CSD
> I've just upgraded a system from RedHat 5.0 to 5.1 so I could read the
> FAT32 fs in a Win95 partition. In case anyone doesn't know, RH 5.1 uses
> kernel 2.0.34-6. The out-of-the-box kernel seemed to work fine. I
> could mount both vfat and fat32 partitions and view the files therein,
> and the networking was working just fine -- So I continued on with my
> (re)configurations. xcdroast is used on this system for burning cds, so
> I had to recompile the kernel to use SCSI host adapter emulation for the
> ATAPI cdroms. This is where the trouble started.
>
> I cd'd to /usr/src/linux and did a make xconfig, and chose the scsi
> emulation and generic scsi support, as well as tweaking a couple of
> minor things (CPU to Pentium, get rid of other unneeded things like
> busmice, non IDE or SCSI cdroms, etc.) I saved, exited, and did a make
> dep; make clean, then a make zImage. Everything progressed without
> errors.
>
> I copied the new zImage over to /boot, renamed it, edited my lilo.conf,
> and re-ran lilo. So I now have a choice of 3 kernels to boot from: the
> box 2.0.34, the 2.0.34-scsi emulation, and the old 2.0.32 with scsi
> emulation from when the system was 5.0.
>
> When I rebooted with the 2.0.34-scsi kernel, the SCSI/ATAPI devices were
> detected properly, but some other problems developed. First, it
> wouldn't mount the Win95 partitions or my cdroms. I got the errors:
> mount: fs type vfat not supported by kernel
> mount: fs type iso9660 not supported by kernel
>
> Almost as bad, the networking is not working. I can't ping anything,
> either behind or outside of my firewall - even though the Tulip card is
> detected at boot. So it looks like the kernel wasn't loading in any of
> the modules.
>
> I thought I might have made a mistake during the make xconfig, so I went
> through it again, this time compiling in support for both the vfat and
> iso9660 filesystems into the kernel, making sure loadable module support
> was enabled and then I copied over and replaced the appropriate kernel.
> After reboot, the same problems continued - couldn't mount vfat or iso
> fses and no networking. So it looked like the kernel still wasn't
> loading in the modules.
>
> Confused, I looked at the RH 5.0 manual (of which I have a copy) and
> looked into its kernel building instructions. It said there that I
> should build any modules I configured with make modules
> - I wasn't sure if I had configured any modules, but I figured the worst
> it would do is make a default set, so I did that. It also said I should
> install the new modules (even if I didn't build any) with
> make modules_install.
> I did this as well.
>
> This time the new kernel would not boot at all - I hadn't done anything
> to this kernel, since the module instructions in the RH manual instruct
> to do the make modules and make modules_install after the kernel image
> is made. I booted the old kernel - and now both vfat or iso filesystems
> cannot be mounted, and give the same 'not supported' error. I also
> booted my orignal kernel with SCSI emulation that I used with the system
> when it was RH 5.0. It gives the same errors, and networking is down as
> well.
>
> I think this problem is due to my extreme ignorance on kernel matters,
> and my failure to build a proper kernel and module set. The funny thing
> is - the first time I rebuilt the kernel for scsi emulation, I did not
> have these sorts of problems - once I was able to get the kernel
> compiled. If anyone can give me some help on these difficulties, I
> would appreciate it.
>
> Emailed replies would be especially appreciated.
> --
> Your faithful narrator,
> Roberto Pavan, rpavan@physics.ubc.ca
>
> If a birth is the fall-out from the explosion caused by the union of
> two unstable elements, then perhaps a half-life is all we can expect.
> -- Salman Rushdie, "The Moor's Last Sigh"
>