[PLUG] Kernel 2.2.x Question.

[fourje <fourje@netscapeonline.co.uk>]

Okay,
I've used Linux since 2.0.0, never had any problems with the kernel
(using or compiling).
Now I'm using vs 2.2.6.  I've used the version in Corel (debian);
Slackware 4.0; Rhat and Caldera OpenLinux.  I have noticed some very
peculiar (well to me anyway).

1)  My machine sits there very happily doing nothing just a user logged
in.  Every so-often (less than 2 mins), there is a burst of activity
against my disk drive. I've had top running in another VC and never
being able to catch a process doing anything, so I reckon this is kernel
internals.

2)  Believing that I may need to recompile the kernel to remove things
like RAID, IPX, etc. I started to recompile the kernel.  A task I have
done dozens - maybe hundreds of times over the last 4 years.  With this
new kernel I constantly end up with zImage size errors and the compile
stops right at the end.  I can complete the task by specifying "make
bzImage".  Is the kernel now so big that it has to be compressed.  Maybe
that's why all of the latest distro versions are completely modular.

Just a few gripes - that's all - I did notice, however that OpenLinux
(not sure about Rhat) does not suffer so badly with the spurious disk
accesses as the other distro's.
Dave E.


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