Restore latest kernel

[Mark Haney]

Derek Broughton wrote:

> 
> True, and I'm sure the kernel wasn't a complete loss either - my suggestion
> had been to just remove the driver he compiled, but I'm suspecting that he
> doesn't actually know which driver that was...  But the specific errors he
> showed imply he _did_ recompile the cx88 driver, and it wasn't done
> correctly.  So since he needs that driver, it still seems probable that he
> needed to reinstall the kernel.

I do see your point, but this sorta falls in line with my point all 
along (no flame intended here), that walking through the process with 
him would have helped him understand what he was doing a little better 
for the next time.  And yes, that might have been the case with that 
driver, hence one of the things that probably would have come of 
debugging the problem rather than avoiding it would have been to backup 
the modules directory before hand.


> 
> Or as Karl puts it, "all his problems are solved" :-)  I really think that
> once somebody b0rks his system by compiling drivers, replacing all the
> drivers is practically mandatory.  No it doesn't fix the root problem, but
> until the reinstall, we have no idea whether ongoing problems are due to
> the compilation or something else.
>> I thought I'd offer my help with at least finding out if the modules
>> were buggy before going that route,

That may be true, but we still don't know if his system was that 
wrecked.  We never got any more information beyond the OP.  After that 
it was all about reinstalling the kernel.

> 
> I don't know what kind of evidence you need - the errors from dmesg show a
> module with a pretty screwed up symbol table.

Again, that just proves the module was wonky, not the kernel.  Still 
doesn't mean the entire kernel needed reinstalling.

> 
>> since it looks as if he'll need to 
>> build his own and maybe he might learn how to properly manage the
>> modules by digging into it deeper.

Well, I was hoping to help get him started on that NOW, rather than later.
> 
>> Really, having 'pros' like that around rather makes my experience kinda
>> useless.  I mean, if the standard Ubuntu answer to a problem is
>> 'reinstall!', then I can leave that to them and find a forum where
>> that's a last resort option.
> 
> Reinstall should be a last resort, but I still think it's mandatory in a
> case like this.

Again, I have no reason to say that it IS mandatory for it.  I don't 
know that it was for sure.  I do think it is likely, but instead of 
trying to find out definitively, some told him how to drop a tactical 
nuke on it and thus avoid the problem altogether.





-- 
Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt -- Caius Julius Caesar


Mark Haney
Sr. Systems Administrator
ERC Broadband
(828) 350-2415

Call (866) ERC-7110 for after hours support