How to deal with redhat kernel update

[Don Rieck]

OK, I *think* I get it, but just to make sure:

I'm running redhat 8.0, and successfully have the Nvidia drivers running under kernel 2.4.18-19.0.

I've since grabbed a couple of kernel updates (most recently 2.4.18-26.8.0) , but when I choose them from Grub, X will not start.

I'm assuming I need to recompile using the new kernel source.

My question(s):

Is there a way to 'backup' the old drivers, or will the --force option essentially overwrite the 'old' drivers with the new ?

Do I need to uninstall the 'old' drivers before recompiling the new ones ?

Do I need to reinstall GLX, or just rebuild the drivers ?

Is there ANY way to toggle between kernels without totally recompiling the drivers ? Any relatively easy way to switch them in and out ?

Sorry for the probably newbie questions.......


Don Rieck
don @theriecks.com

[Marty]

Hi;

See my post about automated kernel update script for nforce mobo. If you don't have nforce mobo, but only the video card, modify the script to leave out any mention of the nforce.src.rpm or its install -ivh statement. This should back up your old kernel and uninstall the driver and GLX in the right order and then reinstall them in the right order. Your boot loader will list your old kernels on start up and let you select among them, but once you recompile the new one, I'm not sure what will happen if you try to load an old one without recompling it back to the old form first. I'm also running RH 8.0 with ASUS nforce mobo AMD XP 1600+ and 512 meg of Mushkin 2,2,2 memory. Runs like a champ and I have gone through 4 kernel updates already without problems.

Good luck;
Marty