Kernel Compiling and Framebuffer Device

From Priit Kivisoo

Answered By: Benjamin A. Okopnik, Thomas Adam

Hello.

I have a problem compiling kernel (2.2.19 currently) on Debian GNU/Linux 2.2r6. Every time I compile it, after rebooting, I get messages like:

depmod: *** Unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/2.2.19/sound/sound.o

[Ben]

It sounds like the modules are not being installed after the kernel compilation. I've seen the "standard procedure" fail to do so unless the original modules subdirectory was renamed or deleted. So, for those times when you're not sure what's going on, here's Ben's Patented Kernel Recompile with Tasty Module Sauce on top (all done as root, of course):

See attached ben-compilekernel.txt

This assumes that you only have the one kernel source tree installed - obviously, you'd need to "cd" to the appropriate source directory if you have more than one - and that your current kernel version is the same as the one you're running (if it's not, ignore the "version" variable and type out the right numbers.) I'm also not showing any of the output for clarity's sake.

[Thomas] I am wondering whether or not your "modules.dep" file is up to date. As "root", issue:

depmod -a

just to be safe.

Sound support is usually loaded via a module and those settings are stored in "/etc/modules.conf". Check that those settings are accurate for your card. As you are running Debian, take a look at:

man \1 update-modules

[Ben] Good point, Thomas! Although that's supposed to happen automatically during boot (Debian does it via "/etc/init.d/modutils"), it could fail, or not run for some reason. If you see a whole bunch of error messages when you do the above,though, chances are that you've got a mismatched between your kernel and modules.

Also, I was wandering, if someone can tell me, why can't I use framebuffer device using 32k, It works only with 256 colours for me... When I use 32k (or 16k), I can't see the cute penguin, not mentioning X (well, I use XFree86 3.3.11, which came with the distribution, I have ATI Rage Fury Pro AGP, which SuperProbe can't detect - any suggestions to that? XFree86 4.* on Slackware 8.0.0 can't recognize it either...). I get message:

Fatal server error:
fbdevScreenInit: unableto set screen params (Invalid argument)

Oh, btw, framebuffer worked perfectly on Slackware 8.0.0 - even 1024x768x32k worked fine... And Debian 2.2r6 didn't have framebuffer compiled in kernel, I compiled it myself - maybe I did something wrong, even though I tried to follow the 'Framebuffer-HOWTO'.

[Ben]

Sorry, framebuffer is outside my area of expertise. Someone else here might be able to help, though.

[Thomas] Well, I might Framebuffer support is in the experimental part of the kernel, so you have to enable "experimental" in Code Maturity Options (as I assume you have).

If you are using Lilo, make sure that your "vga=" line for the appropriate stanza is set like this:

vga=0x317

Then run "/sbin/lilo"!!!! That'll give you 1024x786x16 colour bit.

Also, I just have to say, that You all at the Gazette, have done a great job in helping Linux users worldwide... Thank You for that!

[Ben] <smile> Thank you, Priit! Much appreciated, and glad you're enjoying the Gazette.

PS! Sorry about the following ad-s from hot.ee, because I didn't have any mail client available... sry.

[Ben] Hey, Estonian ads. Cool. Don't think I'd seen those before... when I passed through Tallinn 30+ years ago, they didn't have those yet. I'm

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