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- Intro
- =====
-
- This document contains a list of the latest releases of the most
- important packages for Linux as well as instructions for newcomers to
- the 1.3.x series of kernels. By glancing through it, you should be
- able to find out what you need to upgrade in order to successfully run
- the latest kernels.
-
- It was originally based on material from the linux-kernel mailing
- list, Jared Mauch's web page "Software Victims of the 1.3 Kernel
- Development" (http://www2.nether.net/~jared/victim.html), and Axel
- Boldt's (boldt@math.ucsb.edu) Configure.help file, among other sources,
- and was originally written and maintained by Alessandro Sigala
- (ssigala@globalnet.it).
-
- There is now a web page based on this material, thanks to John
- Taylor. Check out http://www.cviog.uga.edu/LinuxBleed.html if you
- prefer a HTML-ized shopping list.
-
- Last updated: June 6, 1996.
- Current Author: Chris Ricker (gt1355b@prism.gatech.edu).
-
- Current Releases
- ****************
-
- - Kernel modules Stable: 1.3.57, Exp: 1.3.69k
- - PPP daemon Stable: 2.2.0f
- - Dynamic linker (ld.so) 1.7.14
- - GNU CC 2.7.2
- - Binutils 2.6.0.14
- - Linux C Library Stable: 5.2.18, Beta: 5.3.12
- - Linux C++ Library 2.7.1.4
- - Termcap 2.0.8
- - Procps 0.99a
- - Gpm 1.09
- - SysVinit 2.62
- - Util-linux 2.5
-
- Upgrade notes
- *************
-
- Network errors with recent kernels
- ==================================
-
- Many default network scripts are set up to add a route to the
- localhost at 127.0.0.1 at startup. However, they do this incorrectly.
- To fix the error, which is now spotted by the kernel (causing many
- daemons to quit working), look for a line like `route add -net
- 127.0.0.1' in your network configuration files and change it to `route
- add -net 127.0.0.0'.
-
- This error is present in all Red Hat distributions (and derivative
- distributions like Caldera). If you're running one of these, edit
- /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-lo, changing the line `route add
- -net $(IPADDR)' to `route add -net 127.0.0.0' and you should be fine.
-
- Booting Changes
- ===============
-
- The boot stuff in 1.3.x (for arch/i386) has been enhanced so that it
- now can load bigger kernels (bzImage) and that the loaders now can load
- an initial ramdisk (initrd). For initrd see Documentation/initrd.txt.
- For building bigger kernels use one of the following make targets:
- bzImage, bzlilo, bzdisk (equivalent to make targets zImage, zlilo, and
- zdisk respectively). If you want or need to use the new features
- you'll need to upgrade your bootloaders. Lilo can be found at
- ftp://lrcftp.epfl.ch/pub/linux/local/lilo/lilo.19.tar.gz. LOADLIN is at
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Linux-boot/lodlin16.tgz. If
- you're using more unusual loaders like SysLinux or etherboot, the
- latest versions are 1.3 and 2.0, respectively.
-
- The Linux C Library
- ===================
-
- The latest stable Linux C Library release is 5.2.18. If you upgrade
- to this from 5.0.9 or earlier, be sure to read the
- `release.libc-5.2.18' file, since GNU make and a few other fairly
- important utils can be broken by the upgrade.
-
- The current (beta) Linux C Library release is 5.3.12. In this
- release there are some important changes that may cause troubles to
- buggy programs (programs that call free() on a pointer not returned by
- malloc() work with previous libc, but not with this release) so read the
- `release.libc-5.3.9' file carefully! In the latest libc releases a
- dirent bug, which erroneously defined d->reclen to d->namlen if USE_GNU
- was defined, has been fixed. Unfortunately, some GNU packages depend
- on this bug. GNU make 3.xx is one of them. To fix that you need to
- patch and recompile those programs (a patch for make is included in the
- file `release.libc-.5.3.9', and the address to obtain a precompiled
- binary is at the end of this file).
-
- Also, the libc-5.3.x line has a known security hole relating to
- rlogin. Libc-5.3.12 fixes this, so if you're going to run an
- experimental libc, be sure to upgrade to 5.3.12.
-
- If you're getting an error message that is something to the effect of
-
- `fcntl_setlk() called by process 123 with broken flock() emulation'
-
- then you need to upgrade to libc-5.2.18 as well. A proper (in other
- words, BSD-style ;-) flock system call was added in 1.3.x, and older
- libc's will now give this error. It doesn't *really* matter, so you
- can just ignore it. If it really annoys you, upgrade libc (and
- recompile any static binaries you might have that are linked against
- the old libc). If you're feeling lazy, just comment out
-
- ` printk(KERN_WARNING
- "fcntl_setlk() called by process %d with broken flock()
- emulation\n", current->pid);'
-
- in linux/fs/locks.c and recompile. If you're still running a.out,
- there's an unofficial libc-4.7.6 release out to which you can upgrade
- to fix this problem.
-
- The Termcap Library
- ===================
-
- The current Termcap release is 2.0.8. If you upgrade to this release
- read the `README' file contained into the package to get some important
- information about the `tgetent' function changes!
-
- Procps utilities
- ================
-
- In the latest 1.3.x kernel releases the /proc file system structure
- was changed, so you need to upgrade the procps package to version
- 0.99a. In the very latest kernels, /proc has changed again. There's
- not yet an officially updated version of procps, so use 0.99a; you
- might want to look for one of the patches floating around to update
- 0.99a for use with 1.3.94 and later kernels.
-
- Kernel Modules
- ==============
-
- 1.3.x is almost completely modularized, and kerneld is now
- incorporated into the kernel. To take advantage of this, you'll need
- the latest version of the module support apps. The latest non-beta is
- modules-1.3.57.tar.gz, and the latest beta is modules-1.3.69k.tar.gz.
- These should be available at the same place you picked up your kernel
- (ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/kernel/src/) and the home page is
- http://www.pi.se/blox/modules/index.html. Note: If you try to load a
- module and get a message like
-
- `gcc2_compiled, undefined Failed to load module! The symbols from
- kernel 1.3.foo don't match 1.3.foo'
-
- where `foo' is a number for a recent kernel, then it's time to
- upgrade module utilities from 1.3.57 to the latest beta 1.3.69; you'll
- only get this error if you're running the latest binutils, so most
- people don't need to upgrade past 1.3.57.
-
- Another little tip: you can't have both a.out *and* ELF support
- compiled as modules. Otherwise, you get a nice Catch-22 when you try
- to run insmod to install a.out/ELF support so you can run insmod ;-).
- If you have an all-ELF system, but need a.out for the occasional legacy
- app, then you can do a.out support as a module. Otherwise, you should
- probably leave it in the kernel, and if you haven't gone ELF yet, you
- can probably say no to ELF support. Similarly, any partitions that you
- have to mount at startup have to have their necessary file system and
- device drivers compiled into the kernel, so don't get grandiose ideas
- about going completely modular and then forget to compile ext2fs
- support and ide drive support into your kernel ;-).
-
- PPP driver
- ==========
-
- You need to be running a pppd from ppp-2.2.0.tar.gz or greater. The
- latest stable release is 2.2.0f and is available at
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/ppp/ppp-2.2.0f.tar.gz.
-
- Named pipes (SysVinit)
- ======================
-
- Linux's handling of named pipes changed (it now does it The Right Way
- instead of the SunOS way ;-). This broke some programs that depended
- on the SunOS behavior, most notably SysVinit. If you're running 2.59
- or earlier, you will probably get a weird error on shutdown in which
- your computer shuts down fine but "INIT: error reading initrequest" or
- words to that effect scroll across your screen hundreds of times. To
- fix, upgrade to
- ftp://ftp.cistron.nl/pub/people/miquels/debian/sysvinit-2.62.tar.gz.
-
- If you're trying to run NCSA httpd, you have to set pre-spawning of
- daemons to zero, as it incorrectly assumes SunOS behavior. I recommend
- you just switch to Apache httpd.
-
- The new named pipe behavior also causes problems with Hylafax. If
- you're running the hylafax daemon, it will just keep eating up CPU time
- until you have no idle time free. To fix this, edit port.h included
- with the Hylafax distribution and change the line
-
- CONFIG_OPENFIFO="O_RDONLY"
-
- to
-
- CONFIG_OPENFIFO="O_RDWR"
-
- A similar method (finding all named pipes opened read-only and
- changing them to read-write) will fix any program that is broken
- because of this change.
-
- File Locking (Sendmail)
- =======================
-
- As of pre2.0.6 (aka 1.99.6), mixed-style file locking is no longer
- allowed. For example, a file cannot be simultaneously locked with
- `flock' and `fcntl'. See Documentation/locks.txt for all the gory
- details. Among the programs this has impacted are older sendmails. If
- you get a message that sendmail cannot lock aliases.dir (or other
- files), you'll need to upgrade to at least 8.7.x. The latest sendmail
- is at ftp://ftp.cs.berkeley.edu/ucb/src/sendmail/sendmail.8.7.5.tar.gz.
-
- Uugetty
- =======
-
- Older uugettys will not allow use of a bidirectional serial line. To
- fix this problem, upgrade to
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Serial/getty_ps-2.0.7h.tar.gz.
-
- Kbd
- ===
-
- For those of you needing non-ASCII character/font support, you should
- upgrade to ftp.funet.fi:/pub/OS/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus/kbd-0.91.tar.gz.
-
- Console
- =======
-
- The Linux console type has changed. If your setup is old enough
- that you have problems, you'll need to update your termcap. To fix,
- add linux to one of the types in /etc/termcap or snoop around
- http://www.ccil.org/~esr/ncurses.html (reputedly the latest universal
- termcap maintainer). You may also need to update terminfo by running
- the following as root:
-
- ln -s /usr/lib/terminfo/l/linux /usr/lib/terminfo/c/console
-
- Better yet, just get the latest official Linux termcap from
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/termcap-2.0.8.tar.gz
-
- Also, the console driver is now responsible for keeping track of
- correspondence between character codes and glyph bitmaps. If you
- encounter problems, try `loadunimap def' to get back the default
- correspondence.
-
- Hdparm
- ======
-
- Hdparm has been upgraded to take advantage of the latest features of
- the kernel drivers. The latest non-beta version can be found at
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/patches/diskdrives/hdparm-2.7.tar.gz.
-
- IP Accounting
- =============
-
- All IP packets coming in or going out via one of the network
- interfaces are now passing the accounting chain. So, packets being
- forwarded are passing this chain twice. Since pre2.0.7 (aka 1.99.7),
- accounting rules can be defined so that they will only match in one
- direction (either incoming or outgoing).
-
- There also exists a possibility to match on device names and/or
- device addresses, so that only packets coming in/going out via that
- device (network interface) match with a rule. You'll need to get
- ipfwadm from ftp://ftp.xos.nl/pub/linux/ipfwadm/ipfwadm-2.1.tar.gz to
- use this.
-
- IP Firewalls
- ============
-
- The IP firewall code has been changed drastically during 1.3.x.
- There are now 3 categories of firewall rules: one for incoming packets,
- one for outgoing packets, and one for packets being forwarded. There
- also exists a possibility to match on device names and/or device
- addresses, so that only packets coming in/going out via that device
- (network interface) match with a rule. This is especially useful to
- prevent spoofing. You'll need to get
- ftp://ftp.xos.nl/pub/linux/ipfwadm/ipfwadm-2.1.tar.gz to use this.
-
- IP Masquerading
- ===============
-
- IP masquerading is now part of the standard kernel. However, you
- always need to load separate modules (ip_masq_ftp.o and/or
- ip_masq_irc.o) if you are going to use FTP or IRC in combination with
- masquerading. You'll need to get
- ftp://ftp.xos.nl/pub/linux/ipfwadm/ipfwadm-2.1.tar.gz to use this.
-
- ISDN support
- ============
-
- The new kernels support ISDN. You'll need ISDN utils available from
- ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/isdn4linux/isdn4k-utils-1.3.97.tar.gz to try
- this.
-
- Term is broken
- ==============
-
- Term (a comm line multiplexer similar in purpose to slirp) does not
- work with kernels later than 1.3.60. Since the author of term is
- apparently currently on vacation, there is no fix forthcoming. I
- suggest that those of you who rely on term learn to use slirp.
-
- Networking
- ==========
-
- Some of the /proc/net entries have changed. You'll need to upgrade
- to the latest net-tools in
- ftp://ftp.inka.de:/pub/comp/Linux/networking/net-tools. The last
- official release there is net-tools-1.2.0.tar.gz, and the latest
- release is net-tools-1.32-alpha.tar.gz. If you need the upgrade, you
- probably need the latest beta release.
-
- Xntpd
- =====
-
- Older versions of xntpd will not work with the latest kernels.
- Upgrade to xntp3.5f.tar.Z, available from
- ftp://louie.udel.edu/pub/ntp/xntp3.5f.tar.Z.
-
- Sound driver
- ============
-
- The sound driver was upgraded in the 1.3.x kernels, breaking vplay.
- To fix this problem, get a new version of the sndkit from
- ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/front/tasd/snd-util-3.5.tar.gz. Some users
- report that various other sound utils (cdd2wav-sbpcd, for example) need
- to be recompiled before they will work with the new kernels.
-
- Tcsh
- ====
-
- If tcsh acts funny, get the source from
- ftp://anise.ee.cornell.edu/pub/tcsh and add #define SYSMALLOC in
- config_f.h before recompiling tcsh. Binaries can be found in
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Shells/ and a corrected one will
- probably wind up there eventually.
-
- Make
- ====
-
- If make no longer works, you need to read the release notes for the
- libc you upgraded to. The latest libc and release notes can be found at
- ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/GCC. This is NOT an error due
- to the kernel, though many people have mistakenly thought it is. When
- you upgrade to libc-5.3.9, you have to patch make to get it to work.
- All of this is documented in the release notes with libc. Upgrading
- libc can also break xterm support. If it does, you need to recompile
- xterm.
-
- Loop device
- ===========
-
- 1.3.x kernels include loop device support which lets you mount a
- file as a file system, which can allow for all sorts of cool things
- like encrypted file systems and such. To use it, you'll need a
- modified version of mount from
- ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/linux/util/mount-2.5X.tar.gz and preliminary
- work on encrypted file system support can be found in
- ftp.funet.fi:/pub/OS/Linux/BETA/loop/des.1.tar.gz.
-
- Multiple device
- ===============
-
- Multiple device support (allowing you to group several partitions
- into one logical device) has also been added. Check out
- ftp://sweet-smoke.ufr-info-p7.ibp.fr/pub/Linux/md034.tar.gz to try this
- out.
-
- Arp
- ===
-
- Arp daemon support has been added. Check out
- http://www.loran.com/~layes/arpd/index.html for more info and a copy of
- arpd.
-
- Quota
- =====
-
- Quota support has also been added. You need to get quotas-1.51 from
- ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus/subsystems/quota/all.tar.gz.
- This will compile just fine after you copy its mntent.h over to
- /usr/include/mntent.h. I've uploaded this to sunsite as
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Admin/quotas-1.51-tar.gz
-
- Process Accounting
- ==================
-
- Process accounting support has also been integrated into the new
- kernels. To use this feature, you'll need to get
- ftp://iguana.hut.fi/pub/linux/Kernel/process_accounting/acct_1.3.73.tar.gz.
-
- Bdflush
- =======
-
- Bdflush has also been integrated into the new kernels, so those of
- you using it on older systems no longer need to hunt for the patches to
- implement it once you upgrade to 1.3.x.
-
- APM support
- ===========
-
- Advanced Power Management (APM) support has been added to the kernel
- as well. APM, which is primarily of use in laptops, provides access to
- battery status information and may help to conserve battery power. The
- support files can be found in
- ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/packages/laptops/apm/apmd-2.4.tar.gz
-
- iBCS and Dosemu
- ===============
-
- For a version of iBCS that works with 1.3.x kernels, grab
- ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/BETA/ibcs2/ibcs-1.3-960404-ALPHA.tar.gz
-
- For a version of Dosemu that works (well, at least as well as DOS
- ever works ;-), get
- ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/ALPHA/dosemu/Development/dosemu-0.63.1.19.tgz.
- Be sure to follow the instructions in README.newkernels about patching
- your include files, or it will not compile.
-
- Mtools and Fdutils
- ==================
-
- The floppy ioctl numbering scheme has changed in 1.3.x. For
- backwards compatibility, the old system was supported through 1.3.x and
- will generate a warning in 2.0. In 2.1.x, the old scheme will
- disappear entirely.
-
- To avoid trouble (or at least annoying messages), you'll need to
- recompile any programs which emit floppy ioctls, including mtools and
- fdutils. For mtools, get
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/mtools-3.0.src.tar.gz
- and for fdutils, get
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Misc/fdutils-4.3.src.tar.gz.
-
- In the future, fdformat might disappear entirely, so get used to
- using superformat instead.
-
- How to know the version of the installed programs
- *************************************************
-
- There are some simple methods useful to know the version of the
- installed programs and libraries.
-
- GNU CC: gcc -v and gcc --version
- PPP: pppd -h (wrong but it show the version)
- Libc: ls -l /lib/libc.so.5
- Libc++: ls -l /usr/lib/libg++.so
- Binutils: ld -v
- ldd: ldd -v and ldd -V
- termcap: ls -l /lib/libtermcap.so.*
- modules: insmod -V
- procps: ps --version
-
- Where to get the files
- **********************
-
- Binutils
- ========
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/binutils-2.6.0.14.bin.tar.gz
- Installation notes:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.binutils-2.6.0.14
-
- GNU CC
- ======
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/gcc-2.7.2.bin.tar.gz
- Installation notes:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.gcc-2.7.2
-
- Linux C Library
- ===============
-
- The stable 5.2.18 release:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/libc-5.2.18.bin.tar.gz
- Installation notes for 5.2.18:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.libc-5.2.18
-
- The latest 5.3.12 release:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/libc-5.3.12.bin.tar.gz
- Installation notes for 5.3.12:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.libc-5.3.12
-
- Patched make sources:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/devel/make/make-3.74.patched.tar.gz
- Patched make binary:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/devel/make/make-3.74-direntfix-elf.tgz
-
- Linux C++ Library
- =================
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/libg++-2.7.1.4.bin.tar.gz
- Installation notes:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/release.libg++-2.7.1.4
-
- Dynamic Linker
- ==============
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/ld.so-1.7.14.tar.gz
-
- Termcap Library
- ===============
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/GCC/termcap-2.0.8.tar.gz
-
- Modules utilities
- =================
-
- The latest public release:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/modules-1.3.57.tar.gz
- The latest experimental release:
- http://www.pi.se/blox/
-
- PPP Daemon and utilities
- ========================
-
- The latest public release:
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/serial/ppp/ppp-2.2.0f.tar.gz
-
- Procps utilities
- ================
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Status/ps/procps-0.99a.tgz
-
- Gpm mouse utilities
- ===================
-
- ftp://iride.unipv.it/pub/gpm/gpm-1.09.tar.gz
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Daemons/gpm-1.09.tar.gz
-
- SysVinit utilities
- ==================
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Daemons/init/sysvinit-2.62.tar.gz
-
- Util-linux
- ==========
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Misc/util-linux-2.5.tar.gz
-
- Mtools
- ======
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/utils/disk-management/mtools-3.0.src.tar.gz
-
- Fdutils
- =======
-
- ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Misc/fdutils-4.3.src.tar.gz
-
- Other Info
- ==========
-
- Please remember that most of these utils are available on your
- favorite local linux mirror. If you can, please get them from a closer
- site before checking sunsite.
-
- Also, for those of you running Red Hat (or RPM on a different
- distribution), most of these are available in RPM format. Check around
- your favorite Red Hat mirror site before installing the non-RPM
- version. Remember, you might need to use the -force option to get the
- upgrade to install.
-
- Please send info about any other packages that 1.3.x "broke" or about
- any new features of 1.3.x that require extra or new packages for use to
- Chris Ricker (gt1355b@prism.gatech.edu). I generate this from a
- modified texinfo setup, so you don't need to bother generating a diff
- against the current version before you send the additional information
- to me.
-
-