Upgrading to kernel 5.4

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Susie B.
Posts: 9
Joined: 22. Nov 2020, 20:58

Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by Susie B. »

Hello.
This is my first post.

Is it troublesome to upgrade the kernel of Salix 64 14.2, which is originally kernel 4.4, to 5.4 of the Slackware current?

I recently upgraded it to 4.19 using the following steps and so far there seems to be no problem.

How to install another kernel
https://docs.salixos.org/wiki/How_to_in ... ent_kernel

But I'm worried that there might be some problems with upgrading across major versions.

Is it better to stay with 4.19? Or is it safe to move to 5.4?
I would appreciate any information or advice about it.

Thank you for your help,
Susie B.

P.S.
I mistakenly registered my username as S "e" sie instead of S "u" sie.
How can I correct this?
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mimosa
Salix Warrior
Posts: 3311
Joined: 25. May 2010, 17:02
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Re: Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by mimosa »

You really need to stay with the same kernel series - that page was probably originally written when current was using the same series as the latest release. The latest kernel for 14.2 is 4.4.240, and you can install it just using Salix's normal package management tools.
First find out which kernel packages are currently installed:

Code: Select all

ls /var/log/packages | grep kernel
Then install the latest versions from the repositories, e.g.:

Code: Select all

sudo slapt-get -i kernel-huge kernel-headers kernel-modules kernel-firmware
and update your bootloader as described in the wiki page you used.
You might want to have a look at the Salix Startup Guide, especially Chapter 3 on package management:
https://salixos.org/guide.html

The Guide is not fully up to date, but is still accurate enough to be helpful.

Welcome to Salix, and please don't hesitate to post with any queries you may have.

As you may have noticed, the package repository set as default on installation is no longer working, and needs to be changed:
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7254&p=42056&hilit ... tup#p42056
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gapan
Salix Wizard
Posts: 6238
Joined: 6. Jun 2009, 17:40

Re: Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by gapan »

Hi and welcome!

I don't think there would be any problems with upgrading to kernel 5.4 from current. So you can go ahead and do it, the same way you upgraded to 4.19. Just make sure that you upgrade *all* installed kernel packages to the same version. And don't forget to update your bootloader.

I guess the question is why do you want to do that? The only valid reason would really be that you have some hardware that is not supported by the older kernel.

PS: I've already corrected your username. You wouldn't be able to change this yourself anyway.
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Susie B.
Posts: 9
Joined: 22. Nov 2020, 20:58

Re: Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by Susie B. »

Hi, mimosa, gapan

Thank you for your advice.

The reason I want to upgrade my kernel is an app, which I strongly need.

The app need a function of newer kernel than 4.6. (The developper of the app called it "UAPI".) Additionally, with kernel 4.19, there is a fail of building the app. It seems to be caused by the short of the newer hardware support in the kernel source.

So, despite mimosa's kindness, I can't go back to the kernel older than 4.6. And if I can, I want to update my kernel to the newer than 4.19.


And thank you for the welcome.

I came to Linux world 6 years ago, because MS ended up the support for its Windows XP. At that time I needed compilation of an app in a hurry for my work. So I seek for the distro which allow a newbie to easily do his own build. Fortunately I found the Slackware and finally the Salix OS. I can have managed my Linux desktop so far because of that nature of Slackware and the user-friendliness of Salix. I would like to thank you to the Salix, Slackware, and Linux people.

Regards,
Susie B.

P.S. Thank you for correcting my username. It made me feel more at home :-)
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gapan
Salix Wizard
Posts: 6238
Joined: 6. Jun 2009, 17:40

Re: Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by gapan »

As far as I know UAPI has been included in the kernel since 3.7, so it's probably not that. But anyway, it could be something else.

Try it out and see I guess. Make sure you also have the respective kernel-source package installed.

But I'm curious, what app is that?
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Susie B.
Posts: 9
Joined: 22. Nov 2020, 20:58

Re: Upgrading to kernel 5.4

Post by Susie B. »

Hi, gapan

Sorry for the late reply.

Now I have successfully updated my kernel to 5.4. Thank you for your advice.

I also could build my "strongly needing" app, I mean snd-firewire-ctl-services [1] and its two dependencies. Without these apps my sound board can't be operated via any ALSA mixer apps.

I failed to build them with kernel 4.4 and the developer, Takashi Sakamoto advised me that I should upgrading my kernel. But I might have misunderstood the reason of the upgrading, because English is not my native language.

If you are interested in his work and possibly my whole story, please visit his GitHub page [1] and the mailing list I consult [2].

[1] https://github.com/alsa-project/snd-fir ... -services/
[2] https://www.mail-archive.com/alsa-user@ ... 32926.html

Regards,
Susie B.
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