NEW - upgrading kernel

[Eric Lemoine]

On 11/14/06, Miguel Cardenas <mfcardenas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello list
>
> I want to upgrade to kernel 2.6.18.1 from *sources* and want to make it
> lighter by removing unused drivers and choosing the ones required for me (my
> motherboard specific chipset, my video capture card, my sound driver, etc),
> but first want to know some things...
>
> 1) Can I install other kernels directly from sources downloaded from
> kernel.org?

Yes, you can install and run kernel.org kernels.

>
> 2) Does Ubuntu configuration (the system) require some special modules to
> work or for some services (automount, shared memory, etc.)? if so, which
> ones are required? Probably remove only drivers related to hardware and not
> system functions to avoid Ubuntu crashes? which ones can I remove safely?

What you can do is start from your ubuntu kernel config file, and
remove the device drivers you don't need. The ubuntu kernel config
file is located under /boot. E.g. on Edgy you have
/boot/config-2.6.17-10.

>
> 3) I'm thinking that can save current kernel (I guess 2.6.17) configuration,
> load it into the 2.6.18 configuration, then remove unused drivers and
> modules and tune finely the ones specific to my hardware...

I haden't read this before suggesting the above :-)

>  Is that way right to update my kernel?

I think so.

Also, you may want to use make-kpkg (located in the kernel-package
package) to build your kernel. Using make-kpkg your home-compiled
kernel will be packaged, just like the Ubuntu kernels.

Good luck Miguel.

-- 
Eric