[lug] fa311, or What is all this kernel business anyway

[Chris Wade]

Thanks for the info.  This is exactly the kind of stuff I needed to help me
get up to speed.  

BTW, I replaced the FA311 with a linksys card, still haven't got it
configured how I want it but at least I had no problems installing it.

Chris

> -----Original Message-----
> From: J. Wayde Allen [mailto:wallen at lug.boulder.co.us]
> Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 10:21 AM
> To: 'lug at lug.boulder.co.us'
> Subject: Re: [lug] fa311, or What is all this kernel business anyway
> 
> 
> On Fri, 19 Oct 2001, Chris Wade wrote:
> 
> > I guess the real problem here is that I don't know exactly what the
> > kernel is or how to upgrade it.
> 
> Sounds like I should remind everyone about the newbie columns I had
> started several years back.  Check out the BLUG web site at:
> 
>    http://lug.boulder.co.us/docs.html
> 
> What would probably be of particular interest to you would be:
> 
>    #1 - The birth of UNIX   
> <http://lug.boulder.co.us/docs/newbie01.html>
>    #2 - The UNIX design     
> <http://lug.boulder.co.us/docs/newbie02.html>
>    #3 - The UNIX philosophy 
<http://lug.boulder.co.us/docs/newbie03.html>

> put fa311.o into /lib/modules/2.2.18/net/ and do 'insmod fa311', I get
> 'kernel-module version mismatch ... fa311.o was compiled for kernel
version
> 2.2.16-22 while this kernel is version 2.2.18.'

I don't know if the following would help, but it sounds like it may be a
bit apropos:

   http://archive.lug.boulder.co.us/bymonth/2001.09/msg00167.html

> The extent of my knowledge/guessing about the kernel is that it is the
> 'core' of linux, the part that actually does all the interfacing with the
> hardware.

I'd say that you've got this pretty much correct.  The kernel is what
talks to the hardware and ideally presents a standardized software
interface to the rest of the system.  Technically speaking this is the
Linux part of the system.  The rest of the software and the configuration
of the file system (directories, etc.) are what constitutes a
distribution.

>  I gather that you can upgrade the kernel without affecting much
> else on your system, but I've obviously never done it.

Yes and no ... it is pretty easy to compile a kernel and the act of
compiling one doesn't affect your system.  It only affects the system if
you tell the boot loader where to find it.  You can also have more than
one bootable kernel available to the boot loader.

Overall effects on the system would be that different kernels would allow
different services to run, and may depend on different libraries.  That
can impact how/if some of your other software operates.

> Can anyone either
> tell me how or point me to some docs on upgrading the kernel, and/or give
me
> some help with getting this fa311 working?

Don't know about the fa311, but you can read up on the kernel stuff at

   http://www.linux.org/docs/ldp/howto/Kernel-HOWTO.html

Hope this helps a little.

- Wayde
  (wallen at lug.boulder.co.us)

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