Jan's Linux Log

This blog started out as an install log of RedHat 9 on a Compaq Presario 2538cl laptop (linuxpresario.blogspot.com) . However, I soon started to include little logs to myself when I made configuration changes to software, etc. So, I've moved it over to our domain, and changed its name to Linux Log. Here you will find some tips & tricks related to Linux configuration on a laptop, as well as software related things that I run into. I log here things that worked for me, of course, your mileage may vary.

Any questions/comments? E-mail me at linux_atsign_boshoff|za|net.

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ACPI Patched RH Kernel

May 26, 2003

Compiled ACPI Patched kernel today. Basically, the easiest way to do this is to follow the Linux Kernel HOWTO instructions:

  1. Used Red Hat Network to download the newest kernel and kernel sources.
  2. Downloaded the appropriate 2.4.20 ACPI patch from the ACPI4Linux Project page at Sourceforge.
  3. Applied the patch in the kernel source directories gzip -dc ~/acpi-20021212-2.4.20.diff.gz | patch -p1 from wihin /usr/src/linux-2.4. At one point it complained about a diff already being applied, I did not apply this one (hit ENTER twice to accept defaults).
  4. make clean
  5. make mrproper
  6. Copied the last kernel config file from /boot: cp /boot/config-2.4.20.13-9 .config
  7. make xconfig. I then enabled ACPI from the General Setup menu and disabled APM. I also noticed that an incorrect CPU was specified, so I corrected that in the CPU Type menu.
  8. make dep
  9. Edited /usr/src/linux-2.4/Makefile and changed the version information to reflect a new version.
  10. make bzImage
  11. make modules
  12. make modules_install gave an error the first time I ran it, complaining about a bat_gericom containing unresolved symbols. Gericom is a brand of laptop, and the module bat_gericom referenced some APM libraries, which were of course not compiled, since I configured the kernel with ACPI only. To fix this, I edited the Makefile in /usr/src/linux-2.4/drivers/char/ and commented out the line referring to Gericom: obj-$(CONFIG_BATTERY_GERICOM) += bat_gericom.o.
  13. Copied the kernel (in and corresponding config file to /boot: cp /usr/src/linux-2.4/arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-18.9acpi, cp /usr/src/linux-2.4/.config /boot/config-2.4.20-18.9acpi
  14. mkinitrd initrd-kernel-version.img kernel-version (see the howto) and finally edited GRUB configuration file, /boot/grub/grub.conf to load the new kernel.

I now have battery status reported in the Gnome panel (by adding the gnome applet Battery Status Monitor), and Linux can turn off the laptop when you shut down the system. I've not played around with any of the other buttons yet (power and LCD brightness, volume etc.), but will do this is due time. For now it works fine.