Update kernel

[davidletterboyz]

Hi all....I got a noob question
I wonder why the nvidia driver needs to be re-compiled with new kernel source whenever I manually upgraded my kernel? Is there any way to avoid that?

I don't need to recompile when I was using an ATi card (already sold it).

[deanjo]

From the Nvidia readme:

"The NVIDIA kernel module has a kernel interface layer that must be compiled specifically for each kernel."

" the kernel interface will be linked with the closed-source portion of the NVIDIA kernel module."

The issue I believe is more with the linking then anything else. Some distro's like opensuse are able to upgrade the kernel without this step if the rpm's are used to install that opensuse has provided.

[davidletterboyz]

From the Nvidia readme:

"The NVIDIA kernel module has a kernel interface layer that must be compiled specifically for each kernel."

" the kernel interface will be linked with the closed-source portion of the NVIDIA kernel module."

hi... thanks. it means i got to go for ati for the time being sigh... lazy to recompile everytime

[Redeeman]

you can not avoid recompiling with ati either, if you use the closed driver.

[davidletterboyz]

you can not avoid recompiling with ati either, if you use the closed driver.

eh..really?
But I had tried an x1900xt on my F7 and updated kernel a few times. It doesn't require me to recompiling. I forgot which driver but i think it's a closed driver...i downloaded from ati website.

[Melcar]

eh..really?
But I had tried an x1900xt on my F7 and updated kernel a few times. It doesn't require me to recompiling. I forgot which driver but i think it's a closed driver...i downloaded from ati website.

You sure it wasn't simple kernel patches then? Most distros simply release small patches for their release kernels without really updating the whole thing. They very rarely update the entire kernel during the life of a particular distro version.

[davidletterboyz]

You sure it wasn't simple kernel patches then? Most distros simply release small patches for their release kernels without really updating the whole thing. They very rarely update the entire kernel during the life of a particular distro version.

I compile the kernel myself. Downloaded from kernel.org

[some-guy]

There are several fixes and a few general improvements with Catalyst 8.5, but one of the new features is support for DKMS in AMD's graphical installer. A few months ago, the Ubuntu packaging scripts for the fglrx driver had added DKMS, or Dynamic Kernel Module Support. This Linux framework makes it possible to have kernel modules automatically rebuilt when booting into a new kernel and therefore making the system easier to maintain when upgrading the kernel. With Catalyst 8.5 and later, if DKMS is installed prior to running the graphical installer, it will attempt to create the DKMS kernel module automatically.

Though I'm not sure if it is ubuntu-specific...