label=previous
> alias = p
> vga=0X317
> initrd=/boot/initrd.img-previous
> read-only
> root=/dev/hda1
> append = "hdc=ide-scsi hde=ide-scsi"
>
> other=/dev/hda3
> optional
> label=dos
>
> table = /dev/hda
>
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Tim
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca
> > [mailto:speakup-admin at braille.uwo.ca]On Behalf Of Janina Sajka
> > Sent: 02 October 2001 14:53
> > To: speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > Subject: New Kernel Survival Strategies
> >
> >
> >
> > Well, since we're on the subject of new kernel strategies, I've changed
> > the subject line.
> >
> > Now, I'd like to modestly offer my strategy.
> >
> > Here's what I do:
> >
> > I have three entries in my lilo.conf, previous, current, and new. These
> > are the image labels. In my /boot directory, I symlink the appropriate
> > vmlinuz to previous and current. New is actually symlinked to
> > /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage, which does work with my lilo and
> > bios.
> >
> > Now, when I gen a new kernel, I have to actively select it during
> > boot--and I have to specify the speakup synth parm.
> >
> > Previous is there mainly in case I make a mistake copying a new kernel
> > into current.
> >
> > PS: I use several synths on my laptop--including none. Each of these is
a
> > separate entry in lilo.conf pointing to current and differes only on the
> > append= line, of course.
> >
> > This has worked very well for me.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, 2 Oct 2001, Kirk Wood wrote:
> >
> > > On Tue, 2 Oct 2001, Martin G. McCormick wrote:
> > > > 	I second the advice to not fear configuring kernels.  The
> > > > main thing is to first do no harm.  If you have a working kernel,
> > > > by all means, save it.  .....
> > >
> > > Better yet, just leave it just as it is. After you compile your new
> kernel
> > > copy/move it to the /boot directory (or partition) and then make
another
> > > entry in lilo.conf for the new kernel. You can copy everything from
your
> > > current (hopefully working) entry changing the label and the name of
the
> > > kernel itself. If this is the only modification, then you can boot
back
> by
> > > simply doing nothing. If you want to try the new kernel hit the tab
key
> > > right as the computer starts to boot. Then type the label for hte new
> > > kernel and hit enter.
> > >
> > > Things to avoid are believing you need to name your kernel just like
the
> > > one that is there (probably vmlinuz). This is great for making it so
> that
> > > anyone can find it. But you can always refer to lilo as well. I name
> mine
> > > with a combo of version info and other stuff (such as 2.2.17-music for
> > > when I configured to use the also drivers). This makes it easy for me
to
> > > tell what was for what. I like to keep multiple kernels arround. If
> > > something goes goofy in hardware one may be able to get by the
problem.
> > >
> > > =======
> > > Kirk Wood
> > > Cpt.Kirk at 1tree.net
> > >
> > > "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missle at
> > > a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be
> decisive."
> > > 	- President George Bush
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > >
> >
> > --
> >
> > 				Janina Sajka, Director
> > 				Technology Research and Development
> > 				Governmental Relations Group
> > 				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> >
> > Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175
> >
> > Chair, Accessibility SIG
> > Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> > http://www.openebook.org
> >
> > Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
> > Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp
> >
> > Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
> > King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
> > http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp
> >
> > Learn how to make accessible software at
> > http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
>
> --
>
> 				Janina Sajka, Director
> 				Technology Research and Development
> 				Governmental Relations Group
> 				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
>
> Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175
>
> Chair, Accessibility SIG
> Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> http://www.openebook.org
>
> Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
> Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp
>
> Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
> King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
> http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp
>
> Learn how to make accessible software at
> http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

--

				Janina Sajka, Director
				Technology Research and Development
				Governmental Relations Group
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

Email: janina at afb.net		Phone: (202) 408-8175

Chair, Accessibility SIG
Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
http://www.openebook.org

Will electronic books surpass print books? Read our white paper,
Surpassing Gutenberg, at http://www.afb.org/ebook.asp

Download a free sample Digital Talking Book edition of Martin Luther
King Jr's inspiring "I Have A Dream" speech at
http://www.afb.org/mlkweb.asp

Learn how to make accessible software at
http://www.afb.org/accessapp.asp


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